The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-05-31

grows on nearly all the streams, afford
ing fine grazing. z. b. Garrison in
formed us he had one hundred acres
of cane fenced for pasture, and per-
sons in other parts of the county have
similar pastures. Wilhelm the county
we saw two western stOckmen of
means examining this cane land with
The view of purchasing ranch. How
remarkable it is that --e n
VALUABLE LAND Is so CHEAP.
All over the county unimproved
land can be had from fifty cents to
five dollars, and improved from three
to seven dollars an acre, for cash, or
on any reasonable time desired, by
paving ten per cent. interest on de-
ferred payments. OF course, there are
some exceptions to this average, where
land runs up even to fifty dollars an
acre, and is not for sale at that price.
Now is the accepted time for the i'm
migrant to seize golden opportunity,
and either purchase home or invest
his money to advantage, The time is
not far distant when this land will be
no longer for sale at such nominal
rates. We found several among the
ShreWdest business men in the coun-
ty who are investing every spare dol
lar in land. This is about =. .,..,s
THE HEALTHIEsT COUNTY IN THE
-r STATE. ar 80 ,.5.
| We were among the people, in the
cou ntry and in the towns, in private
houses and at public gatherings, and
everywhere they appeared quite
healthy. We found an unusualnum-
Der of old persons, and the tax col
lector, to satisfy our prying curiosity,
took the census of Precinct No.
embracing one-eighth of the county,,
at the county site, and reported fifty
persons over seventy years old. OF
this number he supposed ten or
twelve to be eighty, two or three
ninety, and one about one hundred
and fifteen years old. ~ t-
FRUIT OF ALL KINDS, - Il,
adapted to this latitude, grow here, !
requiring but little trouble to culti-'I
yate them. Peaches, plums, figs, ap-
pies, pears, grapes, raSpberrieS and
straWb berries, of the first varieties, are
now successfully grown. CIR lpes, ap-
Piles and figs grow admirably and are
not injured by decay or disease Last
season wine was made a. several yine-I
yards, and peaches, apples and plams
were protitably shipped to. foreign
markets in small quantities. 5-~'- e 1
IRON, PoTTER's CLAY AND COAL
are found in this country, and in the
northeast and south, iron ore of the
best quality is almost ineXhauStible.
DR.. B. f. Schurnard, the State GeOlo-y
gist, in his report of 1860, submitted
to the State Legislature, said: ;.t5 jr.I
Our detailed examinations in Rusk
county have developed the occurrence !
of almost ineXhaustible deposits of /
workable hematite. DR..
Riddells analysis of a specimen taken
from an extensive ore deposit in, Rusk
county, about four miles east.of Sui
phur Springs, gave: =, &.-.H4 4
Specific gravity, 33,245. .i.-liiis,,e
| Alumina. -, .,......s !I;;..'aj1 .036O \
Silicious matter ipsoluble in
| ac1dS. - o.lS4I1
Peroxide OF iron.l..,.rr......'! 71.7o26
4" aCer .-:..r.- ...y,... -. 'lo.oo'5
-.z.,. ...-......., ....- -. >. 100000 \
"We have also found in this district
extensive beds of carbonate of iron"
Potter's clay of the'very best quality
is found in several parts of the county
in veins of remarkable thickness, and
three or four potteries are now active
| ly worked in manufacturing jugs,
jars, etc. We examined Taylor Browns |
and Judge w. w. Morris mines, near
the city of Henderson, and found |
them of excellent quality and appat |
emily inexhaustible. The judge gave |
us dis d souvenir an ''empty" little |
brown Jug This clay has been thor
oughly tested, and found to be of good |
quality for making. fre-bricks. Inl
1876, Judge Morris forwarded some of |
it to an English manufacturer, and |
we make the following extract from |
the report: '.''. =
"Mr. Browning considers the clay
better a great dea. than the clay which |
is mostly used for making buff ware, |
on account Of its good color and free
ness from ironstOne. He says it prop |
erly made into ware, ornamented with |
gold, it would be sure to command a |
good market, as buff ware is5 now |
greatly called for. If, the mine or
clay is of any thickness, he says, it |
will improve in quality the lower |
down it is followed" - - -.
'Jee if5li COAL, }ls'' -. -,
supposed to be of the best quality, |
has been discovered in about a dozen |
places in the county. Many believe, |
when a railroad is built near. some of |
these coal deposits, they can be. profit,
ably worked, and one is now being
operated within five miles of the |
j northeast part of the county, In sew
eral instances coal here has been used
at forges, and several loads were taken |
from the northern part of the county !
and effectively used in the foundry at |
Overton. AJiIl0kA.,.t |
AaR1cuITURAL.
The products here are numerous.
The following have, been successfully |
cultivated with satisfactory yield:
Cotton, corn,. oats, wheat. sugar cane, +
sorghum, peas, sweet and Irish pota-
toes, melons, indigo, .tobacco, rice,
-millet, Bermuda, Colorado and other
imported grasses. and vegetables Off
all varieties. During the war between
the States,! whe,it was extensively
raised and Touring mills We're run, and
all corn, bacon, tobacco and indigo for
home consumption were raised. in
1865, at the. surrender, the county, /
owing to ITS wonderful resources, was
not only wholly maintaining it's own
people but was exporting wheat, corn
and other products, In, 1866, and for
several years thereafter, cotton com I
manded more, than three times it's
present price, 1t became reallyking,
and beneath its magic sceptre every 7
other product and industry disap-
peared. The Touring mill and corn
bin were no more, and when cotton.
went down in price, it left the people
with but a dim; remembrance of their
former diversified crops and unpre-
pared to at once resume the eultiva-
tion of other things This is the
cause of ithe'absence of other products
and of the excessive, amount Of cotton
being produced, when the price is
little more than the cost of raising it.
The effect is shown in the balance of
Trade. 'ff'-, .t--49s1 is7iuF
There are now ninety thousand
acres of land inaeultivation and. five
thousand in pasture in the county. /
Last year forty Thousand acres of this
were cultivated in cotton, thirty thou
sand acres in corn, land twenty thou
sand in oats, wheat, sugar cane, sor-
ghum, different kinds Of grapes and
vineyards, orchards and gardens.
This year some more land has been
fenced for pasture, and not less than
one Thousand acres have been cleared /