The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-07-21
WHEAT FIELDS TOOK HIS EYE
OUTSIDERS AMAZED AT DEVEI,-
OPEBIENT IN SHERMAN co.
Wheat Crops VIII Bring More Money
Than Land on Which It Is
Crown
From Kansas civ Star.

passenger on q Colorado train going
west from Colby to GOOdIand said TO
reporter for the Star yesterday. He
was looking at wheat fields in which
headers were just beginning to work
This is Sherman county, the last
county in Kansas before the Colorado
line is reached.
This year Sherman county has fine
wheat, good rye and heavy barley.
The prospect for a corn crop this year
seems good, but corn is short, an evil
dence OF the effect Of the high aItf-
tude on what is, after all, the most
important crop Kansas grows. Thorn
as county has been developing as a
part Of the wheat country for several
years now, and is claiming distinction
as one Of the big wheat counties It's
nearest neighbOr, Sherman, has never
raised much grain until this year
Now. some Of its wheat fields are lit
tie short Of wonderful. The yield on
farms around Brewster will exceed
twenty bushels to the acre in places
and may go to thirty on a few farms
The people at Colby say Sherman
county is three years behind Thomas,
its nearest neighbOr. That is not ex-
actly accurate, though in some res
poets it is true. The wheat acreage
is smaller, the yield is less certain
other crops have been less thoroughly
tested and prices Of land are lower
But Sherman county has a greater
altitude than its eastern neighbor
The difficulties 10 be conquered are
greater, or, it may be more true to
say, fewer Of them have been con-
quered in the more western county
The effect Of the altitude and the
temperature it brings with it is ap-
parent in the size Of straw Of the
wheat and the height Of the crop.
Still a Chance for the Pioneer.
If man wishes to try pioneer life
in Kansas he has a chance in Sher-
man county. He is fairly free from
hot winds, but every twenty-five miles
further east he travels from Sherman
county to Clay county his certainty of
getting crops every year is greater.
So the price he must pay for land
grows greater as he comes into the
safer counties east.
At GoOdIand they tell you that land
prices are going up fast Farms that
could be bought for $500 a year ago
sell for $500 now. In this country
land is counted by quarters" or
quarter sections Of $50 acres each.
ASK the farmer or ranch man how
many acres he has and he will say
four quarters, ten, quarters, as the
to figure the number Of acres himself
For example J. 3. Dyett owns a ranch
on the Smoky Hill river, a mere creek
In this county. Dyett owns fifty-twO
quarters, or has that many in his
ranch He belongs to the element that
does not want this country to become
farming community In northwest
ern Kansas the settler who grows
wheat and barley has pushed the big
ranch owner further and further west
and seems now to be ready to drive
him over the state line and into Colo
radO. The settler has won in all the
counties along the Rock Islands Colo
RADIO division except the last one, and
the struggle is on here with the set
tier making good progress.
The wheat crop here this year is
heavy on what farms there are 10
Sherman county as in almost any 9TH
er county in the state. The grade is
as fine as the grade Of any wheat ever
sent from Kansas 10 any market. The
fields are clear Of weeds and the cut
ting, now in progress. has shown such
splendid results that the farmers in
sod houses from the Smoky Hill river
on the south to the Big Sappa on the
north, are planning to build frame
houses and frame barns. It is one OF
odd sights Of this country to see lum-
Der yards with stocks big enough to
supply good eastern Kansas towns III
what was, until now, the sod house
district Of Kansas. Brewster is a case
in point. 1t is on the line between
Sherman and Thomas counties Part
Of its people still live in sod houses
in the town Probably half Of the
farmers who trade in Brewster live in
sod houses. Yet a train load Of new
lumber has been unIOaded in its lUm-
Der yard and much Of the lumber has
been contracted for to be paid for
and hauled away when the wheat has
been marketed. Scores OF farmers
have pOmised their wives that when
this years wheat and barley have
been marketed they Will build frame
houses to take the place Of the sod
houses Many a woman has lived in
these sod houses year after year look
ing forward to the day when she can
have a good frame house like the
home Of her childhood somewhere
further east To these people the
great wheat crop OF this year has
come as blessing more keenly ap-
prec4ated than good crop could ever
be in a country longer cultivated
and in a more favored climate.
A Year for Sod Breaking.
The last four or five years have
been good years in Sherman county,
but this year mas been the best Thou
sands OF acres Of prairie sod have
been plowed for the first time ''brOk-
en- OUT this year and the acreage
sOwn next year will be the largest in
s the county's history.
Ten years ago the total wheat crop
OF Sherman county was $500 bush
els This year one need not get OF
the train to see a half dozen farms,
any one OF which will yield as much.
The farmers in this county say they
see the unmistakable signs Of climat-
&c changes going on The nights are
not as cold, moisture IS more regular
and the weather conditions more uni
form Trees grow on the upland now
and the farmers believe that when the
trees are grown they too VIII help to
modify weather conditions. The COW
and the hen are playing their import
ant part here as they have ali over
Kansas. At GOodland, the county
seat the Rock Island has 2 division
headquarters and the town has grown
to q population OF 1,80O- Half Of the
men who live in the town are rail-
road employees A creamery buys milk
at GOodland and It IS not unusual for
one Has r.rrr--f-a - q - Z