The Hartford herald., 1885-02-18

see u would not dO TOR them to make
good crops every year, "a the years are
not long enough to save them, hence
every other year is about as much a.
the country can endure In the way of
good crops, hut they seldom do more
than make one good crop in five years
An old Texan told me this morning
that there has meyer been a full crop of
everything grown here made in one
year. Well certainly this is n peculiar
country, and il may be some Of my old
friends in Kentucky would like to hear
my opinion of il. In such attempt
may hazard something, as my observa-
tions of course are limited, vet ! have
formed some conclusions about some
things and those | will give for what
they are worth.
This cannot be made first class
agricultural country i'm my humble
opinion, and for the following reasons /:
The rainfall il not sufficient in the
greater part OF the State, then the irreg-
ularity of the seasons is such as To for
ever forbid its being reliable farming
country. Then the extremes OF heat
and cold are such as To constitute a
very unfavOrable condition for cropping
The time. in my opinion, has already
passed Tor the rapid accumulation Of
fortunes in the greater part Of Texas,
ana for these reasons as fast as the
country is subjected To cultivation, the
native grasses are killed out forever
they can never reset, nor can our tame
ar domestic grasses he substituted. The
native grasses have been the great source
of wealth in Texas-when they are once
gone they are gone forever, and moth
ing can take their places. Just as fast
therefore as the country is subjected to
cultivation il ceases to be a stock coun-
try, and whenever Texas is no longer a
stock country she becomes one of the
poorest countries on the face of the
earth. All the great fortunes i'm Texas
have beer made on cattle. Now this
avOcation is only being successfully
prosecuted on the western border, and
the area is being rapidly re,iuced by the
settling up of the country. Many Of
the prairies that few years ago yielded
the richest and most luxurious pastur-
age, are now so Dearly exhausted by
over-stOcking as To be almost worthless.
Hence stocking and herding as pro-
fessions are being rapidly pressed back
to the western border.
Again vast regions of the grazing
districts have been bought up and in-
closed with barbed wire fences by for.
eign wealthy synjicates and companies,
which is a great impediment to the
success of the average or small stock
grower and individual operators. The
operations of these great monopOlies
have also had their troubles in their
turn, consequent upon the wIre-cutting
and fence-breaking generally attributed
to the nefarious COW boy and the small
stock operator. OF course the end of
this contest will he favorable to the
land owner, as the legal authorities
must necessarily come to his support
and vindicate his claim and his right
to fence up or do whatsoever he will
with his land. These circumstances
taken together clearly indicate that the
time is close at hand when the profit
able stock business must he under the
control of few.
Since writing the foregoing | have
availed myself of some new sources of
authority and find that the late de-
structlon of cattle and sheep from the
excessive cold snap just past has been
mainly attributable to the fact that the
scarcity and poverty of the grazing last
AL sent the cattle aud sheep iuto fins
winter very poor, hence the immense
losses recently reported. But few
farmers have any preparation either for
sheltering or feeding stock. Having been
accustomed to relying exclusively on
the range, they seem not yet willing to
yield to the new state of things induced
by the operations of syndicates and the
subsection of so much of the territory to
cultivation by the armies of emigrants
now flooding the State. And Just here
may be pardoned for a slight digres-
sion, that | may remark, that such is the
vastness of the influx of immigrant pop
that there are thousands of
families in Texas without homes,
houses or shelter, and many OF these
seem not to desire local habitation, but
have organized themselves into travel
ing cotton picking companies, who,
when the cotton picking season opens
ON the southern gulf, begin their opera
tions and follow up the seasons as
the cotton northward ripeps until they
have crossed the entire cotton growing
region where the season ends. Then
they work their way back to the gulf
through the winter and spring seasons,
and are again ready for operations
when the season comes on for cotton
picking. This circuit is made and this
life made perpetual by the entire fam
ly in a covered wagon drawn either by
4 yoke of long horned oxen or a cheap
pair of mustang ponies. Everywhere |
you will meet these portable cotton /
picking companies-by the roadside
under their dingy old tents, seemingly |
ss happy as big sun-flowers.
In my next / will describe more !
particularly the richest belt in Texas,
between the city of Austin and the
county of Denton. j. :. G..