Evening star., 1934-08-26
BY JAMES M. CAMPBELL.

BY JAMES M. CAMPBELL.
IF THERE is word which West
erners particularly dislike it is the
word drought. They will admit
4 readily enough that their State
or their country has occasionally
short or "only a fair" crop. But
only under severe pressure will they
concede that it ever suffers from
drought. Yet they know full well
that drought is no rarity in the wheat
and corn producing sections Of the
West. Indeed, there probably never
has been a year when every part Of
the Mississippi region had all
the rain it needed.
One wear the Dakotas will have
enough and to spare, whereas Nebraska
and Kansas will not. Next year, or
the year after, the exact opposite will
occur. But-note this carefully-Such
a thing as complete failure Of crops
throughout the West, caused by insult
ficient rainfall, is unknown. Even
this year, perhaps the worst in his
tory, there are fair to middling yields
in many parts Of the drought-Stricken
area.
What sets 1884 apart from other
years Of disaster is not so much the
intensity of the drought as the fact
that 1t extends over so wide a ter
ritory Iowa, Minnesota and Wiscon-
sin-yes. and Illinois and Missouri.
too-which have, almost always all
the moisture they require-have been
hit as hard as Western Nebraska and
Western Kansas, where farming IS a
"chancy" occupation at best. But
Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin Will
come back. In another three or four
years the hardships they are enduring
will be forgotten, or, if not quite that,
will be remembered as one, remembers
q bad dream.
Time Of Rain Only Doubt.
The same can be said of those parts
of North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne
braska and Kansas which lie well east
of the hundredth meridian. They may
not average quite so many inches Of
rain per annum as do the States this
side of the Missouri, but, nine years
in ten, they have enough. The ques-
ton that interests the people OF those
sections is not will 1t ratn?" but
Wlen Will IL TdlI! AIICy w AOS
doubt that it will.
West of the hundredth meridian, IN
what used to be land still Isl called
the Short Grass Country-and before
that the Buffalo Country, and before
that the Great American Desert-in-
terest in the weather expresses itself
somewhat differently. There, as their
forefathers have done from time i'm
memorial, men look at the sky. But
the question they ask themselves is
not when will it rain?" but "will 1t
rain?" They are not sure, and the
uncertainty gets on their nerves. They
know that if rain does not come
there'll be the devil to pay. 1t has
not come this. year and the devils
to pay.
Where, precisely, is the short-grass
country? What is it like? Well, 1t
begins at or about the hundredth
meridian west of Greenwich and it
extends as far West as the foothills
of the Rockies, 300 miles distant. Its
northern extremity is the Canadian
line, its southern, Midwestern Texas,
Specifically, it includes the western
third of North Dakota, South Da-
kota, Nebraska and Kansas, the whole
of the Texas Panhandle as we'll as in
determinate parts Of Montana, Wyom-
ing and Colorado. Its area is ap-
proximately 100000 square miles.
Bison Ranged Over Area.
In its natural state the surface of
this area is covered with thick
growth of short grass which, as re-
Gently as so years ago, afforded sus-
tenance for uncounted millions of
bison. BY 1883 the last great herd
of bison had been destroyed and the
short-grass country, their habitat
for centuries, was open for settlement.
Long before that, though, it had been
recognized as "a mighty good COW
country and stockmen and their
herds of half-wild cattle had moved
into it in increasing numbers. The
Simon-pure farmer came later.
Of the climate of the short-grass
country this can be said: 1t is ex-
ceptionally healthful. The Summers
are hot, the Winters cold and wind
storms of considerable violence are
not uncommon. Its great drawback
is insufficient and uncertain rainfall.
The statement has been made, time
and again, that the short-graSs
country does not need much rain.
Western Nebraska and Western Kan
sas are cited as proof There seven
tenths Of the rainfall comes in the
crop-growing season, when it is
needed most; and because of the un-
usual poroSity of the soil, nine-tenths
of it sinks into the ground where it
falls. So, the argument runs. the
region can get along very nicely with
several inches a year less rainfall
than other sections require. They
can-if everything works out exactly
as it should.
Yet, in the 1880s and 1905, the
short-grass country was regarded
with a good deal of favor. Real es-
tate agents, railroad officials and the
agricultural departments of half
dozen States beyond the Missouri, if
not wildly enthusiastic about it, be-
lieved that its advantages outweighed
its disadvantages. They pointed to
its record. In 80 years it had had
18 good" 4 great" l fair" and
short" crops and failures. Not
bad for a country where raw land
could be had for the taking and i'm
proved land for as little as SIS an
acre! There were other advantages.
Farming was ridiculously easy. There
were no trees to be chopped down,