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Show REVEL IN MOISTURE Famed Short Grass Country Of Kansas 'Outgrows' Name GARDEN CITY, KAN. Famed since covered wagon days as the short grass country, the great high plains area extending roughly from central Kansas to the Colorado foothills foot-hills is "outgrowing" its name this year. "Where's the short grass?" That's a common question as nystified visitors in this western re-$ gion look around this .season. The short grass has become long grass, die often short wheat is tall wheat and the country itself just doesn't look the same. Nature is running riot. Moisture penetrates the ground to a depth of 8 to 12 feet. In May, sometimes a dry month, 5.28 inches of rain fell here. During the wheat growing season since September fields have been Boaked .by 23.29 inches of rain. From the days when there was little but buffalo to see the plains and fatten on them, the grass, known as buffalo grass or short grass, has been famous for its succulence despite the fact that it lies close to the ground, never growing tall like bluegrass. But this year even that type of grass what little the plows have left as virgin sod is taller and more luxuriant than ever before. In the sandhills, along the Arkan- sas river pastures are growing so fast that an extraordinarily large number of cattle can be grazed. Even the sagebrush and cactus are reveling in the moisture. It is the wheat itself, however, which shows the most marked benefit bene-fit from the soaking. Mothers are 1 i getting afraid to let children play around the fields if they venture far among the stalks they may be hard to find. . Many fields have wheat up to men's shoulders. Where fields have been sowed right up to- narrow roads, motorists enjoy reaching out of car windows to pluck the large, perfectly filled heads. Some fields' are eo large that -a person cannot see across them from a car." Combines in some cases make a three-mile drive without turning. Truly it is a record-breaking year for western Kansas. |