Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1878 — Page 3 Advertisements Column 1 [ADVERTISEMENT]

FREE HOMES.

Ths tat Limestone Belt of Kansas. The Attractive Region of the West. BY MAJOR H. INMAN. The “ Great Central Plaine" are a geographical feature of the State of Kansas. Covered with a remarkably nutritious vegetation, for centuries they were an immense pasturage for countless herds of buffalo, antelope and other ruminating animals, whose habitat was the far-stretching green prairies that to-day form one of the most beautiful agricultural portions of the Mississippi Valley. Less than ten years ago this region was believed, by the mass of the people in the East, to be an unprofitable desert, but it Is now the acknowledged garden of the Continent This truly maniflcent country can claim the most luxuriant soil of all the “Great West," and a climate that approaches perfection, at least. Dr. B. E. Fryer, one of the most eminent surgeons in the Army, and who was stationed for years at Fort Harker, four miles from the Town of Ellsworth, declared thia to be “the most perfect climate in the world.” The whole country is traversed by a series of constant streams, sweet and wholesome springs and spring-fed pools. De» licious water Is also always obtained in wells, by digging, at easily-accesslble depths. It is already conceded that the United States is rapidly becoming the granary of the world, particularly in the production of wheat. Kansas, an Empire in itself, is taking the lead in the culture of this cereal, and in a short time will be acknowledged queen of all the States in the production of this great staple. The State, especially her peculiarly-wondcrful fertile central area, comprised In what is now known as the “limestone belt,” under the test of only a few years,' has proved to the world the immense average its soil is capable of. Each year increases the limit of the wheat-belt, as the frontier is pushed toward the mountains, within which are found the greatest possibilities, agriculturally.

It is a remarkable fact that nearly all the lands of the Kansas Pacific Railway are included tn the limestone region under consideration, and that south of this limit, in that direction, it ceases altogether, and the countnr presents another geological formation, the soQ of which is very sandy, and which, though at present, from fullness of its very primitiveness, is capable of producing good crops in seasons of abundant rainfall, lacks the inherent qualities of self-fertilization, and must rapidly deteriorate. In this particular the Smoky Hill Valley is immensely superior to the aronacious lands of the regiojf south, which is drained by the Arkansas anq tributary streams. It la well known by every farmer that lime, in some of its combinations/ constitutes the essential ingredient in all she more valuable grains and grasses. Its presence In the soil is consequently to be considered as a condition of fertility. It also acts as a constitutional ameliorant, qf much power, and, when mixed with or underlying tough or viscid clay, it renders them friable and consequently more susceptible to the action of atmospheric forces. Soil iu which there is a due admixture of calcareous matter, is not so liable to be injured or rendered plastic by an excess of moisture while under erop. The quality of the wheat raised in this great limestone belt” is conceded, in all markets, to be the finest grade known. * It produces the familiar brands of so-called Southern flour, for which St. Louis is justly celebrated. This is easily accounted for, from the fact that the soil in which the wheat is grown possesses a due admixture of calcareous matter, which has a tendency to make the hull of the grain much thinner, and the farina itself in much greater quantity, and in richer quality, than in grain grown on the landswhicn exhibit a deficiency of this earth. An our millers will testify to the peculiar flour-making properties of our wheat, in this essential, surpassing that raised in other sections, and it is attributed entirely to the fact—which the analysis of the soil confirms—that this so-called “ limestone belt" possesses all the requisites of the best wheat land in the world. Sand, it is well known, is injurious when it enters too largely into the composition of cultivated soils; in other words, it is useless beyond a certain proportion. That the “ limestone belt,” or “wonderful wheat region of Central Kansas,” as it is sometimes called, has the amount of silex or silica—the basis of sand—fixed in the proper proportion, is evident, from the fact that it requires peculiar conditions to “lodge” the grain in the field, even after the most terrific showers. Considering the question of the relative fertility, particularly in its connection with wheat culture, present richness of soil and endurance must enter as essential elements of success, and the capacity of the selffertilization of the land, an ingredient not to be overlooked. The latter quality a limestone region alone can possess, as only a limited knowledge of agricultural chemistry clearly demonstrates. Viewing the subject of wheat culture, then, in all its aspects, so far as Kansas is concerned, an inspection of the Smoky Hill Valley, and the arenaceous region south, coupled with a fair idea Of what the culture of wheat requires, the conclusion can lead only in one direction—to the infinitely superior advantage of the “ limestone belt.” Prospectively, from purely physical causes, this great inland region must reach the position of one of the richest agricultural portions of the United States. Only a very few years ago—not a decade—husbandry here was purely tenative. From absolutely no dew, eight years ago, this region is as favored in that particular as anv that can be named. From lying outside of the “ rain belt,” so termed, this region has had to be “taken in." The quantity of water in the streams has augmented, springs have burst forth where none existed before—in short, just the converse of that meteorological phenomenon has been evolved here, under the march of civilization, which ta\es in a heavily-timbered country under the same social conditions. The following statistics of the rainfall clearly prove the accuracy of the foregoing statement; The Fall of Rain and Melted Snow, in inches, at Forts Hays, Larned and Dodge, for the last five yean, as shown by the Daily Meteorological Records kept by the United States Government at the Posts named: CKKTBAL SOUTHEBN KANSAS. KANSAS. TXAR. " - " —————— Fort Fort Fort Hays. Larned. Dodge. Vft1........ M 62 - ’l9 23 19.00 1874. §7 06 27 73 23.05 1876... 82 08 17.80 16.36 1876 86.90 18.49 21.56 1877 86.40 81.89 31.48 Toted.... 183.96 116 IT IH-44 Average per annum 82.59 23.03 22 29 These are someof the .facts in relation to the agricultural possibilities of this region, and these, coupled with the atory of the paat harvest, are sufficiently confirmatory of the inducements this portion of the Great Plains offer. Under the liberal policy of the Government, and the Kanww Pacific Railway Company, immigrants are invited to this really superb region, with the assurance that its beauty and inducements cannot be dteggerated by any pen-picture. For further information about Kansas, and especially the region described, address LAND COMMISSIONED KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY,