The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-10-07
Letter from Texas.
Correspondence of the Democratic Advocate.
wEEsArcHE, GoLIAp COUNTY, Texas, !


WEEsATCHE, GoLIAD COUNTY, Texas,
September 25th, 1882. !
| MEssRs. EDIToRs The people are very
busy picking, hauling and selling their cotton.
The crop, which viii be an abundant one IN
| this vicinity, is about half marketed. Prices
have been quite satisfactory, ranging from 10
to III cents per pound for lint. Picking
hands have been in great demand, and the
high prices of 81. 90 and 81 .25 per one hundred
pounds have been paid for picking At this
price good hands can earn from one to two
dollars per day. Nearly any fourteen-year-
old boy can pick one hundred pounds daily.
! The cotton worms have now attacked the
crop, and fortnight hence every leaf will
have vanished to appease the appetltes these
voracious pests. iT,of { ..tca
Strange as it may seem to your Northern
readers, this is haymaking season in south ;,
western Texas. The kind of grass preferred
| for hay is what is commonly called here by the
two names, "buffalo" or warren" 1t does
not grow wild, but comes spontaneously into
cultivated fields and grows with great vigor,
attaining a height of two to three feet IN a
short time after the farmer ceases to cultivate
or sslays by his crop. After the husbandman
gathers his corn, he removes the stalks and
| haryests an abundant crop of hay, which IS
|
| land, This hay possesses the sweetness OF
timothy and the richness of Hungarian, with
out the dangerous tendency of the latter to
produce founder.
A few lines, if you please, generous editors,
to the juvenile readers of the ADVOCATE.
Woe be unto the youngster Tor oldster for that
matter) who, with nude feet, inadvertently
walketh, or runneth, into patch land the
patches are as plentiful as candidates for OF;
fee, and quite as annoying), OF burr grass.
so called on account of the several crops 1t
bears annually of the worst burrs that ever
pierced boys feet and made him jump high
and squeal "Every rose has its thorn, boys,
but not every thorn a rose, or Texas would
indeed be perpetual flower garden. How
ever, bows are not preoccupied all the time
eyading grass-burrs. They have their fun and
amusements One of their means of sport is
the cheap and ingenious plan by which they
capture cartridges virtually they 'lasso"
them. They procure long, light, slender
pole, such as one would select for fishing
pole. To the small end they fasten slender
slip-noose, made from few hairs of a horses
tail Armed thus and reinforced by a cur
dog Ca setter or pointer wouldn't do), they are
ready to institute an aggressive campaign
against their wary prey. The dog forces the
birds into trees, when the young sportsman
reaches up his inofensive looking weapon and
places the moose around the neck of the trem-
bling partridge, with as much dexterity as he
will ''lasso' running horse or bovine when
he becomes a man. ..-.
Riding the most refractory horses seems to
be very enjoyable exercise to many of the
youths and young men. To see horse go
through all the manipulations of attempting
to dislodge his rider, one must visit Texas.
1t must be seen or experienced to be under
stood However, the human skill and agility
of the rider always conquers the brute force,
and the wirey Texan retains his rickety seat.
SCRAP OF HISTORY.
No doubt many persons think that the in
dividuality of Davy Crockett exists only on the
pages of fiction. Not so, however. The &C.
centric statesman, hunter and warrior persisted
in San Antonio, Texas, while defending the
Alamo fortress against the assault of Santa
Anna, March 9th, 1886. In this battle, or
rather murder, also fell Colonel Bowie, the
inventor of the murderous knife which now
bears his NAME Near the southern border OF
this county is plainly visible the battle ground
where Colonel Fannin fought the Mexicans
lust after the fall of the Alamo.
Success to yourselves and readers is the
wish of PETER BARNES.