626 EEPORT — 1882. 



the ej'e apparently one vast level plain, it is really a more or less elevated plateau, 

 wliich slopes eastwards at an appreciable angle. The highest, or western portion 

 of the State is about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, while the average height 

 of the whole country may be placed at about 2,375 feet. The main watercourse is 

 the Arkansas River, which has a fall of about six feet in the mile. In spite of the 

 absence of hills, Kansas is singularly free from marshland or swamps. This is due 

 in part to the friable nature of the soil, and in part to the natural slope of the 

 land towards the east. What is known as the ' Great Arkansas Valley of South- 

 Western Kansas,' embraces a width of fifty miles, nearly the whole of which is 

 slopuig upland. The soil here is a sandy loam, of alluvial origin, and of great 

 depth and fertility. A remarkable peculiarity of the Arkansas lliver is that it 

 never overflows its banks, but, so to say, underflows them. The water filters 

 through the gravelly stratum underlyiug the surface-soil of the valley, and may 

 always be found by digging for it. _ 



From a meteorological point of view, Kansas may be said to be divided into 

 three distinct zones, marked off by the amoimt of rainfall. In the extreme east, 

 the rainfall assimilates itself to that of IMissouri, and is ample for all purposes of 

 agricidture. In the middle zone, which may be said to lie in Central Kansas, the 

 rainfall is less, but yet amply suihcient for all purposes of farming or pastm-age. 

 The vegetation here is extraordinarily profuse, and is subtropical in character. The 

 third and last zone lies in the western and south-western portions of the State. 

 Here the climate assimilates itself to that of Colorado, and the rainfall is insulhcieut 

 for agriculture, though suihcient for grazing purposes. It would seem, however, 

 that the limits of the zone of moderate rainfall are constantly proceeding west as 

 civilisation advances westwards. Twenty-five years ago, the frontier of agricidtural 

 production was placed at about the 96th degree of Western longitude. Ten years 

 later it had advanced to the 97th, five j-ears later to the 98th, while to-day it may be 

 said to extend to the 100th. Along with this advance the character of the flora of the 

 country has appreciablj- changed. The ' blue stem ' grass and other plants which 

 requii'e moisture have displaced the buffalo or 'gramma ' grass which is the natural 

 covering of the great plains. Whether the procession of the rainfall will continue 

 to advance as heretofore, when once it has reached the 100th meridian of west longi- 

 tude, ma)' fairh' be open to question. The prevailing winds from May to September 

 are from the south and south-west. But inasmuch as the western limit of the 

 Gulf of Mexico is in the 98th meridian, it follows that these winds must blow over 

 the arid and thirsty soil of Mexico, and therefore will contain little moisture. 

 Hence this western portion of Kansas must long continue to be an essentially dry 

 country. Much, later on, may indeed be done by judicious irrigation, and some- 

 thing possibly by artesian wells. Cultivation will no doubt iu time modify the 

 climate of Western Kansas, as it has modified that of Central. But the pro- 

 cess will be slower and accompanied by greater difficulties. The past history 

 of Kansas, however, forbids us to doubt that iu time these difficulties will either be 

 overcome, or will have ceased to exist. The people of Kansas are a remarkable 

 class of settlers even for Western America. The settlement of the country has 

 been helped much by excellent natural roads, and Ijy a more than usually energetic 

 and intelligent population. But after all it is really the railway which has made 

 Kansas what she is to-day. It is the absence of this American energy and business 

 enterprise which keeps large portions of our Australian colonies so for behind. 

 The railways brought settlers to Kansas, and developed the country with a rapidity 

 and thoroughness which would otherwise have been impossible. One railway has 

 done it all. The history of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad is really 

 the history of Kansas. To the energy, the sagacity, the business acumen, and the 

 capital of that corporation, the prosperity of Kansas is mainly due. This is an 

 important fact which should not be lost sight of in some of our own southern 

 colonies, whose physical and political conditions are much the same as those of 

 Kansas were a few years ago. 



