Part 22

The city of Kano appears on the map of the Arab geographer, Idrisi, A.D. 1145, and the hill of Dala is mentioned in the earliest records as the original site of Kano. Barth, however, concluded that the present town does not date earlier than the second half of the 16th century, and that before the rise of the Fula power (c. 1800) scarcely any great Arab merchant ever visited Kano. The present town may be the successor of an older town occupying a position of similar pre-eminence. Kano submitted to the Fula without much resistance, and under them in the first half of the 19th century flourished greatly. It was visited by Hugh Clapperton, an English officer, in 1824, and in it Barth lived some time in 1851 and again in 1854. Barth's descriptions of the wealth and importance of the city attracted great attention in Europe, and Kano was subsequently visited by several travellers, missionaries, and students of Hausa, but none was permitted to live permanently in the city. In the closing years of the century, Kano became the centre of resistance to British influence, and the emir, Alieu, was the most inveterate of Fula slave raiders. In February 1903 the city was captured by a British force under Colonel T. L. N. Morland, and a new emir, Abbas, a brother of Alieu, installed.

After the occupation by the British in 1903 the province was organized for administration on the same system as that adopted throughout northern Nigeria. The emir on his installation takes an oath of allegiance to the British Crown, and accepts the position of a chief of the first class under British rule. A resident is placed at his court, and assistant residents have their headquarters in the administrative districts of the province. British courts of justice are established side by side with the native courts throughout the province. Taxation is assessed under British supervision and paid into the native treasury. A fixed portion is paid by the emir to the British government. The emir is not allowed to maintain a standing army, and the city of Kano is the headquarters of the British garrison. The conditions of appointment of the emirs are fully laid down in the terms accepted at Sokoto on the close of the Sokoto-Kano campaign of 1903. Since the introduction of British rule there has been no serious trouble in the province. The emir Abbas worked loyally with the British and proved himself a ruler of remarkable ability and intelligence. He was indefatigable in dispensing justice, and himself presided over a native court in which he disposed of from fifty to a hundred cases a month. He also took an active interest in the reform and reorganization of the system of taxation, and in the opening of the country to trade. He further showed himself helpful in arranging difficulties which at times arose in connexion with the lesser chiefs of his province.

The province of Kano is generally fertile. For a radius of 30 m. round the capital the country is closely cultivated and densely populated, with some 40 walled towns and with villages and hamlets hardly half a mile apart. Kano district proper contains 170 walled towns and about 450 villages. There are many streams, but water is chiefly obtained from wells 15 to 40 ft. deep. The principal crops are African grains, wheat, onions, cotton, tobacco, indigo, with sugar-cane, cassava, &c. The population is chiefly agricultural, but also commercial and industrial. The chief industries are weaving, leather-making, dyeing and working in iron and pottery. Cattle are abundant. (See NIGERIA: _History_; and SOKOTO.)

Consult the _Travels_ of Heinrich Barth (new ed., London, 1890); _Hausaland_, by C. H. Robinson (London, 1896); Northern Nigeria, by Sir F. D. Lugard, in vol. xxii. _Geographical Journal_ (London, 1904); _A Tropical Dependency_, by Lady Lugard (London, 1905); the Colonial Office _Reports_ on Northern Nigeria from 1902 onward, and other works cited under NIGERIA. (F. L. L.)

KANSAS (known as the "Sunflower State"), the central commonwealth of the United States of America, lying between 37 deg. and 40 deg. N. lat. and between 94 deg. 38' and 102 deg. 1' 34" W. long. (i.e. 25 deg. W. long, from Washington). It is bounded on the N. by Nebraska, on the E. by Missouri, on the S. by Oklahoma, and on the W. by Colorado. The state is nearly rectangular in shape, with a breadth of about 210 m. from N. to S. and a length of about 410 m. from E. to W. It contains an area of 82,158 sq. m. (including 384 sq. m. of water surface).

