IN A WINDMILL LAND 



ALFALFA THE "MORTGAGE LIFTER" IN 

 NEBRASKA. 



BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS. 



Windmills are getting to be as thick in Nebraska as in Holland. 

 There is at least one at every farm-house to pump water; often 

 another at the barnyard, and sometimes several others at the different 

 corrals or feeding places for cattle. In the towns clusters of wind- 

 mills rise above th roofs and give a quaint and picturesque appear- 

 ance to the landscape. They differ from the Dutch windmills, how- 

 ever. They are open wheels of wood, while in Holland the wheels 

 are usually made of canvas fastened to long arms which revolve very 

 slowly and in a dignified way appropriate to the Dutch character. 

 The Nebraska windmills whirl with great energy at the slightest 

 provocation, illustrative of the character of many citizens of this 

 state, and some of them creak and croak in a most melancholy 

 manner like other citizens that might be described. People who 

 live in the neighborhood soon get used to this disagreeable noise, and 

 do not mind i f j any more than the industrious and progressive 

 elements mind the croaking of the "misfortunists." 



One of the first questions that troubled the settlers of that state 

 was the lack of good water. In early times the travelers on the 

 overland trails had regular stopping places at springs and streams 

 and buffalo holes. Sometimes there was a long stretch of prairie 

 between them, and during the summer they dried up and caused a 

 great deal of trouble and suffering. The soil in certain sections 

 absorbs the rainfall like a sponge. The Platte river often disappears 

 entirely at intervals and leaves its bed as dry as a bone, while the 

 water follows an underground channel. But Nebraska should not be 

 judged entirely by external appearances in this or in many other 

 particulars. There is always plenty of water under the deep rich 

 loam which produces the corn and the other crops of this country an 

 inexhaustible supply that can be obtained by digging or boring in 

 any section of the state. It took a long time to discover this, like 

 other hidden blessings of nature, but its value was appreciated all 

 the more when it became known. Sometimes they do not have to go 

 down more than twenty- five feet, but sixty feet is the average depth 

 of good wells. The water is pure, cold and always plentiful. The 

 common practice is to erect a tank and keep it full by a windmill, 

 which works a pump whenever there is the sli ghtest breezr. The 



