The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1903-08-28
FIELD OF CANE IO-FEET HIGH
WILSON PETERS SHOWS SAMPLES OF
EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH
Grown on johnson RanCh-ETidence That
Western Kansas Is Destined to Figure
Largely in the Agricultural PrOdue-
lion OF the United States.


Facts are frequently stranger than
fiction, and q phenomenal illustration Of
this vas afforded the reporter Of this
paper Wednesday morning when Wilson
Peters, OF the johnson rancb,- brought
to town a sample bunch Of cane which
measured nine feet and six inches from
the butt of the stalks, where they had
been cut of near the ground, and the
tops Of the plants, the seed Of which was
still in the milk Mr.. Peters said he cut
the stalks severae inches above the
ground, and allowing for this and the
fact that the cane is still growing it is a
conservative estimate to place the nor
nal developed height Of the cane at a
round ten feet.
Mr.. Peters says that there are 100
acres Of cane on the johnson ranch that
will equal the growth Of the samples he
brought in It represents q tremendous
growth Of vegetation and at a distance
looks more like young forest than a
cane field. This simply shows. the pos
sibilities Of agriculture in Sherman
county. The unparalleled richness Of
the soil combined with a fair amount Of
rainfall (which is certainly increasing
every year, is going to make western
Kansas one of the most noted agricul-
uraI regions Of the United States.
All over this part of the country may
be seen crops, the value of which on
every acre exceeds the selling price of
the land from three to five hundred per
cent. But the price Of land will not long
remain so. People from the east are
making excursions into western Kansas
and are simply astounded to find that
the cheap lands Of these fertile plains
have this year in their crop production
put into the shade the best yields that
can be brought from the famous agri-
cultural districts Of the east
1T. Burger, OF Fort Dodge, Ia, has
been in the county for more than a week
and cannot say enough in praise for the
hattering prospects here. Il cannot
understand" he says, show it is that
away out here on these plains where
land may be had so reasonably, that the
crops are better and bigger every way
than those we are raising in Iowa on
land that costs Us 800 and S125 an acre.
This country which has so long been re-
jected as a factor in our material pros
perity viii soon become a corner stone IN
the great agricultural structure Of the
United States"
Come west young maj, before it Is
too late;. before land values Outreach
your ability to buy, and you find that
instead Of being land owner you viii
have to cast your lot with the renters
and tenement classes of the country
Western Kansas is the greatest country
IN the rid for man OF small means
The Universities of pioneer life are gone
forever aud tOlerable day has come
The dairy, agriculture, and the stock
raising industry, are among the sure
means Of profit. Want and penury havs
been chained by the hand Of the indus
trious frontiersman, and the evils thai
have formerly scOurged Us shall bs
known no more.
Faith and the almighty arm Of the de
termined man working in harmony with
existing conditions have at last made TIT
desert to blossom as the rose.