The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-07-07
ne 9R ss s q 4s ss. 49, ss9G ss~aF
Calumet
Baking
Powder
WESTERN KANSAS LAND AGAIN
CONTINUED from page II

the mapmaker have come to life, and
new ones are springing up as by mag
ic- Prosperity Is written all over the
face Of a long fOrsaken territory, and
the newspapers are actually telling Of
its wonderful prOductiveness and Of
its great future.
There are several factors which
have been at work bringing about this
remarkable change in western Kan
sas. First and foremost, perhaps, IS
the gradual extending knowledge that
the certain season" territory is con-
stantly moving westward. Only half
century ago people in the now effete
east were afraid to migrate to Hi
noi:s for fear Of droughts and crop
failures. A few years ago the Ger
tain season" territory did not extend
west of Kansas City Then it moved
on to Wichita, and Low it is extend
/ ing still onward toward the Pacific
slope, and il has almost If not quite
embraced the western end Of Kansas.
A second factor is the demand for
cheap lands, which is becoming more
| difficult to satisfy When one stops
I TO think that il is taking an average
| Of 100000 acres Of land to supply
| the annual demand whereas il took
/ but 100000 a few years ago, he be-
| gins to realize the industrial progress
4
The last, and perhaps the most
i potent factor, is the advance that has
| been made in scientific farming. Eu-
/ gene Davenport, director Of the Hi
Il nOis experiment station at Urbanas
/ has declared that 'the last half Of
/ the last century witnessed more real
/ progress in agriculture than all the
/ generations that have passed since
Adam titled the garden or since our
/ primitive ancestor gnawed his bone
in the shelter Of the cave. The find
1 ings Of chemical, physical and bOilO-
/ gicaI sciences have been applied to
/ the buiness Of farming until it rests
upon a firm basis Of known fact"
/ This is the nub Of the whole fact as
to western Kansas Science has
| taught the farmer that the short
grass country is capable Of raising
| the finest wheat, the highest grades
Of certain barleys and oats, sorghum
| that cannot be surpassed, millet milo
maze and kafhr corn and a dozen
] other products, some Of which were
unknown TO the American farmer lit
tie more than a decade ago In other
words, science has demonstrated that
/ in territories where the rainfall is not
/ abundant crops can be produced
! which pay big profits upon an invest
ment Of many times the present prices
Il Of the land. This is only another way
/ Of saying, for example, that the
| Campbell system is making western
| Kansas, as well as other regions,
hitherto unheard of in this respect,
/ the premier wheat section Of the mid
/ die west
! In recent years came the breaking
| up Of Oklahoma, and even Texas, on
! the south, Of Nebraska on the north,
/ Of Colorado on the west and Of east
| ern Kansas on the east. Completely
/ surrounding the western portion Of
| the state the soil, which had harden
ed for centuries, and had thus pre-
vented the moisture from going in or
| from coming out, became broken and
amenabIe to the harrow, the roller
and the disk.
/ Ask the scientist what this means
/ to a semi-arid country, and he will
reply that it means a change in sea-
sons The rain began to descend upon
/ western Kansas more regularly until
| for ten years they had an average
rainfall Of about nine inches. Farm
| ers who had been starving while try
/ ing to raise eastern crops and to farm
as they had in the arabic regions be-
gan to hear Of beardless barley, Of
durUm wheat Of the Campbell sys-
TEN, which preserves the mOistUrcs Of
Il y
kafir corn and Of turkey red wheat.
In the meantime, while all Of this
wonderful change was going on, Kan
sas was steadily creeping up in the
list Of agricultural producing states.
As early as 1892 Kansas made a rec
ord by producing 74,53s,9O6 bushels
Of wheat, the greatest yield ever cred
tied to any state. In 1901 another
record was set by a production Of
on
yield per acre 81 per cent greater
than the average for the country dur
ing the preceding decade and more
than IS per cent greater crop than
any ever produced by any state in the
union. The Kansas wheat crop Of
1900 was more than 100000 bushels
in excess Of the combined crop Of the
next two ranking states-MinnesOta
and California Again in 1903 Kan
sas beat her own record and that Of
every other state by a wheat crop Of
over 100000, valued at over $52,-
600, 900, With the reputation OF not
being a cOrn-prOducing state, Kansas
produced II per cent Ofthe cOuntry's
corn yield in 1899 and per cent Of
all the wheat In 1900 she produced |
s per cent Of all the corn and IS per
cent Of all the wheat while in 1901 !
her wheat was worth the sum Of $50
5gysDuDs ana IN 4Sy4 over @94svVVsyyD- |
A still more forcefuI comparison can |
be made II we take the combined /
values Of the wheat and corn produc- /
ton Of the leading states for the five /
year period ending with 1900 In /
doing this we find that the Kansas |
valuation aggregates over &37S,OOO,- /
600, that Of Illinois over 1851, 100000, /
that OF Iowa over $500, 900, 900, that 4
Of Nebraska over $301,OOo,000 and /
Missouri over S275, zoo, 900. And yet i
in this great state. where anyone with i
muscle plus a team Of horses and a 4
pillow can win a home in twelve \
months. there were not 50 long ago 4
100000 acres Of government land 4
and millions Of acres OF unbroken i
prairies, many OF which could be had 1
by the payment OF taxes.
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