The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-09-06
ON THE RAIL.
Scenes Gloomy and Cheerful Prom
Austin to Galveston.
Regular Correspondence.l
FROM SEVERAL PLACES,

seSnes gloomy and Cheerful IRON
Austin to Galveston.
Regular correspondence
FROM SEVERAL PLACES,
August -, 1855.
L began my pious pilgrimage again
last Sunday, at 7:30 o'clock in the
morning. by taking the south bound
Central train, en- route for number
of places, to carry the glad tidings OF
JOY to the people of Texas, to-wit
That they could not keep posted
thoroughly and accurately on all the
happenings of this eartn, each day. as
well as on the inside doingS of all the
state courts, without subscribing for
either THE AUSTIN DAILY STATES
MAN or that unparalleled giant among
modern journals, THE WEEKLY
STATESMAN; and that these means of
were within the reach of every man,
woman and child in the United
States, and the world generally, as all
first-clasS neWsdealers and all railroad
trains keep them on hand at five cents
each. and that any remlttances for
subscriptions (see rates on small and
large bills) to either the Office at Aus
tin or to any of the numerous agents
of THE STATESMAN, who are scat
tered ali over the universe, would be
promptly attended to. This was my
theme; hence l have had good con-
science, which means good appetite,
and hotels have instructed their drum
mers to not encourage me to put up
with them. They say l must either
change my business to one whose
pious and beneficent character does
not give me such a clear conscience.
which always carries big appetite,
or that ! must go to some wholesale
grocery store and eat.
| noticed the crops as we Whlrled
along, and was made to alternately
smile and look sad as the condition
of the crops photographed themselves
on nv sensitive mind. l forgot to
tell the world that | carried an intel
lectual Photographic apparatus in my
head; but do, and it is instantan Gus.
dry plate. warranted to make Il good
likeness in the millionth part OF Il
second by an open-faced, nickle-plated
alarm-stOp clock. | saved up some
neg atiVes' OF the scenery along the
road from Austin to Galveston, and
I'll describe few of the starryscopic
views ] made. -
The first picture began in the south
eastern edge of Austin, where are to be
seen the ruins of orchards that would
be magnificent and discount a nation
al bank for wealth-groWlng purposes
if the owners had ever concluded that
pears, peach, and apple trees have to
be cultivated with a little more care
than do the spontaneous cocklebur,
the aromatic Jerusalem oak, the
modest but emphatic little grass bur,
the too-utterly awful stink-distilling
lambs-quarter, and other varieties OF
botanical specimens that playfully
arise with the morning light and
death in their routs and leaves. and
petals, and stamen, and pollen, and
and-ev-in the other things botany
SAYS they have. These orchards
should be great paying investments;
they do pay something; but should
think that Texan would be
ambitious to have Texas soil to
make him RICH. [ am only
an average Texan by adoption:
"a child of; the state" as it were, but
| am very ambitions TO have Texas
soil Cor anything else in Texas make
me rich. Seriously, though, these
large orchards just below the city
should be kept as if the owners were
in earnest about it; as if they planted
the trees for a purpose, not to see how
many they could put in q given space,
and TO see now much they would bear,
and how many years they would live
without any care at all, barring the
shallow and careless blowing some of
them receive inf ebruary and March.
One thing is sure: If the owners OF
such orchards as those L speak OF
were to bestow as much steady labor
on them as good farmers do in the rails
ing of cotton, twenty-five acre or
chard weuld pay, during the next five
years, a sum so much larger than q
cotton crop as to seem fabulous. Let
us figure on it. Say you have ten
acres in peaches. Allowing only 125
trees to the acre, and only two bush.
els to a tree, you would have 2oOC
bushels of peaches. These, at 50 pei
bushel, which they would bring stead
lily during the next five yearS-or fiji
teen-eEen with full crop everywhere
and you have 5000 on ten acres, pei
year; then allowing 125 apple trees to
each of ten acres, and only three bush
es to the tree, which coQlt
be easily sold for $l.25 pei
busheI, and we have $1,562.50 per dn
mum from apples. Then the five
acres in pears would pay enormously
So scarce are they in this market
| even being shipped from New jersey
us ell as from California, that good
improved pears can be sold to dealers
from the trees at an average of al
least three cents each. A pear tree
will easily average 200 pears a season
| and allowing loo trees per acre, We
have on the five acres $50 trees, with
| an aggregate of 10000 pears, which
at three cents each, would bring in
the neat little sum of $4,000 on the
five acres, or S11,062.50 per year fol
| the twenty-five acres. Some people
| Will reply: 80, you're liberal with fig
ureS on paper, but how will the prac
tical part work ?" l answer that ]
have made an estimate that old fruit
| groWers-I mean earnest, working
| fruit groWerS-will say is low
enough all around, and that my Cal
culations all presuppose only one
thing-a liberal expenditure of muscle
and brains. Suppose those orchards
in Travis county and in Texas gener.
ally be tested.
COLORADO BOTTOM GRASS AS HAY.
The second picture is where some
| thrifty persons have taken advantage
of every thing-have not only worked
their crops, but have cut and cured
the fine Colorado bottom grass" In
nutritious qualities it equals Ken.
lucky blue grass, while it grows more
luxuriantly and is not so easily
blighted. Hay put up from this grass
has no superior anywhere. l saw q
number of large, fine meadows, be-
ginning about three miles below
Austin and continuing contiguous tc
the railroad for several miles, that
were kept for the purpose of cutting
and curing this fine grass; and the
owners make great deal more from
an acre than they could make from ar
acre of cotton, even in the most fruit
full years. l am told that the Colorado
bottom grass can always be relied OIL
for large crop if it is watched anC
| taken in time. This seems reasonable
and is in accordance with the known
character of native grasses every
where.
The third picture is cotton and corn
which l found all along the line tt
look fine or poor, Just as the early o.
later rains, or a liberal expenditure Of
muscular industry have accelerated
their growth. While
|