Year: 1875

One of the objections to the construction
/ of railroad from the Missouri to the Pa


cific, when that project was first all


nouDced, was the baTrenness Of large pOr
\ ton of the country through which the


road would pass. The "alkali district


through which the Union Pacific is 10


Gated, was specially mentioned as beyond
all hope of rendering productive. This
! statement was admitted to be true by the
! friends of the enterprise, and he vast eX.
! tent of country known as the "alkali dis
| trict" was regarded as utterly worthless
| for agricultural purposes. 1t is true that
some experiments, made by army officers
/ in cultivating this alkali soil, proved that
4 the first crop of vegetables grown upon
such land were so strongly favored with
! saleratus that beets, when dried and
ground, made very fair baking-powder,
! but the second crop contained but slight
trace of the alkali, while third crop was
entirely free from it, This was the only
experiment that we have seen which indi-
Gated the possibility of converting these
barren alkaline lands into fertile fields.


But now comes the astounding discov-
cry that since the railroad has been built
and operated, these bad lands-this soil,
impregnated with saleratus-are becoming
green with wholesome and nutritious
grasses, upon which the herds of the plains
feed and grow fat. The reasonable pros
pect is that these desolate plains are now
undergoing a change which will soon fit
them for all agricultural purposes. There
seems, as vet, to be no scientific eXplana-
ton of this remarkable transition from ut
ter barrenness TO exuberant fertility. The
only theory given is that the railroad has
produced the change How the iron track
and the passing trains have wrought this
wonderful change is not included in this
development theory. No other or better
reason being ready for use, the wonderful
phenomenon is set down to the influence of
the iron rails and the locomotive.


But the theory of change as produced
by the railroad upon sterile land is backed
no by precedent which it is claimed is
afforded bv the construction of the Hanni-
bal and st. Joseph Railroad. The lands
along the line of that road, at the time it
was located, were held to be worthless for
agricultural purposes, and it was only
from the advantages which the line pre-
sented in securing large through bust
ness, that the location was considered at
all justiiable. The project was one which
Eastern capitalists indorsed, while West
6rn men who knew the country considered
IL ucStilulS Vi any dHNdutd0cS 81 ldI as lO-
cal traffic was concerned. The road was
built, and, after being in operation a few
years, the character of the soil along the
line seemed to change, and from being
sterile became productive. And now there
are as fine farm-lands in that barren region
as can be found anywhere. Tie local
business furnished by the products of this
land to the Hannibal and st Joe, and by
the people engaged in their cultivation, is
said TO be very large and is constantly IN
creasing No other reason for this change
in the character of the soil is given than
the influence produced by the railroad.
There is no explanation of the process, but
the fact is held to be conclusive.


fit be true that railroad makes fruit
full the barren soil, new influence not
heretofore realized is to be classed among
its advantages. 1t would seem that the
last days are at hand when, according to
the prophetic voice, "the wilderness shall
blossom as the rose e.'-DGyton (Ohso)
Journal.