_Physiography._--Three physiographic regions may be distinguished within the state--the first, a small portion of the Ozark uplift in the extreme south-east corner; the second, the Prairie Plains, covering approximately the east third of the state; the third, the Great Plains, covering the remaining area. Between the latter two there is only the most gradual transition. The entire state is indeed practically an undulating plain, gently sloping from west to east at an average of about 7 ft. per mile. There is also an inclination in the eastern half from north to south, as indicated by the course of the rivers, most of which flow south-easterly (the Kansas, with its general easterly course, is the principal exception), the north-west corner being the highest portion of the state. The lowest point in the state in its south-east part, in Montgomery county, is 725 ft. above sea level. The average elevation of the east boundary is about 850 ft., while contour lines of 3500-3900 ft. run near the west border. Somewhat more than half the total area is below 2000 ft. The gently rolling prairie surface is diversified by an endless succession of broad plains, isolated hills and ridges, and moderate valleys. In places there are terraced uplands, and in others the undulating plain is cut by erosion into low escarpments. The bluffs on the Missouri are in places 200 ft. high, and the valley of the Cimarron, in the south-west, has deep cuts, almost gorges. The west central portion has considerable irregularities of contour, and the north-west is distinctively hilly. In the south-west, below the Arkansas river, is an area of sandhills, and the Ozark Plateau region, as above stated, extends into the south-east corner, though not there much elevated. The great central valley is traversed by the Kansas (or Kaw) river, which, inclusive of the Smoky Hill Branch, extends the entire length of the state, with lateral valleys on the north. Another broad valley is formed in the south half of the state by the Arkansas river, with lateral valleys on the north and south. The south-east portion contains the important Neosho and smaller valleys. In the extreme south-west is the valley of the Cimarron, and along the south boundary is a network of the south tributaries of the Arkansas. Numerous small affluents of the Missouri enrich and diversify the north-east quarter. The streams of Kansas are usually fed by perennial springs, and, as a rule, the east and middle portions of the state are well watered. Most of the streams maintain a good flow of water in the driest seasons, and in case of heavy rains many of them "underflow" the adjacent bottom lands, saturating the permeable substratum of the country with the surplus water, which in time drains out and feeds the subsiding streams. This feature is particularly true of the Saline, Solomon and Smoky Hill rivers. The west part is more elevated and water is less abundant.

_Climate._--The climate of Kansas is exceptionally salubrious. Extremes of heat and cold occur, but as a rule the winters are dry and mild, while the summer heats are tempered by the perpetual prairie breezes, and the summer nights are usually cool and refreshing. The average annual temperature of the state for seventeen years preceding 1903 was 54.3 deg. F., the warmest mean being 56.0 deg., the coldest 52.6 deg. The extreme variation of yearly means throughout the east, west and middle sections during the same period was very slight, 51.6 deg. to 56.6 deg., and the greatest variation for any one section was 3.7 deg. The absolute extremes were 116 deg. and -34 deg. The dryness of the air tempers exceedingly to the senses the cold of winter and the heat of summer. The temperature over the state is much more uniform than is the precipitation, which diminishes somewhat regularly westward. In the above period of seventeen years the yearly means in the west section varied from 11.93 to 29.21 in. (av. 19.21), in the middle from 18.58 to 34.30 (av. 26.68), in the east from 26.00 to 45.71 (av. 34.78); the mean for the state ranging from 20.12 to 35.50 (av. 27.12).[1] The precipitation in the west is not sufficient for confident agriculture in any series of years, since agriculture is practically dependent upon the mean fall; a fact that has been and is of profound importance in the history of the state. The line of 20 in. fall (about the limit of certain agriculture) approximately bisects the state in dry years. The precipitation is very largely in the growing season--at Dodge the fall between April and October is 78% of that for the year. Freshets and droughts at times work havoc. The former made notable 1844 and 1858; and the latter 1860, 1874 and 1894. Tornadoes are also a not infrequent infliction, least common in the west. The years 1871, 1879, 1881 and 1892 were made memorable by particularly severe storms. There are 150 to 175 "growing days" for crops between the frosts of spring and autumn, and eight in ten days are bright with sunshine--half of them without a cloud. Winds are prevailingly from the south (in the winter often from the north-west).

