Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-07-29
TEXAS IN A T-SHELL
A MONTHS TOUR or THE STATE, AND
WHAT SAW AND LEARNED THERE.
By G. H. s., of st. Bethlehem, Tenn.

State of Texas and since my return
home, / have been solicited by nu
merous friends, residing both here
and in Texas, many of whom are
readers of your paper, to make s
published statement of my trip
through this land of promise.
say "land of promise" because il
there ever was State that prom
ised more to her hardy sons of toll
than this during the time of my Wis
it, clothed as it was in the grandest
garb of nature, with its luxuriant
grasses, beautiful flowers and bright
fields of waving grain, | have never
seen it; yet, as / was informed,
these bright promises of prospective
plenty, even on the verge of their
fulfillment, are sometimes with
drawn, ami blasting drouths that
bring terror to the weary hearts OF
the husbandmen are allowed to as
sumo their place. Such, however,
/ trust and believe will not be the
case the present season, for at last
accounts seasonable weather still
continued, and good crops general
ly through the State were assured.
On the morning of May the 18th,
I said goodbye" to tho loved ones
at home, and, after stopping over
on my way few days at Memphis
and Little Rock, Ark, l found my
self, about 10 o'clock one night, at
Texarkana. This town, said to
contain about 4, 900 people, is situa-
ted in both Arkansas and Texas,
and my impression of it was that
its population, like the town, was
rather mixed and irregular. The
soil is sandy, the water "hard, !"
and, so far as my experience went,
hotel accommodations are also hard.
AS I stated, the town is situated on
the line between Arkansas and
Texas, not Ear north of the north
west corner of Louisiana, and took
its namn from the three States
named. one syllable of three letters
from each State. After few hours
inspection of the city on the next
day after my arrival, ! came to the
conclusion that was not favorably
impressed with this part of Texas.
From TeXarkana l went via the
Transcontinental Branch of the
Texas Pacific railroad, passing
through the counties of Bowie,
Red River, Lamar, Fannin, Gray
son and Collin to dallas. There is
probably no portion OF Texas that
shows to q better advantage, or APP
pears more refreshing and beautiful
TO the eye of the weary traveller
after passing through the dense
woodland swamps Of Arkansas,
than the extended, open plains, in
terspersed with shady woodland
groves and fields of corn, oats,
wheat and cotton than that which
borders each side of the railroad al
most entirely through the counties
named. H.
1 do not propose to enter into a
minute description of the various
counties and cities that I visited or
the lands through which l passed,
for to do so more time and space
than would be desirable to devote
to the subject would be required.
propose, however, to state a few
of such facts in regard to the State
as / learned from direct personal
observation, and by information
from reliable residents, as may be
of interest to some of the readers OF
this paper. 1t must be remember
ed that my visit was made at
time when the State was ar
rayeu III iIcr graudvst haDlil-
ments of natural beauty and pro-
spective plenty. From the grass
covered Woodlands of Bowie, the
first county that / entered, west
ward and southwark through the
northern, central and Southern pOr-
tions of the State, more than thirty
counties, and a distance of 1900
miles that / travelled within the
State, by railroad, by stage and
private conveyance, could not do
otherwise than note the prospective
prosperity of the agriculturist, the
stOck-raiser, the mechanic and the
merchant. The corn crop which is
in silk and tassel, from the 10th OF
May to the 10th of June, looked
green and vigorous, giving promise
with continued seasOnable weather
of a yield of from 40 to 60 bushels
per acre. The oat crop, which was
being harvested, was splendid, and
its yield estimated at from 30 to 100
bushels per acre. The wheat crop
in some sections was extra good, and
the yield estimated at from 20 to 40
bushels per acre, whilst in others,
owing to too much wet weather and
some diseases common in this State,
it was not so good. Barley is also a
productive crop and generally
Yields heavily. The cotton crop,
in the northern portion of the State,
owing to too much cool and wet
weather, was backward and did
not look well, but in the southern
and southeastern portion of the
State it seemed to be in fine cOndi-
ton. Nearly all kinds of vegeta-
bles, when properly cultivated, do
well, and in some of their rich, san
dy soils, beets, radishcs, onions and
sweet potatoes grow very large. AS
regards fruit, l saw neither apples,
pears or cherries that seemed to be
a success, but in the northern and
central portions of the State, peaches,
plums and grapes were plentiful,
and in the southern portions figs
and some other tropical fruits grow
well. AT Denton l had the pleas
ure of seeing some of the most beau
tifully trained grape vines that l
have ever seen, weighted with
large and splendid-lOOking punches
of grapes of different varieties,
which had been trained and attend
ed to exclusively by the delicate
hands of refined and intelligent
lady, who kindly invited me to
come and try their flavor when
ripe. / can very readily imagine
that they will be delicious, but am
afraid that l must otherwise remain
ignorant of their flavor.
Cattle, horses and sheep, thOus-
ands of which rOamed at will, feed
ing upon the nutritious grasses
growing luxuriantly upon the wide,
extended prairie plains throughout
nearly all portions of the State,
were generally all in line order and
condition. With its wheat, oats
and barley crops harvested its
wool either sold or on the market,
and its crop of cattle and horses an
assured fact, it will only require
favorable seasons 10 properly ma
ture and gather its corn and cotton
to make Texas, during the coming
fall and winter, land of the great
est plenty.
AS regards lands and soils, al
most every variety may be found,
and sometimes all of these varieties
can be seen in one and the same
county, their value varying in ac-
cOrdanee with locality, quality or