Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-10
FROM TEXAS,
Interesting Letter from Buchanan
County Man in the Lone Star
State.

DEN1soN, Texas, Feb. 2s, '76.
Ed. BULLET1N:-Will you please
give me space in your valuable paper
for a few remarks concerning this
land of cotton, and to answer the
many inquiries l have received re-
garding Texas and the way to get
here, which l hope to do satisfactory
ly? We left Quasqueton on the
morning of the 9Th of this month";
Taking the cars at Rowley, we made
short stops at Cedar Rapids and Bur-
lington, and proceeded through Quin-
cy, ILL.,, to Hannibal, Mo. There took
the cars of the NJ, X. & T. r. r.. by
way of Brownsville, Sedalia, Par
sons, Kan, and down through the
Indian Nation, finally crossing Red
river and landing at Denison on the
18th. benson is four miles south of
the north line Of Texas, in Grayson
county, and is the present terminus
of the NJ, X. & 7. and the X. & Il. G.
Railways. 1t is city of 1000 in
habitants, with a growth of four
years, which entities it to the desig-
nation of the ssinfant' wonder" We
found pleasant weather upon our ar
rival, the thermometer ranging from
40 to 70 degrees, and one morning
after fine rain SO degrees. l have
seen no frost. The making Of gar
dens and planting are going on, the
peach and plum trees are in bloom,
and the appearance of everything is
much like the LIST of May in Iowa.
In the market are fresh lettuce, car
rots, onions, beets, turnips, &c.
AS to the soil, your readers can
Judge from the products. The quality
varies very much. There is red clay,
white sand, and then again black,
waxy soil, all good productive land.
The timber is rather scrubby, but
there is plenty Of the best quality for
fence posts, such as red cedar, bodart
(osagc), and post oak. There are no
pure streams of water in this part of
the State, like in Iowa. l have not
had one drink of good water here,
though the people say we will like
the water when we get used to it.
Fruits are plenty. Apples, peach
es, pears, plums, grapes, cherries, ap
ricots, and all the varieties belong
ing to this climate grow abundantly
and are sure crop every year.
Grain OF the best quality is grown
here in abundance. Wheat yields
from 80 to 40 bushels; oats so to ITO
bushels, and corn % to so bushels
per acre; cotton from 500 to 1900
pounds per acre; Irish potatoes so to
IS bushels; sweet potatoes from IS
to 100 bushels per acre, and all other
products in like proportion. Peanuts
are also raised here and yield plenti-
fully. And now you will want to
know what all these products are
worth.
will give the present prices in the
market of those articles in season, md
others as reported. Wheat sells for
$l.O0: corn, so cents; oats, 40 cents;
Irish potatoes, sl.o0; sweet potatoes,
rs cents; onions, sl.75 to $500 per
bushel. Cotton is 10 to l24 cents
per pound. Peaches in the season,
sl.oo to $3.50, and apples sl.OO to
$500 per bushel. Strawberries are
from 25 cents to sl.Oo per quart.
The country will compare favora'
bly, with Iowa, and as for this city, it
is a marvel Of growth and enterprise.
Three hundred buildings were erect
ed last year, among them a public
school building, at a cost of $4,000.
The average daily attendance at the
school is 400 pupils for ten months
of the year. There are five church
organizations here, each having its
own house of worship and established
Sabbath school.
Of manufactures, there is first
class steam mill, with 3 run of stone,
turning out so barrels of flour daily:
one steam saw mill, with planning
machine, scroll saws, &c; also a
combined steam cotton compress
cotton gin, feed and corn mill. The
city is lighted with gas, and the ma
chine shops and round-houses of the
railroads are located here.
The merchandise traffic of this city
will represent value OF half mil
lion per annum. The number Of
emigrants entering Texas, by way OF
Denison, last year, was 10000. The
exports of Denison for 1875 were as
follows: Merchandise, 15,902,701
pounds; cotton, $3.50 bales; 3,53s
cars or 1885 head of cattle; 1,7o5
cars or $4,000 bushels Of grain, and
329 cars of miscellaneous freights.-
The imports received over the M. X
& T. R.R., l2,6l2,23o pounds O
freight, 40 per cent greater than 1874
The above figures | get from thu
railroad reports.
In regard to society, l find it mucl
the same here as at home, and this i.
due to the fact that most of the PEG
pie here are from the north and east
quite a number from Iowa. Thus ia
| have not come in contact with an,
of those hard cases so much talked
about, though | have travelled alon'
some 300 miles in Texas. | have