_Fauna and Flora._--The fauna and flora of the state are those which are characteristic of the plain region generally of which Kansas is a part. The state lies partly in the humid, or Carolinian, and partly in the arid, or Upper Sonoran, area of the Upper Austral life-zone; 100 deg. W. long. is approximately the dividing line between these areas. The bison and elk have disappeared. A very great variety of birds is found within the state, either as residents or as visitants from the adjoining avifaunal regions--mountain, plain, northern and southern. In 1886 Colonel N. S. Goss compiled a list of 335 species, of which 175 were known to breed in the state. The wild turkey, once abundant, was near extermination in 1886, and prairie chickens (pinnated grouse) have also greatly diminished in number. The jack-rabbit is characteristic of the prairie. Locusts ("grasshoppers" in local usage) have worked incalculable damage, notably in 1854, 1866, and above all in 1874-1875. In the last two cases their ravages extended over a great portion of the state.

Kansas has no forests. Along the streams there is commonly a fringe of timber, which in the east is fairly heavy. There is an increasing scarcity westward. With the advancing settlement of the state thin wind-break rows become a feature of the prairies. The lessened ravages of prairie fires have facilitated artificial afforesting, and many cities, in particular, are abundantly and beautifully shaded. Oaks, elms, hickory, honey-locusts, white ash, sycamore and willows, the rapid growing but miserable box-elder and cottonwood, are the most common trees. Black walnut was common in the river valleys in Territorial days. The planting of tree reserves by the United States government in the arid counties of this state promises great success. A National Forest of 302,387 acres in Finney, Kearney, Hamilton and Grant counties was set aside in May 1908. Buffalo and bunch, and other short native prairie grasses, very nutritious ranging food but unavailable as hay, once covered the plains and pastured immense herds of buffalo and other animals, but with increasing settlement they have given way generally to exotic bladed species, valuable alike for pasture and for hay, except in the western regions. The hardy and ubiquitous sunflower has been chosen as the state flower or floral emblem. Cactus and yucca occur in the west.

The soil of the upland prairies is generally a deep rich clay loam of a dark colour. The bottom lands near the streams are a black sandy loam; and the intermediate lands, or "second bottoms," show a rich and deep black loam, containing very little sand. These soils are all easily cultivated, free from stones, and exceedingly productive. There are exceptional spots on the upland prairies composed of stiff clay, not as easily cultivated, but very productive when properly managed and enriched. The south-west section is distinctively sandy.

