The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1910-04-14
A Letter From J. w. Delk.
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 9, 1910.
Il / I I

Editor of The Reporter, Leon, Ia.
Dear Sir:-1 see in recent issue
of your paper some OF the gentle
breezes from Colorado, and thought
I would add a zephyr from Cheyenne.
AS your Colorado correspondent has
never been to Cheyenne and looked
over this country thoroughly l do not
see how he could stretch his magma
ton in condemning this country to
such great extent.
l am not in the real estate business,
neither am / locating homesteads,
but l have looked this country over
thoroughly and have seen what they
produce here, and although l have
never been exactly in his district in
Colorado, l have talked with farmers
who have farmed here for three years
who had farmed there also, and they
tell me this country is far ahead of
Colorado. Our soil is not so sandy,
and we have better atmosphere,
better water and a more productive
soil than in the dry farming districts
of Colorado
To the man who, under the adverse
conditions of the high prices for land,
high taxes and heavy interest rates,
east undesirable; to the man who de-
sires that his children shall find an
opportunity to establish themselves
in the world; to the farmer who de-
sires to secure fertile lands cheaply,
preserving his capital for the devel-
opment of his farm, southeastern
Wyoming offers attractions unsur-
passed. If band touring the north
ern and southern boundaries of Lar
annie county was stretched across the
continent to the Atlantic coast, it
would cross central Nebraska, south
ern Iowa, northern Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio and northern New Jersey. Our
climate is much more equable than
that of similar ATTITUDES of the east.
The air is always pure and dry with
abundant sunshine. 1t is not severe
in winter but generally mild. In the
hottest summer weather it is cool in
the shade, and the nights are always
cool. The dry celebrating air serves
rs a tonic that makes health and hap
piness here, in way that is unknown
under the duller skies of the east
and south.
1t is fact worthy of mention that
the invalid officers of the United
States army are sent here to recuper-
ate by order of the military surgeons
and it was also due to our extremely
healthy climate that induced the
army officers to recommend the en-
larging of Fort RUSSELL located here
to one of the largest inland posts in
the United States.
Excellent water with no trace of
alkali can be obtained anywhere at a
reasonable depth, and no country on
earth can furnish more or better
water for all purposes. The entire
country is underlaid with sheet of
water that seems to have it's origin
from the snow-capped peaks sur
rounding us and to derive it's supply
from the melting of the SHOWS, thus
assuring its purity and abundance.
That Wyoming is not a state in
habited exclusively by cowboys and
ShiDherders is shown by the following
figures taken from the State Bureau
of Statistics of 1908. She produced
$4,000 bushels of corn, 1,775,OOO
bushels of wheat, 2,S39,O0O bushels
of oats, 45,000,000 tons of sugar
beets and had $4,000 acres of tame
hay besides barley, rye, field peas,
milo, maize, cane millet and many
other forage crops grown to perfec-
ton. Wheat averaged 80 to 65
bushels per acre, oats 40 to 70 bush
els per acre, barley SO to 80 bushels
per acre. Dry farm potatoes pro-
duced from $50 to 800 bushels per
acre and commands premium over
irrigated potatoes. Alfalfa dry farm
ed, will produce two good crops, cut
ting about two tons per acre; under
irrigation it produces much more
The markets are unexcelled owing to
the close proximity to the great min
ing and manufacturing centers of the
west.
The live stock industry of this sec
ton has valuation of nearly $5,-
100000, while Wyoming leads the
world in the production of wool.
Unimproved irrigated lands are SELL