The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-04
FORTUNE IN GYPSUM
Millions of Dollars in Hills of
Barber County.
MAKES PEANUT SHELLS
IFS Effect on Commercial Cab
bage Wonderful.

'sThe hills Of Barber county and the
land plaster beds Of southern Kansas
viii be worth millions some day"
The above is the substance OF a state
naent made by Thomas Best Of Virginia,
formerly Of Medicine Lodge. 70 Al Eagle
reporter last night Mr. Best IS the
scientific Englishnan who came to Ned
ieiae Lodge some ten years ago and spent
great deal Of money-some sixty or
seventy thousand acknowledgements
that sugar could not be made proftably
IN Kansas under ordinary conditions
A fine gentleman this Thomas Best IS
and one who probably better under
stands the manufacture Of sugar from
sorghum cane than any man II the coun-
try. with few exceptions But 1t is
nor Of sugar that Nr Best talked alto
gether. or mainly. TO a reporter for the
Eagle last night. TIE theme OF his con-
versatfon was gypsum. He spent great
deal Of money az Medicine Lodge con
vertinE gypsum into land plaster. the
technical name If the finished proauet-
thar Is. after the gypsum Is ground He
proved the utility Of land plaster as
commercial product for the fertilization
Of land. but was unable TO solve the
freight rate question. except by going 10
the eastern seaboaId where rates are
cheap. in competition with tide water.
There he IS now located. making a fortune
out az Virginia gypsum which IS FAR
Inferior to Medicine Lodge gypsum And
tbs IS how he did il, The region about
The Dismal swamp Is the most famous
peanut producing spot in the world
Eighty thousand acres Of peanuts are
raised there every year. but it takes
gypsum. or land plaster 10 produce them
Tho peanuts grow all right until the
time they are ready 70 shell. but nature
positively refuses TO work any longer
unless il IS aided by gypsum II takes
lime 70 make the shell Of an egg. and
upon the same theory II takes gypsum
10 make the shell Of a peanut II the
Medicine Lodge gypsum, or the Sedgwick
county gypsum. could be conveyed at
profit to the Dismal swamp region they
could produce still better peanuts there.
but IL cannot. The rate To TIE seaboard
would be about 3 per ton and that is
too much. The gypsum can be brought
from Novis Scotia. where the greatest
gypsum deposits in the world are. for
A much less cost, not only because q
tide water. but because II Is used as
ballast. and the result is that western
gypsum cant compete with it. This is
especially the case since congress. by leg
islatiou. favors the Nova Scotia gypsum
u admits IL in the raw state practically
free. while Il puts a heavy tariff on the
4
does not materially interfere with the
Virginia gypsum which Is used locally
for fertilization. The imported gypsum
Is used almost exclusively for the man
ufacrure OF cement and stucco, for which
there Is a big demand in the east M
Best thinks that as the west grows and
develops TO the extent that gypsum prod
ucts win be as much in demand as they
now are in the east that there VII be
millions in Kansas gypsum.
DO you know said Mr.. Best, That
the cabbage plant thrives best on gyp-
sum food II does. The gypsum gives
hardness 70 the leaves and makes them
stand out crisp and fresh looking 70 the
eye. Cabbage grown on gypsum looks
better in the market stalls than any
other cabbage. and that is why the choice
comes from Virginia"
why is this" asked the reporter for
the Eagle
wen" said Mr.. Fest. 1t seems that
gypsum IN the ground absorbs and re-
taine the ammonia. This Is demonstra-
ted in livery stables. You go there and
the smell Of ammonia makes you sneeze.
You put gypsum in there and you cant
notice any smell st ALL The gypsum
simply sbsorbs the ammonia. Gypsum.
fer that reason. IS always moist and in
its ground state, when exposed. It be-
comes rs soft as putty. You have no
i6ea 81 the development o. this mineral.
Wv uses are being found for It every
5ar aad the time is coming when II VIII
be &c untold value 10 kansas Il renevs
and ives the soil When II becomes i'm
~. crushed and the dav VIII come when
- vll he 11eI extensively here in your
,rn state for ferTs,zstion