The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-06-08
THE RxoKBIAN-THoMAs RANCH
Great Possibilities OF Alfalfa Grow
fng on the Beaver.


a representative OF this paper was
a guest the first OF this week at the
RyCkman-ThOmas ranch en- the
Beaver, fourteen miles north and east
OF GOOdland- The ranch embraces
1850 acres Of land. all fenced and
cross fenced, making in all about
twenty miles OF wire fence. The nu-
cleus OF the ranch was three quarter
sections Of land bought BY G B
Ryckman OF John Bray. c R. ThOm-
as, Mr.. Ryckman's partner, bought
land adjoining, and Mr.. Ryckman ad-
ded a quarter section to his holding,
50 each has a whole section OF land
Other members Of the family secured
lands adjacent sufficient to make up
the 1850 acres in a body, mostly To-
Gated on the Beaver bottoms.
They have now growing on the
place 80 acres OF alfalfa, ready to
cut, the best OF It measuring three
feet and four inches in height, and
very heavy and thick on the ground
Mr. Ryckman estimates that he viii
cut between 400 and 500 tons OF al
falfa, and 5 tons Of prairie hay. And
this is only a small beginning. He
estimates that there are 1900 acres
Of the ranch available for the growing
Of alfalfa
He has $50 acres Of small grain and
so acres Of corn and cane He has
ESQ head Of cattle, including II head
Of milk cows He has Is head OF
mules and 20 head Of horses, and 100
head Of hogs. The summer pasture
lies on the south Of the creek, and
the winter range is on the north Of
the stream, where the grass is allow
ed to grow untouched until needed for
winter pasture
Besides these domestic animals he
has about a dozen dogs, greyhOunds,
stag hounds and fox hounds, and a
couple Of shepherd dogs. He keeps
the pack to hold down coyotes andl
jack rabbits, the former the enemies
Of his poultry and the latter Of his
alfalfa.
Besides the necessary number Of
male birds ne has IS hen turkeys, and
a young brood already Of over zoo
turkey chicks He also has a large
number Of gallinaceOus fowls. Mr..
Ryckman remarked that only for the
dogs ne could not raise poultry, as
they take care, not only Of coyotes,
but Of badgers, cOOns and skunks-
Fish abound in the stream which
has been stocked with carp, besides
the native cat fish, or bull head, and
other varieties He is able to irrigate
his garden, of which he has about
three acres One large windmill
pumps a big stream from a ten-fOot
we'll The mill at the farm house
pumps a 23-fOOt well into a large
tank and the overflow supplies water
for the milk room in which he has a
concrete cooling tank From the milk
house the overflow discharges into a
circular pond, surrounded with viii
low trees, and from thence feeds the
tanks for stock in the barn yard. He
has granaries, sheds, barns, a dipping
vat for cattle, and other Outbuildings-
Although the farm dwelling is a
''sOddy," peace and plenty reigns in
the rustic home.
A mile and a half away is a very
neat and cOmmOdiOuS frame school
house, supplied with modern furni-
ture, maps, charts, etc, and where
Sunday school is held every Sabbath.
Only an hour and a half drive brings
them to GOOdland, where they come
to trade and to deliver cream from
their separator twice a week
Besides the shrubbery and trees
about the home, a half a mile east
is a fine grove and many Of the trees,
set out as a timber claim, are IL
inches in diameter and so or 20 feet
in height. Groves, the verdure Of the
rich prairie grasses, the alfalfa mead
Ows, fish in the stream, wild fowl in
their season, waving fields of wheat
| barley, oats, rye, corn and cane en-
virOn the rancheT's home, a compel
ence now and a bonanza in anticipa-
/ ton in brief years to come. This is
no fancy sketch, but the golden real
/ ity.
/ Much OF these lands, bought cheap
/ " a short time ago, is in reality worth
/ $50 per acre and some day may be in
| demand at double this amount