an agricultural community—scientific farming—farmers, the aristocracy of the west—modern improvement—topography—soil—statistics.
atchison county is distinctively an agricultural community. there have been some earnest efforts made in the past to develop its mineral resources, and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that future efforts in that direction will unlock hidden resources of fabulous value. but in the future, as in the past, agriculture will be the big important dividend producer in this county. up to this time it is not unfair to say that only the surface of the soil has been scratched. farming has been the occupation of a very large portion of our people from the days when the first settlers took up their claims and with crude implements, broke the sod, down to this enlightened age, of the riding plow and the traction engine, but scientific husbandry has not been followed on a large scale in this county. crops have been so easy to produce, on account of rich soil and a favorable climate, that the methods employed in countries not so blessed and of a greater population, have not been followed in the past. this is not an arraignment of the former, for atchison county has been peculiarly blessed in its possession of an intelligent lot of thrifty farmers. they have toiled and labored early and late; they have built comfortable homes, accumulated fortunes, and are the sturdy, dependable citizens of the county, but for over sixty years they have lacked organization and the prosperous farmers have succeeded because of their own personal initiative, judgment and hard work. as a class they have not made the progress to which they are justly entitled. those that came early and remained, have in most instances met with rare success, but they worked out their own salvation, unaided by scientific organization.
214one hundred and sixty of them have banded together for mutual help and have secured a county agricultural agent to assist them in this direction, as the rich country in the states east of us have been forced to do. the soil also has an abundance of potash and a creditable amount of phosphorus, so with the proper use of legumes and manure, with the addition of some phosphorus, the fertility of the soil may be increased and maintained indefinitely. if soil washing is stopped and the organic matter in the soil maintained, this county has a soil, that agriculturally speaking, is second to none.
the real aristocracy in the west, will, in future generations, trace its ancestry back to the pioneers, who settled on the land and tilled it. those who went into trade and the professions when they came to atchison county prior to 1860, and in subsequent years, have prospered, in part, by their wits, but in the main, on the farmer. the farmers were then, as now, the real wealth producers and so it has come to pass, after these many years, that the farmer “has arrived,” and with the increase in population and the general trend of advancement and improvement in all human activities, farming now stands near the top of the big human enterprises. the desire for organization and co?peration among the farmers is growing everywhere, and it has taken hold of atchison county in recent years.
the farmer’s life in this county, in the late fifties and early sixties, was a hard and lonely one. during those years many homesteads were pre?mpted, fifteen to twenty-one miles southwest, west and northwest of atchison, and onto these the young pioneers took their wives and families. there they built their log houses, “broke out” their land, and put it to corn and wheat. there were few neighbors, fewer creature comforts, and no conveniences. it was a solitary life.
this history contains biographical sketches of many of these pioneers, and in them will be found the intimate stories of hardships, privations and discomforts. they came to conquer the resources of nature, and they accomplished what they came after. there were no highways over which to convey their crops when harvested, and the ways to the nearest market were long and dreary ones. it was a two days’ trip over the prairies to atchison with a load of grain, and there were few ways to economize time, although, fortunately, time was not an object then, as it is in these restless days.
and yet within the short span of the lives of farmers who are still here, there has been a marvelous development. log houses have given way to fine commodious homes, steam heated and electric lighted; great barns shelter 215the stock, and house the grain; the telephone, the rural delivery and the automobile have revolutionized the farmer’s life and the farmer’s wife. better roads are the order of the day, and it will be along this line that great progress will be made in the immediate future. meanwhile, land values are on the increase, and the quarter sections that sold from $500 to $800 each, fifty years ago, are now bringing $16,000 to $24,000 each. within the year 1915 there has been a general trend of sentiment among the more enterprising farmers to put farming upon a more scientific basis. the services of a farm adviser have been secured, whose duty it is to assist in this direction. they are learning more of food values, crop rotation and diversification, soil culture and plant life. as the value of these things become more apparent, the farming industry will thrive more, and in another generation the problem of keeping the young men and young women on the farm will have been solved.
the richest and most valuable farming land in atchison county is very generally distributed. there are parts of each township that are rough and broken, but as the population increases land not now regarded as choice will be made to produce abundant crops. the river bluffs, which have stood so long in timber, are gradually being cleared and the bare hills which are left, are admirably adapted to fruit, wheat and alfalfa. much of this land is as well adapted to fruit raising as is the already famous wathena district, some of it being exactly the same type of soil. all that is needed is that the fruit growers give their plantations care. the orchard that is properly cared for produces fruit of a quality far superior to that of the famous northwest. incidentally, this land returns the grower a greater net profit.
atchison county lies within the glaciated portion of the plains region. the underlying rocks are buried by the glacial till, but in turn is covered by a deposit of fine silty material, known as loess. practically all the soil throughout this country is derived from the loess covering. the principal soil is a brown, almost black, silty loam, well adapted to the production of general farm crops. the rainfall is sufficient for the maturing of all crops, the normal annual precipitation ranging from fifteen to twenty-five inches. atchison county has a population ranging from 28,000 to 30,000 people. there was a slight decrease in the population between the years of 1900 and 1910, yet, in spite of this apparent unfavorable showing, the value of farm land and farm products have increased. about ninety-five per cent. of the land in this county is in farms, of an average value of $69.26 per acre. the proportionate land area is 263,680 acres, of which 249,339 acres are in farms, 216with an aggregate land value of $17,270,130, which is more than double what it was in 1900, and over two million dollars more than the whole of the louisiana purchase cost us in 1803. figures and statistics are proverbially dry and uninteresting, but there is no place in which they can be more appropriately used than in history, and no language that can be employed could tell a better story of the agricultural progress of atchison county, than the statistics taken from the thirteenth census of the united states. from this source we find that the total value of improvements on the farms in this county in 1910 was $2,692,755, and that the value of the implements and machinery used by the farmers, not including automobiles, was $499,129. while the value of domestic animals and live stock was $2,149,863, and in these figures poultry is not included. the chicken, duck, goose and turkey census reached 150,127, and these were valued at $77,926. the total value of all crops shown by the census of 1910 was as follows:
cereals $1,928,065.00
other grain and seeds 3,577.00
hay and forage 281,793.00
vegetables 94,232.00
fruits and nuts 32,297.00
all other crops 30,883.00
grand total $2,370,847.00
making a grand total of $2,370,847.00.
