The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1906-06-30
THE RICHEST FARM.
FOUR HUNDRED ACRES OF FINE
LAND IN KANSAS-
Property of Standard Oil Company
Has an Annual Output OF
100000 and No
Produce.

IrOCuC0.
Tho onslaught OF Kansans upon the
Standard Oil company has called atteh-
ZION TO the fact that near this city Johh
- Rockefeller has what is undoubtedly
the richest farm in the world, ana not
dollars worth Of produce is raised upon
il The farm consists OF 400 acres OF
fine land Its value IS nearly $z,Vo,Oo
and it's annual crop amounts 10 ABOUT
81 000. coo says Neodesha (kan.) let
ter to the New York Sun.
MIR. Rockefeller doesn't Try any expert
mplIs with corn or wheat, nor does
he try to increase his wealth by engaging
in the raising of cattle, sheep or hoSs
The Rockefeller farm is purely tank
farm. and is SO called in the neighbof-
hood At approximately the same dis-
lance apart on the 400 acres are 30 b,s
oil tanks. each having storage capacity
Of from IS, 900 to so 900 barrels OF OH
\ SPACE If eight acres Is set apart Tor
zach tank and around each is a dyke OF
earth about five feet in height. thrown
M to catch the oil should leak DC
sprung or 10 fight away ths haiies
should they come In the wake OK
stream Of oil that had burst its connnes
Each of the tanks Is made or sheet
steel. and cost about $i,W }. They t'e
about 50 feet in diameter ana ~ Ies'
high They st lightly on the grouhu'
ma steel floor Is covered with heavy
lilac Ill paper. and conlcai rooI sur
mounts the whole A stairway leads 10
tho roof from the ground. In the middle
Of il is a door locked with RockeIelief
psdl0ck. a special design, when can
not hr duplicated and to which ohy
trusted employees carry keys.
In these tanks is stored the surplus
oil OF the Kansas field. Tho produc-
ton has been increased greatly. year
ago il was about l., 900 barrels day,
now il is more than twice that nsure'
The Standard refinery here can take
care Of only $500 barrels day, but at
Sugar Creek. near Kansas City, the COM
pany is putting up an immense one
Even this. however would have been
inadequate.
If the state is going to put the com
pany out of bus. ness in Kansas the
Standard will LOSE several millions In
iDyestm is such tfs tank farm
which cannot well ye moved without
great i'm lirment There are smaller
farms at humboldt and Caney.
These tank farms al connected witt
the oil fields everywhere. + mains
run into each Of the six large producer y
counties. and from these laterals extend
to wherever the. is any oil. The mo-
ment an ope ratpr can show production
OF 50 barrels Z tay the Standard will
build MIN a pipe line. Until the recent
fuss this was the rule, and gangs OF pipe
LAYERS were kept busy all the time, many
wells being capped awaiting the arrival
of the pipes.
More thar 81, 0O0, 600 is invested by the
Standard in pipe lines in this state.
Solid trainloads OF pipe and sheet steel
were daily sights IN the field last sum-
mer. Each main line is supplied with
pumping station which forces tho oil
| through the pipes. Where oil does not
| run by gravity the Standard has been
| paying cent barrel for the steam
used in pumping, which in itself hna
been a good source OF income for the
operators
Forty men are employed to ride thu
| pipe lines and gauge the oil. Their bust
| nd loo L. q
Oil stcalings have not been tnfreQuen'
In the past. line will be tapped a
some secluded point and wagonload OF
oil taken, to be sold later to the re
fnery people.
These gaugers visit the oil wells, meas
ure the oil and run it into the line
They give the operator a ticket and hi
sends the accumulated ones to the head
quarters on the first Of the month anC
gets his check. An affidavit must &C
company each claim in which is set out
the name OF the owner OF the royalty
Few OF the wells are operated by the
owners of the land. most OF whom take
life easy on their monthly royalties
These they receive direct from thu
Standard office In this way they fec
sure the operators are not defraudint
them.
The Kansas field Is divided by tn,
Standard into two districts. The divid
ing line runs just on the north side o.
Neodesha The company does not be
lieve that the oil in the north end o.
the field is as good as that in the soutf
end, and difference Of 20 cents barre
is made The man with well just nOrtt
OF the line gets that much less than I
man with a well hundred feet away
but on the south side OF it, and this hal
aroused much feeling The compan,
retorts that it must make the division
somewhere, and somebody must &c
hurt Very heavy oil is produced in II,
north end.
Raises Farming to Science.
At Fariugdon Berkshire. ENGLAND
| 70 ;,,e, bn~