“ The rich bottom-lands of the numerous rivers occupy a large area, and beyond these the prairies are everywhere covered with a layer of humus, sand mixed with vegetable mold, from two to three and in some places even ten feet thick. This humus is extremely fertile, especially in the eastern half of the State, where it is rich and black, gradually becoming lighter and browner toward the west. ”

“ In 1900 24 per cent. of the wheat crop of the State was ground by the State mills. The production of cheese, butter, and condensed milk by the factory process is of but recent origin in Kansas, but the increase from 1890 to 1900 was very significant. The importance of car and general shop construction and repairs is also due to the State's large agricultural interests, inasmuch as the extensive railroad mileage and facilities are required to handle the farm products. The zinc-smelting industry has been almost wholly the development of the last decade. ”

“ Barometric conditions, however, are unstable, and the State is subject to frequent tornadoes, and to hail and thunder storms of great severity. In summer great injury to crops is sometimes wrought by the hot winds which sweep across the fields, scorching everything that has life.
With proper irrigation of the western lands there is very little soil in Kansas unfit for agriculture. Glacial drift covers considerable portions with a rich soil, which, however, is seldom more than two feet thick. ”

“ Though Kansas is primarily an agricultural State and devoid of mountains, yet its mineral deposits are of great value. Deposits of bituminous coal are found in at least five seams of workable thickness in the eastern portion, and probably underlie more than half of the State. The natural gas which occurs in the southeastern part is utilized largely for fuel and smelting purposes. Lead and zinc ores occur in intimate association in the limestone of the Lower Carboniferous in the southeast, where the strata have been tilted. ”

“ The raising of such enormous crops of corn and other stock feed has resulted in the development of a large stock-raising industry. In general the greatest development was that between 1880 and 1890, although the following decade witnessed a very remarkable gain in the number of neat cattle other than dairy cows. The value of this variety of farm stock is half that of all domestic animals. Extensive areas of prairie land in the western part of the State are used for grazing. ”

“ Kansas being centrally situated and one of the last of the Mississippi Valley States to be settled, the population is more representative of every part of the country than of most of the other Western States, this condition being especially accentuated in the early period of settlement, owing to the slavery struggle—both the North and the South having attempted to secure control of the field. Kansas contrasts with the other Mississippi Valley States farther north also in the smallness of the foreign-born population, which amounted in 1900 to only 126,685. ”

“ In summer the temperature is often very high during the day, but the nights are invariably cool. The mean annual temperature ranges from 52° in the north to 58° in the south. The mean rainfall for the whole State is 26.42 inches, but it ranges from 40 inches in the east to 15 in the west. The line indicating a mean rainfall of 20 inches, the least precipitation with which agriculture can subsist without irrigation, crosses the State about one-third of its length from the western boundary, and in dry years is shifted as far east as the centre. ”

“ Not more than three propositions to amend can be submitted at the same election, and they must be voted upon separately. If demanded by two-thirds of the members elected to each House, the question of calling a constitutional convention must be voted on by the people at the next general election, and if approved by a majority of the electors voting, the Legislature shall provide for the convening of such a convention. A residence of six months in the State and thirty days in the township or ward is required for the exercise of the ballot. ”

“ Kansas lies within the Great Plains, which stretch in a broad belt from the Missouri River to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Its surface rises gradually from an altitude of 750 feet in the extreme eastern part to about 4000 feet on the western boundary. The average altitude is about 2000 feet, the contour line for that height crossing the State a little to the west of the centre. The highest point is in the extreme west—4440 feet. There are no eminences rising more than 500 feet above the general level. ”

“ In the Civil War Kansas sent into the field a larger number of soldiers, in proportion to its population, than any other State. The eastern part of the State lay exposed to the incursions of Confederates from Missouri. On August 23, 1863, Quantrell's guerrillas raided the town of Lawrence and killed a large number of the inhabitants. The cessation of war was followed immediately by a great influx of immigrants, who swept steadily westward, unchecked by the repeated assaults of the hostile Indian tribes. ”

“ From 1880 to 1900 there was a very remarkable increase in the number of rented farms, the percentage of which increased from 16.3 per cent. in 1880 to 35.2 per cent. in 1900, the tenants on shares being more than twice as numerous as the cash tenants.
Kansas has risen with great rapidity to the front ranks of the agricultural States. In 1900 only one State—Iowa—had a larger acreage in crops. In the census decade 1880-90 the acreage increased 83.1 per cent., and in that following 24.6 per cent. ”

“ Some of these institutions receive and care for indigent persons without charge. Others make a charge for all who enter.
Education. In 1900 the illiterate population 10 years of age and over amounted to only 2.3 per cent. of the population, there being but two States which had a better record. This result was attained notwithstanding the fact that the State's compulsory attendance law has been a dead letter. Since the population is largely rural, Kansas has had to contend with the problem of rural education in an exaggerated form. ”

“ The Free State men, meanwhile, refusing to acknowledge the legality of the Territorial Government, initiated a movement for establishing a State Government without an enabling act on the part of Congress. A convention of Free State men met at Topeka, October 23, 1855, and adopted a State Constitution prohibiting slavery after July 4, 1857, but excluding negroes from the State. An election was held December 15th, and the Constitution was accepted. ”

“ The Methodists are the largest religious body in the State, having more than twice the membership of any other Protestant denomination. Among the large number of other sects represented, the most important are the Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Lutherans, Congregationalists, and Friends. ”

“ For several years the parole system has been in operation at the State Industrial Reformatory. The Governor, under the exercise of his pardoning power, has applied the parole system to the State penitentiary, although there has been no law explicitly authorizing it. There are 14 private institutions in the State engaged wholly or partly in charitable work, receiving aid in the way of appropriations. In each of the fiscal years 1900-01 the Legislature made an appropriation of $700 to each of them. ”

“ A marked improvement in the efficiency of teachers in general is now in progress. There is a State normal school at Emporia, and there are a number of private normal schools whose graduates are entitled to a three-year State certificate upon passing an examination in the professional courses. ”

“ The tributaries of the Arkansas within the State are mostly small streams, but the southeastern corner is drained by the large Neosho River and its main affluent, the Verdigris, which flow southward and enter the Arkansas in Indian Territory. ”

“ In the middle and eastern sections the rainfall is sufficient, and almost the entire area is included in farms. The total farm land in the State is 79.7 per cent. of its surface, of which 60.1 per cent. is improved (1900) . The greatest absolute increase of farm land was made in the decade 1870-80, and of improved land in the following decade. During the last two decades of the nineteenth century the average size of farms increased from 154.6 acres to 240.7 acres. ”

“ Some petroleum is also obtained in this region. Salt is mined in the central portion of the State, the yield in 1900 being 2,233,000 barrels, and giving the State third rank. Stone quarried in 1900, principally limestone, was valued at $424,639. The production of cement and gypsum is also worthy of note.
Agriculture and Stock-Raising. Kansas is preëminently an agricultural State. The greatest obstacle to the industry is in the western part of the State, and is attributable to the lack of rainfall. ”

“ The results therefore have been generally disappointing. A greater degree of success seems to be promised through the utilization of ground waters by the use of windmills and the building of small storage reservoirs. ”

“ The table appended covers the seven most important industries for the years 1890-1900. It will be seen that the industries are concerned with the transformation of the raw products of the farm into manufactured products. ”