Total monthly and annual precipitation-Continued. MANGUM, OKLA. An Year. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual. 1893. 1894. 1895. 6.33 1896. 4.97 1897. 2.28 1898. Average 1.08 1.60 0.68 1.60 2.68 4.95 0.25 0.81 0.55 0.33 1.55 1.34 0.97 3.12 1.62 0.08 0.10 0.67 11.39 2.82 0.95 2.91 0.61 3.55 22.85 0.36 0.21 22.49 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual. 37.8 39.2 43.6 60.8 64.4 74.3 76.2 76.8 72.4 60.8 47.0 44.4 58.1 59.1 64.0 49.8 41.6 59.9 55.7 45.0 38.4 57.9 59.2 46.6 45.0 61.0 66.0 48.6 35.6 59.4 59.0 The rainfall for the first seven month of 1899 at Oklahoma City was as follows: STORMS. Severe storms are of rare occurrence in Oklahoma. The blizzards of winter are disagreeable but seldom severe enough to endanger the life of persons out in them, thunderstorms are few and not severe and cyclones visit the Territory no oftener than any of the North, Central, or Atlantic Coast States. Through the instrumentality of sensational newspaper correspondents and people with ignorant but prejudiced minds, the impression has obtained that Oklahoma is the home of the cyclone and the tornado, and within a few months such generally reliable journals as the Scientific American and Leslie's Weekly displayed unusual credulity by giving credence to a report of cyclones being bombarded with captured Spanish cannon and broken up at Hennessey, Okla., and commented upon and discussed the same at great length. Such stuff as this causes the Western people to lose faith in the reputed intelligence of the East. Oklahoma has not been visited by a severe storm of any kind for over two years, and in the ten years of her existence the records of the Government Weather Bureau Service will show that her cyclones or other storms have been fewer in number than those of Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, or a half dozen other States, and cyclones have killed many more people and ruined manifold more property in each of these States than in Oklahoma. Yet the people of Oklahoma do not call these States the home of the cyclone and sit up nights worrying over the danger to their friends and relatives living there. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. This institution has been of increasing value to the agricultural interests of the Territory. Located at Stillwater and conducted in connection with the Agricultural and Mechanical College it is doing a work of great value to the farmers of Oklahoma in determining the best fruits, grains, and other products for this country. During the past year it has published and distributed eight bulletins reporting the results of completed experiments and has compiled and issued a report of 96 pages summarizing the results of the work of the station since it was established. These publications are printed in editions of 15,000 and prove of great interest and benefit to the people. The station is conducting experiments along many lines with the constant purpose of making them thoroughly practical without losing in the least degree their scientific accuracy and value. Members of the staff attend farmers' institutes throughout the Territory and in every way do their utmost to advance the cause of agricultural education. AGRICULTURE. In fertility of native soil, in equable temperature, in well-distributed rainfall, in facility of tilling the land, and harvesting and marketing crops; in freedom from scourges, of droughts, insects, hot winds, and blizzards; in cheapness of land-in fact, in all resources and conditions which unite to promote and maintain a prosperous and successful agriculture, Oklahoma is unsurpassed, and, taken all in all, is indeed unequaled by any section of similar area in the United States. The soil is of remarkable fertility, and ranges in depth from 2 to 20 feet. It will need no costly fertilizers even in the coming generations, providing the renovating crops, cowpeas and red and crimson clover, which thrive well here, are used judiciously in crop rotation. The farmers of the Atlantic States pay annually for commercial fertilizers the princely sum of $40,000,000. This is essentially an annual tax levied upon the agriculture of that section, in return for which the farmers do not get as large crops as those of Oklahoma, who are exempt from this burden. THE FARMER LEADS. Oklahoma is to-day the most prosperous section of the United States, and the Oklahoma farmer is the leading factor in this prosperity. While our cities and towns have grown and prospered and manufacturing establishments are factors in their development, yet, upon the farmer, the tiller of the soil and the grower of live stock, depends much the greater portion of the business energy of the commonwealth. The handling of what he produces and what he uses and consumes gives much of his occupation to the dweller in the towns or the cities of the Territory. The farmer has converted the raw prairie into fields of grain, orchards of fruit, and gardens of vegetables; his home dots the landscape, his cattle and his sheep cover the hills, his swine run the timber, his horses and mules line the highway conveying to market the products of the land which has been made to bloom as the rose. In no other part of the continent are the farmers so generally prosperous and successful as in Oklahoma. They are building commodious barns and fine houses, riding in new carriages, improving their farms in various ways, purchasing more and better