_Agriculture._--The United States Census of 1900 shows that of the farming area of the state in 1900 (41,662,970 acres, 79.6% of the total area), 60.1% was "improved." The value of all farm property was $864,100,286--of which land and improvements (including buildings), livestock and implements and machinery represented respectively 74.5, 22.1 and 3.4%. Almost nine-tenths of all farms derived their principal income from livestock or hay and grain, these two sources being about equally important. Of the total value of farm products in 1899 ($209,895,542), crops represented 53.7, animal products 45.9 and forest products only 0.4%. In 1899 the wheat crop was 38,778,450 bushels, being less than that of Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio or South Dakota. According to the _Year Book_ of the United States Department of Agriculture, the crop in 1906 was 81,830,611 bushels, almost one-ninth of the crop of the entire country for that year, and much more than the crop of any other state. In 1909 it was 87,203,000 bushels (less than the crops of either Minnesota or North Dakota). Winter wheat constitutes almost the entire output. The hard varieties rank in the flour market with the finest Minnesota wheat. The wheat belt crosses the state from north to south in its central third. Greater even than wheat in absolute output, though not relatively to the output of other states, is Indian corn. In 1906 the crop was 195,075,000 bushels, and in 1909 it was 154,225,000. The crop is very variable, according to seasons and prospective markets; ranging e.g. in the decade 1892-1901 from 42.6 (1901) to 225.1 (1899) million bushels. The Indian corn belt is mainly in the eastern third of the state. In the five years 1896-1900 the combined value of the crops of Indian corn and wheat exceeded the value of the same crops in any other state of the Union (Illinois being a close second). In the western third irrigation has been tried, in the earlier years unsuccessfully; in all Kansas, in 1899, there were 23,620 acres irrigated, of which 8939 were in Finney and 7071 in Kearney county. In this western third the rainfall is insufficient for Indian corn; but Kafir corn, an exceptional drought-resisting cereal, has made extraordinary progress in this region, and indeed generally over the state, since 1893, its acreage increasing 416.1% in the decade 1895-1904. With the saccharine variety of sorghum, which increased greatly in the same period, this grain is replacing Indian corn. Oats are the third great cereal crop, the yield being 24,780,000 bushels in 1906 and 27,185,000 in 1909. Alfalfa showed an increased acreage in 1895-1904 of 310.8%; it is valuable in the west for the same qualities as the Kafir corn. The hay crop in 1909 was 2,652,000 tons. Alfalfa, the Japanese soy bean and the wheat fields--which furnish the finest of pasture in the early spring and ordinarily well into the winter season--are the props of a prosperous dairy industry. In the early 'eighties the organization of creameries and cheese factories began in the county-seats; they depended upon gathered cream. About 1889 separators and the whole-milk system were introduced, and about the same time began the service of refrigerator cars on the railways; the hand separator became common about 1901. Western Kansas is the dairy country. Its great ranges, whose insufficient rainfall makes impossible the certain, and therefore the profitable, cultivation of cereals, or other settled agriculture, lend themselves with profit to stock and dairy farming. Dairy products increased 60.6% in value from 1895 to 1904, amounting in the latter year to $16,420,095. This value was almost equalled by that of eggs and poultry ($14,050,727), which increased 79.7% in the same decade. The livestock interest is stimulated by the enormous demand for beef-cattle at Kansas City.

Sugar-beet culture was tried in the years following 1890 with indifferent success until the introduction of bounties in 1901. It has extended along the Arkansas valley from the Colorado beet district and into the north-western counties. There is a large beet-sugar factory at Garden City, Finney county. Experiments have been made unsuccessfully in sugar cane (1885) and silk culture (1885 seq.). The bright climate and pure atmosphere are admirably adapted to the growth of the apple, pear, peach, plum, grape and cherry. The smaller fruits also, with scarce an exception, flourish finely. The fruit product of Kansas ($2,431,773 in 1899) is not, however, as yet particularly notable when compared with that of various other states.

According to the estimates of the state department of agriculture, of the total value of all agricultural products in the twenty years 1885-1904 ($3,078,999,855), Indian corn and wheat together represented more than two-fifths (821.3 and 518.1 million dollars respectively), and livestock products nearly one-third (1024.9 millions). The aggregate value of all agricultural products in 1903-1904 was $754,954,208.

