Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1881-04-02
Letter from Texas.
WACO. TExas. March 10. 1881

nave oileu lcll Inc
through the old "Invincible," after hear
ing from her of the great things being
done among YOU all, the most important
is the making of the S. V. X. X. There
certainly has been great change in and
about Shepherdstown, such especially as
n railroad will make.
Looking from my standpoint, am free
to saw that Shepherdstown was about the
last place / supposed railroad would
strike, situated as il is, in an elbow of the
Potomac river; but that peculiarly I'M
favorable situation, to the uninitiated,
proved TO be the salient point, and verifies
the adage that no one can tell where light
ming will strike. | was surprised to hear
YOU say in yours of the 4th, that you had
seven inches of snow. Mark the differ
ence: On that day l drove to see a pate mt
about Is miles distant, over dry and
solid road, and owing to the excessive
heat, my horse almost failed me. 1t was
an unusually warm Gay, and along the
way, farmers were in their fields, some
planting corn, others preparing the
ground, and all united in saying it was
too warm; but the ever constant gulf
breeze that tempers the heat of our sum-
mers, waited gently by and to be entirely
comfortable, Was only to be quiet and in
active. But when we look back Il month
or six weeks it makes me shudder 10 think
of the excessive cold weather we have
had. 1t was simply fearful TO Us, and
was what we had no reason to expect.
Had Supposed that there ever would he
such cold weather here, I was going to
say | would have been somewhere else.
/ To suit my own feelings would prefer
perpetual summer; it never gets too warm
/ for me. Why sir, the thermometer ran
away down BELOW zero, upon few occa-
sions. | know wnat you will say, it is
this "N HY THAT Is NOTHING MY FRIEND,
II WAS DOWN TO 20 BELOW WITH U.s." |
| claim however that it gets rs cold here, so
far is our feelings are concerned, as 1t
| does anywhere. Animal life can bear
I only certain degree Of cold, at which
! point it freezes, and beyond that there Is
( no pain or suffering; and that degree is
! 10 at zero either. When = man gets cold
enough to freeze, colder wont hurt him.
| The freezing point of much OF the vegcta-
/ bic kingdom is lower, and of course there
the results will he different. This has
/ been uueXceptionally the coolest winter
| suppose Texas has experienced. lee
could have been gathered here of SUI
! fcient thickness TO fill ice houses, and
remained 30 for as long rs five days. 1t Is
very rare for the ground to be frozen
! longer than three days at a time, conse-
qucntly people are not prepared for such
colo weather, either in houses or clothing.
/ There are no cellars or other places pre-
pared TO secure fruits or vegetables from
freezing, consequently all such had TO
! succumb to Jack frost" the past winter.
/ MANY of those who buried their potatoes
in pits lost them from being put under too
shallow. The cold weather during the
l. t'..G.l OF
feet on the soil for the next crop, and The
ground is thoroughly saturated with Wa
ter, as there has been IN immense deal OF
rain during the last three or -four months,
( more think than ever saw in the same
: length of time anywhere.
For the last few weeks we have had
/ pleasant weather, and all kinds of vcgc-
! tables are growing finely. Peach and
/ plum trees are in full bloom, and many
! other trees and shrubs, both cultivated
! and wild. Many flowers in my yard are
/ in bloom, such as Phlox, HyacinthS and
! blooming Roses. i have peas i'll
! bloom and radishcs for the table, they
| have grown rapidly since warm weather
! begun. | have something of curiosity
/ i'm the way OF Pears On the 18th OF Feb
ruarv of last year received some cut
/ linps about ten inches long of the lie
/ COutc pear, from Mr.. Sanford, OF Thomas
! vile, Ca, and planted them as we do
grape cuttings. The most Of them grew,
! and in November last | planted them
where they are to stand. They had As
! fine roots AZ ever saw to young trees,
and some of them are taller now than
am and in full leaf. | am also growing
the Japan Persimmon, which seems TO be
Il hybrid between the plum amt persim-
! mon, and from all accounts must be de-
hcious fruit. The impression prevails,
{ that the peach and a few varieties of
I plums, are the only fruits that can be
successfully cultivated i'll this part Of
! Texas. and also that the small fruits will
! not do well. think differently, and am
/ not willing to take ''they say so" but am
| testing for myself. | have the Strawber-
! ry, Raspberry, Blackberry and Currant,
also the French, English and Native
J grapes, in considerable varieties, and all
I thus far have given me entire satisfaction.
! The Mustang and other wild varieties are
/ found growing abuudantly all over tho
/ State. which indicates the adaptabillty OF
our climate 10 the growth OF the vine.
/ The crops of cotton, corn ana potatoes
were very good astyear, but wheat and
oats were failure. There was plenty
! of straw, but the grain did not fill out
/ well. Prices ofproduce are low for every
thing except potatoes, which are selling
/ at 81. 80 per bbl., for Irish, and Sl.25 per
! bushel, for sweet; corn 80 TO 80 cts, no
: wheat in market, eggs > cents per dozen
| TO merchants, retailing at three dozen for
1.-TWO hits commonly called 20 cents,
! butter % cts, chickens 20 to %.
! As you are interested in railroads /
must tell YOU that VIC are having two new
. roods built 10 our city. One is the Texas
! and st. Louis, (known here as Jay Gould's
! road, and the other is called the st. Lou
/ is narrow guage; both will be completed
! here in time to move the next crop of cot
! ton. There are two other roads spoken OF
| that will likely take us in, in the near flu
| turc, in fact there is more railroads build
! ing in Texas at this time, than in any 9TH
! or State, and in few years Texas will be
Il net work of railroads similar 10 Illinois.
| Now this may be little news 10 many of
! your readers who do not know such 4
J place as Waco, away of in Texas, and care
! much less whether Waco ever has 4 rail-
. road. My aim is to give information,
plain and unvarnished. | AIN tree 10 say
1 That read with much interest, all letters
! descriptive of other States of which | am
not personally informed, and this brings
to mind the letters of your correspondent
in Florida. | am fond of hearing from
the land of flow crs, and have read letters
giving both the good and the bad, from
other sources, and have been both inter-
ested and instructed, but am sorry to
say that your Florida letters are wide of
.he mark. 1t is not my purpose to turn
this letter into a criticism, and perhaps is
not in good taste, but as I constant reader
of your paper, am one of your constituents,
as it were, and all that you publish Is for
the benefit of each and all. While l do