Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-09-09
TRIP IN TEE SOUTHWEST
!. W. Switzsr Writes of Crop Conditions
as He Saw Them.

EDITOR CENSOR: thought perhaps
letter written from notes taken on a
recent trip 10 New Mexico might be o.
started August 4th, via the C.. & G.. w.
Through Minnesota and Iowa the crops
are not the best; oats are light and
corn very uneven. Some of the late
will require a very favorable fall to
mature it. From Kansas City went
over the Rock Island. Along the Kaw
valley there is plenty of evidence of the
floods last spring. Crops were destroy
ed, and in some places where had been
fertile fields there is nothing but sand
and rocks. Through central Kansas
the crops looked good. Some of the
corn was excellent, but was then in
need of rain. | think the most profit
able crop | law was a 200 acre grove
of Catalpas. They were planted thick
and would soon be large enough to
! make posts, and from that time on it
would be source of perpetual income
| that would make the owner a fortune.
don't believe one could make better
investment than to plant a grove of
quick growing useful timber. Central
Kansas is well adapted to this kind of
an industry.
stopped two days at Liberia, Kan
sas, to visit cousin who came there
about twenty years ago. He tried
farming eight years, got rich 1.-THE
wrong way then sold his farm with all
the improvements for less than wild land
cost, and went into business in Liberal
The past three years crops have been
very good, the city and country were
having great boom, but this year the
90 g.
was no rain for about three months
| last spring; wheat failure and the best
of the corn would scarcely make half
crop. The only crops that are reason
ably sure in dry years is Kaffer corn
and Milo maize They are both good
| forage plants, and the grain has good
feeding value. AS | went across the
corner of Oklahoma and Texas into New
Mexico, conditions seemed to grow
worse, and with the exception of some
| hay on bottom land | saw nothing from
the train that looked like making half
crop. At Torrancel took the Santa
Fe Central through what is called the
Estancia valley to the city of Santa Fe.
| This valley is a level plateau about
forty miles wide by one hundred long.
There are quite bold mountains on the
west, covered with pine timber, but on
the east it is mostly d low range of
hills. Since the railroad came in three
years ago, / was told nearly every
homestead had been filed on in this
valley. At one place they were building
mill and elevator, and claimed to have
some very good wheat in that vicinity,
but their great drawback is lack of
moisture. | don't have much faith in
| farming where there is not rain enough
to produce crop of grass, but if they
succeed in getting artesian wells or
some other way of irrigating, they can
make this country to bloom like a gard
en-. Santa Fe is a queer old town.
More than half the houses are built of
dobie (sun dried brick). The streets
are of all different widths and run
wherever they happen to. # Is next
to the Oldest town in the United States
and has the oldest church and dwelling
house, both built of dobie, and said to
be over three hundred years old. The
inhabitants are about seven-tenths Mex
leans, and all intensely Catholic. They
have a fine cathedral, but the old
church is still used and every morning
devout followers go there to say their
prayers. They have a new capitol,
built with an appropriation of 1915, 000.-
%. BY using convict labor to do the
work and getting the material shipped
in at nominal price they succeeded in
building a $500, 900 building returning
81. rs into the treasury. Wouldn't that
make Philadelphia grafters blush? 1t
is mystery to me why town should
be started in such an inaccessible desert
as this was at the time it was founded,
and can find only two answers; one is
religious enthusiasm, and the other
was the search for gold. think the
latter is considered the correct solution
There are many interesting things in
this vicinity for the tourists. The min
eral springs, numerous salt lakes, some
of which the water has evaporated and
left solid bed of salt, and the ancient
ruins of cities inhabited by a pre- his
toric race. The gold, silver and copper
mines are also interesting. | went
through the San Lazarus which pro-
duced over $500, 900 in gold. The Santa
Fe Copper Co. adjoining this employs
over three hundred men, when running.
They are shut down now on account of
the low price of copper.
On my return | stopped in northeast
Oklahoma. This part of the state was
deluged with floods while the western
part was being parched with drought,
and what promised to be one of the
best crops ever raised was badly dam
aged by it, Corn made an immence
growth and promised bumper crop,
but the recent dry spell has hurt it
somewhat. My next stop was at Hum
bolt, Kansas, which is in the heart of
the gas and oil belt. Kansas and Okla
homa have the largest oil and gas fields
in the world. A few years ago one of
the big wells at Cana was struck by
lightning and set on fire making one of
the most spectacular fires ever seen,
which was visable nearly a hundred
miles. The heat was so intense that it
melted huge metal cap that was
placed over it with 8 crane. A second
attempt proved successful and it was
gotten under control. This cheap fuel
is attracting many manufacturers as
will be seen from the following quota
ton from a Kansas paper. Kansas is
first. The smelter Industries of Pitts
burg and other southeastern towns
rank first in the world in the output of
zinc spelter. During the year the south
eastern Kansas smelters produced 1884,
los tons of spelter. one half of the out
put of the United States. The ore is
not produced in Kansas, but is shipped
there from Missouri and Colorado on
account of the cheap fuel. had the
pleasure of going through one of these
smeIters. which reminded me of the