24 AGRICULTURE IN THE SEMIARID GREAT PLAINS, 



number of counties in Kansas near the eastern limit of the region. 

 Emmer and new varieties of oats have helped. Sorghum and, in 

 Kansas and southeastern Colorado, kafir and milo have become 

 important crops. A very few farmers are using what are generally 

 considered good dry-land methods. Most of the region has had an 

 unusual number of wet seasons during the last 10 or 12 years, espe- 

 cially that portion north of the north line of Kansas, most of which 

 has now had five or six unusually favorable seasons in succession. 



But the most potent factor in bringing about more prosperous con- 

 ditions has been the great advance in prices of products, wdiile there 

 has been but slight advance in the farmer's necessary expenses. A 

 few years ago wheat sold at 30 to 40 cents a bushel, where it now 

 brings 80 cents to $1, while the cost of production, aside from rent, 

 has remained almost the same, if it has not actually decreased. 

 Without considering rent, 8 bushels of wheat to the acre is a profit- 

 able crop at present prices. There is more than a living in it. But 

 what was such a crop at 30 cents ? Then, 25 bushels to the acre w^as 

 not as good as 8 bushels now. During several years, when there was 

 a surplus, corn was worth more to burn than to sell. It was cheaper 

 fuel than coal. In fact, there were times when, if the grower were 

 obliged to stay overnight on the trip to market, his load w^ould have 

 scarcely more than paid his expenses if he stayed at a hotel and put 

 liis team in a barn, as he does now. Cattle were correspondingly 

 low; hogs were $2 to .S3 a hundredweight; and eggs and butter were 

 scarcely salable at all. 



Interest is another factor of great importance to the man short of 

 money. Fifteen years ago 2 to 3 per cent a month in advance were 

 common rates of interest on chattel loans. The writer once saw a 

 banker attempt to lend a farmer $64 in return for a note for $100 

 due in one year. This amounts to over 56 per cent interest. Now, 

 very reasonable rates can be secured, though not as low as farther 



east. 



THE AGRICULTURAL FUTURE OF THE REGION. 



The hopes for better results in the future than have been secured 

 in the past lie in (1) the continuance of high prices of agricultural 

 products, (2) the general adoption of better methods of cultivation 

 especially adapted to the conservation of moisture, (3) the intro- 

 duction and development of more drought-resistant varieties of 

 grains, forage croi)s, grasses, and vegetables, (4) the more careful 

 and systematic management of the farm as a whole, (5) a change of 

 attitude among the ])eople from that of sojourners and speculators 

 to that of permanent home builders, and (6) the fact that there is 

 now a considerable ])opulation of "drought-resistant" settlers. 



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