The National tribune., 1902-07-03
A GIANT KANSAS FARM.
Sixty.two Square Miles of Wheat, Corn
and Pasturage.
c. II. MATsoN IN WORLDS woEK.

The agricuturist who carefully culti-
Yates 10 or 90 or 81 acres and calls it Il
farm, is likely to look upon a quarter
section the regulation homestead of 100
acreS-aS Il large estate; an entire section
IA mile square, he would doubtless regard
as tremendous area, ana 4 half-dOZen
sections would seem ike Il whole province.
| What would such Il man think of II farm
ON which from 100 to 100 men are EN-
ployed; Il farm whose furthest corner is Il
miles from the farm house; "A farm that
requires three bookkcepers and steno-
grapherS to make Il record of its activity
That is the scale on which Mr.. NJ. NJ.
Sherman conducts his farm in central
hansaS- lie has more than i0,UOO acres.
Every year he sells more than 1000 fat
beeves. II Il man We're to start to ride
around has farm on horseback. following
the renee line and riding 30 miles Il day,
he could not make its circiiit III two days.
There are, in some of the sparseiy-Set-
tied regions of the West, and in Mexico,
far larger ranches than this farm. but
they are vast open tracts over which great
herds of cattle Craze ut will. becoming half
wild in few months. Sherman Ranch is
not of that kind. 1t is really farm.
There are 10 great unbroken areas of
prairie. 1t is cut up into fields and com
paratively small pastures. and there are
generally from 5000 to 5000 head of cattle
kept on it.
The most remarkable thing about Sher-
man Ranch is its management. 1t has
been supposed that farm work is difficult
Of Organization. This is not true on Sliar-
man Ranch. No factory was ever oper-
ated in il more systematic manner than is
this farm. At any time Mr. Sherman can
tell just how much feed certain cattle in Il
specified pasture consumed, who fed it 70
them, what FIELD it came from and how far
it was hauled. Every night he knows ex
aciiy what each employee has accom-
plished that day. The farms manager
knows, at { O'Clock each evening, by tcic-
phone, just what was done that day, even
on the furthermost field, II miles away.
There are G2 square miles in this farm,
equivalent to rs farms OF the usual size,
100 acres; but it does net lie in Il compact
body. and this accounts for the great
length of It's boundary line. The extreme
limits of thr farm extend II miles east
and west. and II miles north and south.
Passengers on the Missouri Pacific Rail
road from Kansas City to Denver see this
farm first 1T the little station of Langley.
That is II miles from the ranch head
quarters. \ few miles further southwest
comes another view of Sherman Ranch.
Again the train speeds onward and six
miles further west it comes to GeneseO,
the nearest point to the ranch headquar-
tiers. The farm extends within a half
still four miles away. Along the north
side of this great farm runs the main
Denver line of the Union Pacific Railroad,
while through it extends branch line.
The farm. like AL Gaul'' of Cesar's
time, is divided into three parts, and over
each there is Il foreman. \ boarding
house is located in each division, and in
these live most Of the unmarried employ
ees. Scattered over the farm are numer-
Gus tenant houses. occupied by the fami-
lies of employees who are married. \ tele
phone system connects all parts of the
farm with the headquarters.
The work in general is planned by the
farm superintendent and by linn tcle
ph0ned To the fDremen. The cattle axe fei
ut stated intervals and they are given
certain amount-nO more. no less. E::si
man has his particular work to perform.
During the Summer months 5000 acres
are planted to corn and forage crops. Two
thousand acres of corn are planted on the
low lands, while on the upland is planted
the forage. 1000 acres of sorghum and
1000 acres of Kaflir corn. In the Fall
about 900 acres of wheat are sown for
rasturagc during the Winter months. The
rest of the ranch is largely taken up with
pasture land. The largest area of land in
a single pasture is 100 acres. and most of
the pastures contain much less than this
There are cattle of all ages and sizes from