KANSAS 



3204 



KANSAS 



by accommodating larger districts to afford 

 better instruction), there is work of high school 

 and even of normal grade. Normal schools 

 are in operation at Emporia, Hays and Pitts- 

 burg. 



Among the institutions of higher learning 

 are the state university at Lawrence; the state 

 agricultural college at Manhattan; and such 

 private institutions as Baker University at 

 Baldwin, the College of Emporia at Emporia, 

 Fairmount College at Wichita, Friends Uni- 

 versity at Wichita, Ottawa University at 

 Ottawa and Washburn College at Topeka. 



rounding country. ' But there is a difference 

 in the plains. In the east they ^re part of the 

 central prairie region; in the west, of the great 

 plain which forms one of the steps up toward 

 the Rocky Mountains. The slope is so gentle, 

 however, that a person traversing the state does 

 not realize that at the eastern boundary he is 

 but 800 feet above sea level, while at the 

 western he has risen to almost 4,000 feet. The 

 lowest point, in the southeast, is 725 feet in 

 altitude; the highest, on the western border, 

 3,906 feet; and the average for the state is 

 1,800 feet. Throughout the state there is little 



O Parsons 



Qa Independence o 



Arkansas CityV Coffeyville Q 



OUTLINE MAP OF KANSAS 



Showing boundaries, location of principal cities, rivers, coal deposits and supply of natural gas, 

 and the highest point of land in the state. 



Religion. Of the church communicants, 

 who include somewhat more than one-fourth 

 of the population, approximately one-fourth 

 belong to the Methodist Church, the strong- 

 est religious body in the state. No other 

 Protestant Church has half as many mem- 

 bers, but the Roman Catholics number over 

 93,000. The Friends, or Quakers, are well rep- 

 resented, and there are several communities of 

 Mennonites. 



Physical Features. Surface and Soil. Kan- 

 sas is one of the prairie states, and almost its 

 whole surface is a gently rolling plain, with 

 occasional rounded hills which never reach a 

 greater height than 500 feet above the sur- 



rugged scenery save along the Missouri River, 

 where sheer bluffs rise to heights of 200 feet, 

 and in the valleys of a few other rivers in the 

 east, which are so sharply worn away as to 

 be almost gorges. 



The northeastern part of Kansas lay ages 

 ago in the region of glaciers (see GLACIAL 

 PERIOD), and like all other glaciated areas it 

 has a very rich soil, but really no better than 

 that of the rest of the state. Each section has 

 its own particular excellence, even the west, 

 where water famine interferes with agriculture, 

 possessing a wonderfully fertile soil. The seller 

 of commercial fertilizers finds small market for 

 his wares in Kansas. 



