New settlers did come in, chiefly from the South. To- 

 gether with the farmers aheady estabhshed they con- 

 verted virgin soil to fruitful lands. Among the harvests 

 was practically a bumper crop of tobacco in 1883. In 

 that year 778,400 pounds were produced for the market. 

 Everyone was encouraged to go on. True, the work was 

 hard but there were compensations. And, as a contempo- 

 rary writer remarked : 



life here is toned up to healthful tension . . . 

 One feels like business in this rare, radiant at- 

 mosphere. Nothing drags here. Everybody feels 

 fresh, and youthful, and self-commanding. 

 Nothing denotes age but the rocks and the hills. 



JL obacco farmers try again 



The cultivation of tobacco for cash crops would have 

 been extended had there been practical encouragement 

 to continue the industry. But the price of Kansas tobacco 

 in primary markets began to decHne. It had been 10 

 cents a pound in the 1880's; 8 cents the pound in the 

 1890's and was down to less later. Before the end of the 

 century, production was confined to 80 acres. 



Early in the 1900's an effort was made to revive in- 

 terest in tobacco-growing among farmers in southern 

 Kansas, around Cofl^eyville. A local merchant. Colonel 

 Sharp, formerly of Kentucky, was convinced that Kansas- 

 grown tobacco would bring better prices than it had if 



