The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-01-18
From advance sheets of Resources, Soil and
Climate Of Texas" by A. w. Spraight, Com
missioner of Statistics, etc
BOSOUE COUNTY.

bOSQUE COUNT1.
This county is situated just within
the lower limits of that distinctively
wheat-growing region which has Civ
en- to Northern Texas a just claim to
be termed the granary of the state.
Area, l041 square miles.
Population in 1S70........ 1881
Population in 1880. ... l1,217
Assessed value of taxable
property in 1870. ...... S772, $50
Assessed value of taxable
property in 1881 .... 2,576,30I
Assessed value of livestock
in 1881. SS1......... 99,5O5
Meridian, the county seat, is 2SO
miles, by the line of the Gulf, Colora-
do and Santa Fe railway, northwest
of the gulf port of Galveston. The
county is bounded on the northeast
by the Brazos river for a distance of
fifty miles, and is traversed nearly
centrally by the BoSque river. Bold
hills, rolling prairies, rich, alluvial
valleys, post oak and cedar timbered
uplands, and the numerous streams
flowing into Brazos aud Bosque riv-
ers, fringed with pecan, live oak and
walnut, all combine to lend great
diversity to face of the country. The
tributaries to the rivers mentioned
are: Meridian, Boggy, Childress, Corn,
Duffau, Rough, Hill, Neills and Steel's
creeks. Springs are numerous, and
wells OF pure limestone water are eaSi-
ly obtained. Cisterns are also used to
a considerable extent. Farming and
stockraiSing principally engross the
attention of the inhabitants. Certain
portions of the county are favorable,
in a high degree, to both of these in
dustrieS. About one-third of the area
is adapted to farming purposes. The
soil is black and stiff on the uplands,
and dark sandy alluvial in the Bra
zos and Bosque valleys, the former
being adapted to the cereals, and the
latter to cotton, corn, fruits and vege-
tables. Of the arabic lands, about
one-tenth is in cultivation in farms
averaging sixty acres. The usual
yield per acre of the best lands, under
favorable conditions, is, of wheat fif-
teen bushels; corn, twenty-five; oats,
forty to fifty; cotton, half bale. Sor-
ghum, Irish and sweet potatoes, and
vegetables of all kinds are easily rails
ed, but only in quantities sufficient for
home consumption. Peaches, plums
and apples of early kinds are success
fully grown. The pecan cropis usu-
ally large, and pecan orchards could
be made very profitable with little
labor and expense. A largeN> por-
tion of the wheat grown in the coun-
try is converted into flour at the
home mills, which are numerous, of
large capacity, and using all the latest
improvements. Unimproved prairie
land sells from 81 to So per acre; val
ley land for So. Tracts with portion in
cultivation, and some improvements,
vary from So to $40 per acre: the
usual terms One-third cash and the
remainder in easy payments. The
rental for cultivated land, with
houses for tenants, is usually $3.50
per acre, or for one-fourth of the cot
ton and one-third of the other crops.
The annual rainfall is about thirty
inches, and generally much greater in
the fall, winter, and early spring than
in the summer. But with early
planting and deep and thorough
plOwing, the fresh virgin soil can be
counted on for fair yield nine years
in ten, and the tenth not an entire
failure.
There are 33,435 sheep in the coun-
ty, and the grasses for pasturing them
are nutricious and plentiful. They
increase about 6625 per cent, and aY-
erage four pounds of wool per an
mum. The cattle number 22,490 {;
horses and mules, 9506; and hogs,
55SS. Stock cattle and horses require
little or no feed in witer. Work
horses are worth $40 per head; mules,
$75; oxen, $40 per yoke. The last are
not much used:
The BraZoS, BOSque, and several of
the smaller streams have sufficient
fall to supply water power, but no
effort has yet been made to utilize it.
The junction of the Gulf, Colorado
and Santa Fe with the Texas Central
railway at Morgan, in the northeast
ern part of the county, the one rum
ming through from east to west and
the other from south to north, sup
plies convenient railway communica-
tion. The larger part of the trade
centers at Galveston, to which point
transportation costs 81 per hundred.
A smaller proportion flows to Waco.
Meridian, the county seat, on the
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railway,
has 600 inhabitants. Clifton, Kopperl,
and Valley Mills, on the same line,
have each 300; Fowler, Walnut
Springs, and Iredell, on the Texas
Central, have 250 each. and Morgan,
500.
There are fifty-seven public free
schools for white children and three
for colored, with a scholastic popula-
tion Of 1856, and an average attend
ance of 70 per cent. There are be-
sides several private schools, some of
which are of high grade. There are
many churches, and the Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian
and Lutheran denominations have
church organizations.
The finances of the county are in a
good condition; its taxes 40 cents on
the 800.
The general health of the county is
very good.
nIID HUnHDD nnUTDnC