San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-02-15

some future day produce more wool
th.n any other State in the Union. !
am gathering statistics us to the sort
and profits Of this business here
which I hope TO bc able to send you
soon. There is, / am told. much good
lsnd in western and northwestern ptr-
items of this district, but timber ia
scarce, population sparse and ueans Of
transportation limited. 1t is now al
most exclusively used as o stock
range.
These stock men. too, are very mod
est gentlemen, in they will all elaim to
be able to supply beef at less cost than
i, can be done elsewhere. just here
let me ray that if what l don't know
about this and kindred subjects could
bs written out in full, it would make
n deeply interesting work for both far.
mers and stock men.
Let US now look at tho "lay Of the
land" From what l can learn the
cereals do we'll anywhere in this dis
trict; but l am convinced that the
northern portion is hester adapted for
wheat, corn and oats, and this is the
locality which is now being filled up
with Northern and Western farmers.
The counties of Williamson, Milan,
! Washington and much Of tho adjacent
territory, is very rich lnnd and will
produce from three. .fourths to one and
one-fourth bales of cotton per acle
and lands along the Brazos river often
produce as high as two bales of (say)
500 pounds each.
The soil is what is called the BLACK
waxy," and while it is rich and deep
and productive. it is very hard to cul-
tivate, especially in wet seasons. |
have been through the States Of Cali.
fornia, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Hi
nois and nearly every other State In
the Union, and | am free to confess l
never saw any Guer land. 1t is more
like the lands in Sangamon, Morgan
end other central counties in Illinois
than anything have yet seen. AS a
rule, I would not advise Western far
mers to 60 exclusively into the cotton
business, but where the immigrant has
large family cotton can be cultivated
proftably here, for childron can often
do as much picking as the men. Land
can be had in the above mentioned
counties for from So to 81 per acre. un.
improved.
Wire fencing can BE- put up about
as cheaply here as in Kansas or Iowa.
Agricultural implements are from one.
fifth to one.third higher here than in
Illinois, Wisconsin or Indiana. Dry
goods cost more here than they do in
the North, but owing to the mild eli
mate, much less clothing is used. 1t
is here as elsewhere; if the buyer has
cash he can make good terms. But in
our search for good land, fine climate
and cheap transportation. we must not
lose sight of the fact that we cannot
always thrive and do we'll on climate
and cheap whisky. Plenty of good
water and abundance of cheap fare
are considerations which the hasty
'land-viewer" too often overlooks.
The rainfall of this central dis.
trict" is quite uniform as compared
with the most favored agricultural
districts; and while it is true that we
have what are called dry seasons, they
are no worse than other localities far.
ther north. Good we'll water can be
had by digging from 35 to L5 feet.
Many of the maps or charts OF Tex
as which are gotten out by land speca.
latort show abundance of coal in
many parts, but as matter of fact no
csal of good quality or in paying
amounts has as yet been discovered.
This boing the case, we must rely on
wood both for domestic and manuiac-
turing purposes, ard wood ID many
parts OF The State il both scarce and
dear. Along the rivers it is. as said
before, plentiful, but unfortunately we
can pot oil get firms along the banks
o. these streams. Gost Of the coal
used in this Sis,e cames from the Nc
Allister mines. in the Indian Terri
tory, on the line Of the Missouri, Kan