Middletown transcript., 1877-06-30
Written for the Middletown Transcript
Texae-Fourfh Paper.

and produces good crops. In the up
land, as | would call it, or post oak,
the soil is about the same as our sandy
loan Of Delaware light and easy
of cultivation and very productive
depth Of soil from one and a half to
twelve feet then you find the black
prairie, light loan, easy of cultivation
and still more productive than the first
named then they have the black
waxy. This 1 found on the Brazos
bottoms between the two Brazos rivers.
l never saw such crops grow out of the
ground before. l saw one field of corn,
! in which one hundred acres had been
planted, three and half feet apart one
way, and drilled in rows-say one foot
apart-and this corn on the 18th of
May was five and half to six feet
high. 1t had been better titled than
the majority of corn that l saw in
Texas. 1 then inquired the depth Of
soil on these bottoms, and was told that
in many places it was thirty feet.
! Well, thought I to myself, if this could
be removed to Delaware it would make
the State rich and the people in it, and
enough left then on the Brazos bottoms
to last until the next Centennial with
out any improvements. I saw corn
growing on ground that the owner said
had been in corn for fifteen years and
there seems to be no falling off in the
crop. The crops in Robertson county
are principally cotton, corn, wheat,
oats, rye, barley and sugar-corn. The
average crop, as | was told, is about
three-quarters of a bale Of cotton, fifty
bushels of corn, twenty bushels ofwheat,
sixty bushels of oats. The land Of
Robertson county is not so well adapt
ed to wheat as if is further up toward
the entrance of the State but if the
land was prepared there as our farmers
have. to prepare it here, and then take
care Of their crops in the same way, I
am not prepared to give you any esti-
mate what your crops would be, but /
am sure they could be nearly doubled.
Some will wonder if this land will grow
fruit. l answer, yes. There seems to
be but very little interest taken in fruit,
but still there is enough to convince
ny one that this is no fault Of the
land. / saw peach trees four years
old as large as our six years old; in a
word, every kind Of fruit that has been
tried is doing well, and when l looked
at. the grapes that were growing wild
thought Of Caleb and Joshua when
they came back from the land of
promise. They brought grapes to show
to their people. l am not right sure
that their grapes were precisely the
same as the Texas grape, but one thing
l am sure Of, the Texas grape will com
pare favorably in quantity and per-
haps in quality; but I have never
tasted either. There is an abundance
of blackberries. | did not see any
whortleberries don't know whether
they grow there or not. Some may
want to know what this land can be
bought for per acre the improved
land can be bought at from five to
thirty dollars, according to location
and the improvements unimproved
land from one to FIVE dollars, accord
ing to location and kind Of land. All
bottom land is considered worth fifty
cents per acre more than upland. You
can get any kind Of land you want and
in any quantity, on the edge of town,
or at any distance you may desire.
The only thing you have to guard
against is the title. l understand there
are a good many in dispute. Be care
full then; don't buy lawsuit; it does
not grow cotton nor corn, and is not |
profitable employment. Some may
wonder if this land is like Blackbird |
Forest-well set in bushes. | answer,
no +; when a man buys land in Texas
he can have it prairie just ready for
the pillow, or he can have portion of
it timber. About one-halfof the coun-
try is rolling prairie and well watered,
the other half timber of post oak,
pecan and hickory. The next thing
inquired for: Can we get farming i'm
plements in Texas? / answer, yes;
every thing. you need from corn drop
per to steam thresher, and all kinds
Of stock, and at very low prices. You
can buy work horses at from twenty
to twenty-five dollars. This is not
hearsay. | saw them selling in Dallas
at these prices, and / saw the very best
horses, good color and style, five years
old, well broken and sound, for fifty
and sixty dollars. Such horses here
would readily bring from one hundred
and seventy-fve to two hundred dol
lars at public sale. l don't know how
thief, who stole the mule,
ever got eighty dollars for it. He must
have been as sharp in selling as he was
in stealing, but probably he understood
talking mule. But to come back to
business-milch COWS are worth from
eight to twelve dollars, according to
sile and quality; yearlings at three
dollars each; hogs do well, but there
seems to be No interest in the hog bu-
siness to any extent; sheep do well
and there seems to be some interest in
raising them. | saw a great many on
5he prairies, but srill there is plenty of
pasture for one hundred times the
number, and then raise them to profit.
| saw wool buyers hunting it up all !
through the State where / went 1 had !
The price of wool, but have mislaid it
will give the price some time again.
The next thing enquired about: Can !
5he farmer find market for his pro-
luce after he has grown it? l answer, q
yes ; wheat, new, sold in Dallas at 81 so
per bushel; corn, in the shuck, at 40
It's. per bushel 28 cts. for oats. I
,annot give you the prices Of cotton, as
cotton was an entirely new thing to !
ne, and to give the price without the |
cost of producing it would not be salts {
actory to any that cotton was profta- j
Die. But think from the interest t
q bon 1baxy oopSfdo,. - ,,o,,,.o .el.II e