_Minerals._--In the east portion of the state are immense beds of bituminous coal, often at shallow depths or cropping out on the surface. In 1907 more than 95% of the coal came from Crawford, Cherokee, Leavenworth and Osage counties, and about 91.5% from the first two. The total value of the production of coal in 1905 (6,423,979 tons) was $9,350,542, and in 1908 (6,245,508 tons) $9,292,222. In the central portion, which belongs to the Triassic formation, magnesian limestone, ferruginous sandstone and gypsum are representative rocks. Gypsum (in beautiful crystalline form) is found in an almost continuous bed across the state running north-east and south-west with three principal areas, the northern in Marshall county, the central in Dickinson and Saline counties, and the southern (the heaviest, being 3 to 40 ft. thick) in Barber and Comanche counties. The product in 1908 was valued at $281,339. Magnesian limestone, or dolomite, is especially plentiful along the Blue, Republican and Neosho rivers and their tributaries. This beautiful stone, resembling white, grey and cream-coloured marble, is exceedingly useful for building purposes. It crops out in the bluffs in endless quantities, and is easily worked. The stone resources of the state are largely, but by no means exclusively, confined to the central part. There are marbles in Osage and other counties, shell marble in Montgomery county, white limestone in Chase county, a valuable bandera flagstone and hydraulic cement rock near Fort Scott, &c. The limestones produced in 1908 were valued at $403,176 and the sandstones at $67,950. In the central region salt is produced in immense quantities, within a great north to south belt about Hutchinson. The beds, which are exploited by the brine method at Hutchinson, at Ellsworth (Ellsworth county), at Anthony (Harper county) and at Sterling (Rice county), lie from 400 to 1200 ft. underground, and are in places as much as 350 ft. thick and 99% pure. At Kanopolis in Ellsworth county, at Lyons in Rice county and at Kingman, Kingman county, the salt is mined and sold as rock-salt. In the south-west salt is found in beds and dry incrustations, varying in thickness from a few inches to 2 ft. The total product from 1880-1899 was valued at $5,538,855; the product of 1908 (when Kansas ranked fourth among the states producing salt) was valued at $882,984. The development has been mainly since 1887 at Hutchinson and since about 1890 in the rock-salt mines. In the west portion of the state, which belongs to the Cretaceous formation, chalks and a species of native quicklime are very prominent in the river bluffs. The white and cream-coloured chalks are much used for building purposes, but the blue is usually too soft for exposure to the weather. The quicklime as quarried from the bluffs slakes perfectly, and with sand makes a fairly good mortar, without calcination or other previous preparation. The lignite found near the Colorado line makes a valuable domestic fuel.

Natural gas, oil, zinc and lead have been discovered in south-east Kansas and have given that section an extraordinary growth and prosperity. Indications of gas were found about the time of the Civil War, but only in the early 'seventies were they recognized as unmistakable, and they were not successfully developed until the 'eighties. Iola, in Allen county, is the centre of the field, and the gas yields heat, light, and a cheap fuel for smelters, cement-works and other manufacturing plants throughout a large region. The pools lie from 400 to 950 ft. below the surface; some wells have been drilled 1500 ft. deep. The value of the natural gas produced in the state was $15,873 in 1889, $2,261,836 in 1905 and $7,691,587 in 1908, when there were 1917 producing wells, and Kansas ranked fourth of the states of the United States in the value of the natural gas product, being surpassed by Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Petroleum was discovered about 1865 in Miami and Bourbon counties, and about 1892 at Neodesha, Wilson county. There was only slight commercial exploitation before 1900. The production increased from 74,714 barrels in that year to 4,250,779 in 1904; in 1908 it was 1,801,781 barrels. Chanute has been the most active centre of production. The field was prospected here in the 'nineties, but developed only after 1900. In 1877 an immense deposit of lead was discovered on land now within the limits of Galena. Rich zinc blendes were at first thrown away among the by-products of the lead mines. After the discovery of their true nature there was a slow development, and at the end of the century a notable boom in the fields. From 1876 to 1897 the total value of the output of the Galena field was between $25,000,000 and $26,000,000; but at present Kansas is far more important as a smelter than as a miner of zinc and lead, and in 1906 58% of all spelter produced in the United States came from smelters in Kansas. In 1908 the mines' output was 2293 tons of lead valued at $192,612 and 8628 tons of zinc valued at $811,032. Pottery, fire, ochre and brick clays are abundant, the first two mainly in the eastern part of the state. Coffeyville has large vitrified brick interests. In 1908 the total value of all the mineral products (incompletely reported) of Kansas was $26,162,213.