CLIMATE AND SOIL. The climate of Kansas is in general very pleasant; the air is clear and dry, and sunny days by far predominate. The winters are as a mild and dry, though severe cold waves sometimes occur. 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 rears is shifted as far east as the centre. This shows that in the western half, or at least in the western third of the State, agriculture cannot depend on a sufficient rainfall, and, in fact, disastrous droughts have several' times occurred in this region. One favorable circumstance, however, lies in the fact that most of the rain falls, in the early summer, when the crops are most in need of it. The prevailing winds are from the northwest. 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 por tions with a rich soil, which, however, is seldom more than two feet thick. In the northeast are extensive deposits of loess, in some places 100 feet thick. and thinning gradually westward. This is a fine brown marl mingled with clay, and is of great fertility. 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 vegeta ble 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.
For FLORA and FAUNA, see these headings in the article UNITED STATES.