, 1880-04-18
.sTHr EMPIRE sTATE,,,

larger tnan any country Ol LuIoQe eAcepe
Russia, and almost as large as Sweden and
Norway together. Compared with the States
and Territories Of the United States,
IT LAYS OVER ALI. OF THEM,
the three largest of which are California
with 15s, 600 square miles, Dakota Isl ,oOo, and
Montana 144, 900; while Illinois, which Is re-
garded as q frst-class State, spreads her
broad prairies over only 55,4l4 square miles,
or only one-fifth Of the area Of the great
"Empire State' But it Is not size alone
that makes d State great. The little Com
monwealth of Massachusetts,, which could
be clipped off any of the angles or corners Of
Texas without being missed, has quarter of
million greater population than this huge
State, and possesses twice the realized or
taxable wealth, and produces six times as
much for sale and exchange each year.
Massachusetts employs enormous water and
steam power In the production Of COM
modities, while Texas depends mainly on
man and mule power. But, on the other
hand, Texans have the space, the, land, the
soil, on which to grow and expand almost
indi6nitly. The resources Of Texas have
scarcely been touched. The capabilities of
the State to support all increasing population
is something enormous. Yet
DO NOT RATE IT AS HIGH
as many do with whom I talk. It seems to
me little wild to claim that Texes can feed
and support in comfort q population equal to
the present inhabitants Of the entire Union.
Texas has million and half Of people,
not more,-and the Union has Is millions, or
more than thirty times Us many as Texas. It
takes over 500 millions Of bushels OF wheat
to wllite-bread the people Of the United
States, and l,5oo millions OF bushels OF CORN,
and 400 millions Of. bushels Of oats. to say
nothing OF the rye, barley, buckWlteat, and
potatoes, which aggregate 250 millions more.
Then it would require ten times the number
Ct cattle now grazing on her pIalries, ald
thirty times as many horses and hogs and
Texas has never raised enough wheat or
corn in any year to supply the wants of
the people Of the United States for fort
night,-perhaps not wheat enough for a
Some wheat has been grown in Northern
Texas, but large partof the flour consumed
in the State has still to be imported from the
North. Last year millions Of bushels Of
corn were also imported on account of the
general drought which destroyed the grain
corn from the Western States; but last sea-
son was undoubtedly an exceptionally dry
one.
it's wel1-establlshed fact TINT west Of
e44l 4DtkA AC6ACG VI A0uE5 5t4tAAO kAOA@lo
A. DEFICIENCY OF RAINFALL
to mature crops two seasons out ::of three,
and Texas is no exception to this rule. The
dry-plains region extends fully as far east III
Texas as in Kansas, Nebraska, or Dakota
Now, fully 100, 900 square miles ct Texas lie
Antonio, on the $50 degree Of longitude,
there is a great scarcity. Of rainfall at the
time graif:crops need it; and fifty years.
experience has shown that crops cannot be
produced without irrigation fifty miles west
the 09th degree Of longitude; and that
part has sufficient rainfall, taking one
year with another. West of the 99th de-
gree there is strip 100 miles long, extend
ing from the mouth OF the Rio Grande to the
hn soath on who ia feans @ operat,o1s @ 1 can be
carried on, but with uncertain results,-one
year fair or small crop, the next 4 failure.
The portions Of it watered by the Colorado
and its branches Is the best both for stock
raising and grain-growlng. All beyond the
Is OF LITTLE VALUE FOR AGRICULTURAL.
4 PURPOSES,
By reason OF the lack OF rainfall; but still
there is said to be heritage enough for the
support of many cattle and sheep in this
After subtracting all those portions of
Texas too dry for gruin-growing without ir-
rigation, there still remains sufficient good
tillable land to maintain Texas claim to be
the Empire Agricultural State of the future.
will compare favorahly with the fertility and
productiveness of Illinois, Iowa, and Mis-
souri,, taken together; and the area is about
equal to those three great States. The rest Of
ter to the dry plains of Colorado and the
western parts of Kansas and Nebraska, over
which cattle will roam, and more or less grain
and vegetables can be produced by irrigation.
construction of
TIE TRUNK LINES OF RAILWAY
through her territory, which made the in
terror and northern portions accessible to
commerce and Immigration. Previous to the
building of those roads the farmers were un-
able to penetrate the country from the sea-
coast or the nayigable water-co1lrses, aud the
latter are along the Louisiana border. But,
when the Iron Mountain Road came down
from st. Louis through Arkansas, entering
Iexas at the Iexarkana gate, AMI connecting
with the International that extended to
north to southland this line was supple
mented by the Texas Central, running north
anu south from Denison to Houston, some
400 miles, and connecting with the line eN-
tending across the Indian Territory and up
through Kansas, and thence east to st. Louis
and Chicago,-and these two north-and-
south lines were crossed by 'half-a-dozen
etast-and-west lines, the interior Of Texas
became accessible and get-atable to
and crops could be then taken to market at 4
cost that left something I'd the grower. Texas
will have, by the end Of this year,
FULLY 4, 900 MILES OF RAILWAY IN OPERA
!. TIOS.
d,tss Roads, IN year or two more, will penetrate
them: or can furnish business enough to
justify constructing them.
Galveston is the sea-outlet of Texas, and