Middletown transcript., 1878-03-09
From the Gratiot Journal.
Letter From Texas.

four weeks trip through Texas. In
response to a request for an account of
his observations while absent, the
Doctor has kindly permitted us to copy
a private letter descriptive Of his jour
ney, which he had prepared for trans
mission to his father, a portion ofwhich
we give below. The balance will ap-
pear next week. AS the Doctor is a
fine descriptive writer and close OBJ
server, his letter will prove highly in
teresting. 1t is as follows:
have just returned from Texas, af-
ter an absence of nearly four weeks.
1 found many things quite different
from what l expected. Organized
counties extended back much farther
than the maps show, and there are
many hundreds of streams of living
water, creeks, branches and springs
that are not down even on the State
maps. On all the maps the "staked
plains in Northwestern Texas figure
very conspicuously. 1t looks like the
desert of Sahara on the map, or like
the great American desert" used to
look when you were boy. The great
State of Kansas occupies u large share
of those fearful old spots now, and men
are making fortunes on its fertile soil.
The desert plains of Northwestern
Texas are just such another myth
Most Of the country north of the pro
iected Texas Pacific Railroad, known
as the Pan Handle, is represented by
competent engineers with whom /
talked as being equal in all respects
to any part of Texas.
Eastern Texas is well timbered with
pine and oak. The soil is sandy but
rich-generally much Of it with good
clay subsoil.
A party of Delawareans are settling
on the railroad between Palestine and
Houston. They intend, no doubt, to
make the country, which is well adap
ted to fruit culture, blossom like the
peach tree.
So far as fertility of soil, access to
wood, water and stone is concerned, l
could see but little difference in the
more important counties west Of the
wooded region mentioned above.
Building timber is brought in from
Eastern Texas, and the best qualities
bring the following prices in Dallas
Texas or yellow pine rough lumber,
viz: studding, joists and inch boards,
fencing, etc, s17.50per NJ; white pine
flooring, $25; ceiling s22; siding $40
Carpenters get $3.50 to So per day,
and so far as | could tell, had plenty
of work. In the best settled and rich
est counties of Northern and Middle |
Texas, land is still cheap. Splendid
farming land can be bought within 10
miles of such places as Dallas, Fl
Worth and Waco at prices ranging
from tive to eight dollars per acre. A.
long the line of all the railroads, thou
sands upon thousands of acres Of land
can be had at prices ranging from
$3.50 to 81 per acre, and yet thou /
sands Of men are foolish enough to
drive by them and go "back" in the
interior 90 or 40 miles to get land for
so cents or 81 an acre. They get so
far from market that they cannot raise
grain, owing to the long haul. They |
don't know how to raise cotton; they
have only money enough to buy few
head of cattle, which is slow way of
starting in the cattle business. There
is just one circumstance that keeps all !
this class Of people from "cussing"
Texas, and that is half crop of cotton,
which keeps mans family and al
ways sells for cash. If there is one
fault Of human nature more prominent
than another, | think it is the love
man has for undertaking to do that
which he knows nothing about. Take
a number of green Michigan and Hi
nois farmers Of good intelligence and
industry, transport them to Waco, and
right off three-fourths of them become
crazy to raise cotton. So the proba
billy is that they will waste two years
learning that which might have been
learned by watching their neighbors
They then commence raising grain and
make money. do not believe Texas
can raise as much per acre at present
as the Northern half of the Lower
Peninsula OF Michigan; nor as much
or as good corn as Missouri and Ken
tucky; nor as much barley as some
other States; but when you add oats
and cultivate all these grains, I think
Texas takes the lead. The best single
wheat crop that l heard of from the
owner was 26 bushels per acre. The
land, fencing, plowing, sowing and
seed wheat costs him $3.50 per acre.
The only great advantage is the cheap
ness of the land. l did net know un-
i'll l went to Texas, that she was ia
nous for her oat crops; but any farm
er will tell you that it is only necessary
to SOW oats once in order to have sew
eral successive yearly crops of from 40
to 70 bushels per acre. Enough oats
fall to the ground in cutting to re-seed s