Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-06-17
A FARMER
Of Callahan County on the Question OF
Free Grass.
The Testimony Of Man Who is on the
Ground.

tBaird Clarendon Correspondencel
we see accommodation In your last
issue from the fscile pen of ''Stockmano
setting forth the necessity of protect.
Ing the grass. We fully agree with
MIN with regard to the projection of
the grass. but We must say that he Ia
a little Off III you will allow the ex-
pression) with regard to the sterilitv
of the soil. We know but little of the
"upheavels of the continent" or the
'recessions of the water,n but this we
40 Know, that our soil
is very productive, that the farm
ers pay a very fair per centage of our
taxes, and do more to builu up the
county than all other classes COM
bined. The farmers, as a general rule,
are poor men, who were either crowded
out where they came from, or We're too
poor to buy land, and so were pushed
to the West where lands were CHEAP:
and right manfully did they battle
against drouth, and various other dis.
advantages, overcoming every obstacle
and to-day are receiving their re-
wards, In good crops, with every
prospect of better times. The
wheat crop alone this year will reach
the immense amount of 10000 bush.
els, besides, there are fine crops OF
| corn, oats, millet, potatoes, cotton and
large amount of vegetables of all
kinds. There has been as much as
thirty-five bushels of wheat raised
per acre, on our Sterile soil,n fifty
bushels of oats, forty of corn, one-half
bale Of cotton, twelve tons of sor-
oh f,,,,r .f nil H..
weighing five pounds, sweet potatoes
nine pounds, beets sixteen pounds,
pumpkins eighty pounds, cushaws
sixty, and many other products that
would make fair showing in the
states of Iowa. Illinois, or Ohio. This
does look as though they would be
"helps" and ''incidentalsn as Stock.
man says. With regard to the grass II
is good in its place, and while 1T wa.
free to the public 1t was a source o.
great wealth, but when we take away
the rights of the people, forbid them
to let their stock run at large on thu
public domain, it will force them t
| take their wealth and go out from us
This, we think, will do more to retard
our growth than the drifting o
q few stock into our county
As far as the destruction of the gras,
is concerned, we think 1t a matter o
impossibility to destroy 1t by grazing
for, under our own observation, We
have seen it tested. For instance, lool
at the streets of your own t0wn-th'
grass where the sod is tramped every
day by hundreds of people, where all
the stock graze-there the grass looks
as fine as in any part OF the country
and in the byroads and where pubic
roads have been fenced the gras
seems to have matted the hard ground
and actually looks better than on tn
unbroken sod. We are reliably in
formed that near San Antonio wher
stockmen have uionopolized the coun
try for q number of years, that tn
grass is as fine as 1t Is in any of tn
western counties where cattle hav'
lust been introduced. And now IL
conclusion we wish to say that wher
the county was first organized II wa
overstocked with cattle, there beint
more stock in the county than coult
be kept on the range, and what wa
the result? The county was organized
and out of debt, unless small amour
due to Eastland county for services
rendered during our organization, bu
with all the stock that could be main
tanned on the grass, our revenues wer
inadequate to keep up our running ex
penses, and the county becam
almost bankrupt; but just here
the surplus cattle began to NOV
to the West, farmers began to come u
the front, farms were opened, land be
gan to take a rise, rs did stock OF al
Kinds; our assessment rolls began to IN
crease in value and to-day through
the industry of our farmers we are al
most out of debt, with the exception
of the courthouse bonds, and If, a
Stockman says, the grass interest WI
have to pay the major part of It
we the farmers, will have yer,
| light taxes to pay in the future; ba
we are of the opinion that the, deb
would be a long time due, If the forne
were dropped from the tax-rolls. Bu
thew do not ask 1t; all we want Is ire
grass, free water, free trade and SAILOR,
righf: give US this and We will 20 VIII
YOU hand in hand to work for our com
mon interest, build up every interes
that is of benefit to our beloved coun
try and will endeavor to pay lar pro
portion of our common debt.