Il6 FOREST PLANTING. 



on the more arid scene as if in their chosen home. But no consider- 

 able part of the plains between the Platte and the Arkansas is so arid 

 as to be destitute of vegetation, although the change in the flora 

 is rather distinctly marked as we pass from the middle of Kansas 

 westward. 



Like any other extensive area, the plains exhibit a variety of soils, 

 but the fertile greatly exceed in extent the unfertile districts. Loam, 

 with greater or less mixture of vegetable matter, is the prevailing soil, 

 the proportions of sands and clays differing greatly in different local- 

 ities. The patches of sand or gravel of meager fertility, or of alkaline 

 clays, unsuited to general plant growth, are very small in proportion 

 to the whole area, and with irrigation in some parts, and without it in 

 others, the entire region would prove, on trial, to be productive, with 

 as small a share of waste land as some of the most favored States. 

 The value of the plains for production is more affected by peculiar- 

 ities of climate than by poverty of soil. 



EXPERIMENTS IN CULTIVATION ORDERED. 



Twenty years ago the lands available for general agriculture west 

 of the State of Missouri were supposed to lie in a belt of not more 

 than one hundred miles in width, extending north and south. I^yen 

 when the Territory of Kansas was organized, the whole area west of 

 Missouri and east of the mountains was of doubtful value in public 

 estimation ; and emigration was stimulated by political considerations 

 rather than by correct knowledge or appreciation of the country. 

 Beyond the narrow belt, and stretching away to the mountains, was 

 the unfruitful waste, as popularly estimated. Its possible future use- 

 fulness for pastoral purposes had been at times suggested, but the 

 day for its actual occupancy, if ever to arrive, was regarded as far 

 distant. The settlers, however, soon ventured beyond the supposed 

 boundary of productiveness ; and as they increased in numbers, the 

 area of available lands was found to extend itself westward, as if to 

 meet their necessities. The construction of the railway brought 

 increased emigration, more accurate knowledge of the resources of 

 the country, and a firmer confidence in its future. By 1870 settle- 



