The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-05-05

llHD1nR.
II You will allow me space in your
columns ! will try to write q letter for
the benefit of yonr readers. l LETT
on the 30th Of January.
1873, and landed in Corsicana, Texas,
on the 3D. Of February. l left Franz"
lin county for three reasons: First, TO
get from under Radical rule; second,
to find better land third. to o 9
more healthy climate, and l think !
have accomplished it. We have o Dem,
ocratic government; justice is rendered
to all men alike; we have fine schools,
colleges, and churches Of every demons
nation. A creed also has sprung up
within the last three years called the
Sanctified or Holy Band, who teach
that all of Gods people are perfect.
They neither drink whlskey or coiee'
nor chew tobacco. As for schools, We
are taxed for the purpose of keeping mp
what ale called public or free schools,
which last for six months in the year.
We also have o board of examiners for
the purpose of examining all teachers
applying for q situation. We have
first, second and third class teachers,
who are paid thirty, forty n nifty
dollars per month, each community en-
ploying its own teacher. provided a GER
tifcate from the board has been obtains
ed by the applicant. All children from
eight to fonrteen years receive the pen
eft of the school fund.
So much for the schools. Now for
the land, climate, health, pioducts, etc.
We have diff rent grades OF land. We
have what is called the black waxy-a
land more adapted to small grain than
anything else, yielding rom thirty to
seventy.ive bushelar Of corn per acre,
from ten to thirty Of wheat, thirty to
one hundred and twenty OF oats, twenty
to forty OF barley and rye. and from a
half to one bale of cetton. 1t Is n dis
agreeable land to nlpy. from the fact
thht the pillow will Hot shed the dirt.
but it is pleasant to hoe when it is dry.
The black sandy soil is pleasant toplow.
keeping the pillow perfectly bright when
dry: when wet it is inclined to stick. II
is more adapted to cotton, yielding a
half to one and a quarter balee per
acre, from thirty to sixty bushels OF
corn. thirty to seventy Of oats, and ten
to twenty five of wheat. The ridge or
post oak land is OF a white sandy char
acter, and is best adapted to cotton.
We have what is called musquite land.
which is more subject to drought. 1t
is of a grayish color and very hard and
cloddy, unless broken early and har-
rowed. 1t requires early planting and
cultivation.
The climate is delightful. We have.
during the Spring and Summer, pleas
ant breezes, called the Sonth or Gulf
breezes, that cool the scorching brow
of tho laboring man, and during the
Winter months we are visited by the
North winds, which are cold and disa-
greeable.
As for health, it cannot be surpass-
ed by any country. When l lived in
Mississippi some n OF my family was
sick the year round. We have been
here now eight years and my doctor
bill has been only three dollars, and
there are seven in my family. In Mis-
sissippi, during the months of July and
August, children are affected more or
less with worms. ] have never known
of a case in Texas. The line water We
have here seems to be much better for
the system than free stone.
Garden vegetables do we'll when it is
seasonable and they are properly culti~
waited. l have a neighbor who. three
years ago, rented eleven acres of choice
bottom black sandy land, for which he
paid eleven dollars per acre rent. and
planted in vegetables and sold $500
worth. 1922 being taken off for rent
leaving 1878 profit from the eleven
acres. Last year the same man plant
ed twenty acres in cotton, every third
row being put in water melons. He
sold $40 worth of water melons, and
the cotton was as fine as / ever saw,
but I did not learn how much he gath.
cred.
A man with a good cultivatorcan enl-
tivate from forty to sixty acres of land
by sowing a paTt in small grain. l
planted three years ago twenty eight
acres in corn from which / gathered
twelve hundred bushels; t~wenty.two IN
cotton, from which l received eleven
bales; ten in oats, which made three
hundred bushels; one of millet, from
which I saved four Thousand pounds
all on first years land. but it was an
extremely wet year. l do not say this
can BIO done every year, still Texas
lands can stand a drought longer than
any I eve saw.
Now for fencing and improving land.
People living neal timber fence with
posts and stats, putting from three to
four Stats to each PANEL, which they
either nail or tie with wire. Those on
the prairie fence with barbed wire, put
ting three wires to the side. posts from
eight to sixteen feet apart. We pay
four cents apiece for postoak posts, six
for burr oak, ten for mulberry, fifteen
to twenty for cedar and Bots de Arc,
the two latter being the best. l have
seen them taken out of the ground that
were put there twenty years ago that
we're perfectly sound. I have just fen
ced forty acres with barbed wire. puts
ting three to the side, which cost $3.50,
posts included.
The prairie is broken with two horses
or a yoke of oxen with a six inch pillow
four horses from ten to twelve inch
pillow. l have 9 g as many as eight
yoke of oxen to a sixteen inch pillow on
the black waxy land. Where a man
hires the work, it costs from two to
three dollars per acre for breaking.
Nearly all the small streams have
timber sufficient for firewood. Though
some people go ten miles for wood.
Some might think that great disad-
vantage, which tits, but when the roads
are dry a two-horse team can haul
enough at one load to last a month in
Summer. Tn the Winter it will last
from one to two weeks.
In the settled counties land can be
bought from three to eight dollars per
acre, further west it can be had from
fifty cents to one dollar and a half per
acre. Immigration is all going west
now. Railroads are extending out in
that country. There Is M now extend
ing five hundred miles east of Fort
Worth. There is. plenty of land in the
settled COMMITTEES for sale at the prices
named.
I have travelled over Hill, Tarrant,
J ohnson, Wise and Dallas counties.
They are thieklysettled and have q snf-
ficient amount OF wealth, and as fine
lands as the world contains. Ellis
county has as fine lands as can be
found, and is we'll populated. Waxas
hachie, the county seat, is wall built of
stone buildings. II is beautifully laid
off in q square with the Courthouse, "A
costly stone building. in the center. 1t
has a population of two Thousand lns
habitants. Our county tax for 1880
amounted to $4A, 500. Dallas county
contains a great deal more wealth than
Ellis.
We have as good society as car be
found in any country. 1t is true we
have people here from every State in
Tho IIninn md from Eurona and the BnA