live stock, providing their families with comforts and luxuries, sending their sons and daughters away to school, taking pleasure trips to their old homes in the States, putting money in the bank, and enjoying life generally. The true story of the success of many farmers in Oklahoma reads almost like fiction. The success of Thomas Standard is a very good example of what can be done in Oklahoma, says the Okarche Times of recent issue: He came here four years ago with practically nothing in the way of capital, skirmished around a little, finally got his family here, went in debt for teams, seed, feed, and everything else, but he and the four boys also went to work. They bought a piece of land on time, the first crop was not of much account and they continued "on time." Mr. Standard engaged in buying wheat in Okarche, and the boys ran the farm and picked up any outside work that came along. They have all worked together with a wonderful unanimity, and now have four quarter sections of as good land as Oklahoma affords, a full line of machinery, including a steam thrasher, teams, stock, a half interest in a hardware business, and are in good shape for the future. This year they have a fine crop of over 400 acres of wheat, a large field of corn equal to any grown in Illinois or any other corn State, and are now negotiating for another fine quarter section of land. Good management, plenty of grit, and hard work will make money for anyone in Oklahoma. This is but one of hundreds of similar cases-men alone or with families coming to the Territory without a dollar and in eight or ten years securing a competence for a life of comfort. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. The class of farming to be selected in different portions of Oklahoma depends more on the annual rainfall and its distribution than on soil or other conditions, unless market facilities be an exception. There is poor soil in the Territory, but the great mass of the soil of Oklahoma is at least fairly fertile, given a sufficient supply of moisture. Hot winds sometimes cause much loss to crops, but these would be much less severe if the soil had abundance of water. Bottom or irrigated lands suffer relatively little from, such winds. The meteorological conditions have been studied long enough to make it safe to form some general conclusions, although there are considerable differences in the rainfall between series of years as well as between different years in any series. The distribution of the rainfall through the year is almost as important as is the total for the year. Under the direction of army officers, the rainfall and temperature records have been kept at several forts in Oklahoma and the Indian Territory for a period longer than that since the opening of Oklahoma to settlement. Since 1890 the United States Weather Bureau has had a central observing point at Oklahoma City, to which reports are made from a considerable number of points by voluntary observThe records at the Stillwater Experiment Station are not complete prior to May, 1895. ers. As in the States north and south of Oklahoma, the general rule is that the rainfall decreases from east to west and with increased elevation. The evidence is conclusive that eastern Oklahoma has sufficient rainfall so distributed throughout the year to make the cultivation of most ordinary farm crops reasonably safe, except on high, sloping uplands. It is equally well settled that extreme western Oklahoma is best adapted to grazing purposes, that the soil there had best be left in the natural grass crop, unless irrigation is practicable, or in case of some creek or river bottom land. There is a middle section, the boundary lines of which can not be exactly stated, the fitness or unfitness of which for farm crops can not be stated with equal positiveness. In this section there is most danger of settlers making costly mistakes. The experience of farmers in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas may be studied with profit. There is no good reason for expecting any greatly marked variation in the average rainfall in regions with the same longitude and elevation north or south of Oklahoma. Of cultivated grain crops Kafir and sorghum are safer for uplands in the eastern part of the Territory and for all lands not irrigated west of 98°. Wheat will do well with much less rain than is necessary for corn, as it does not continue its growth through the extremely hot weather. Cotton is quite as subject to injury from excessive rains or wet weather as from moderate drought. Alfalfa is a safer crop than any of the true clovers or the grasses usually cultivated farther north and east. Bermuda grass thrives well in the eastern half of the Territory at least. Bromus inermis and the so-called English blue grass give promise of fair success. Orchard grass seems to offer better promise than timothy, redtop, blue grass, etc. The millets do well generally. Cowpeas, soy beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, melons, and turnips often produce large crops with comparatively little cultivation. Fruit trees make a phenominally rapid growth in eastern Oklahoma. The indications are that much of Oklahoma will prove to be well adapted for growth of apples, peaches, plums, grapes, blackberries, and reasonably well suited for strawberry culture. Further information as to rainfall, temperature, frosts, winds, etc., are given under the head of climate. |