The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1888-12-14
An Tat;re3tirg Letter from a Former
Resident o. Hardeman County.

EDITORS BULLETIN-This section Of
north Texas is extremely rich and pro-
ductive. The soil is from three to eight
feet deep and produces so near the same
on every acre that | cannot tell which are
the richest spots. In dry weather the
thorOughfares are almost like flint, which
are lovely for driving and carrying i'm
mense loads. 1t is no rare thing to see
two very ordinary ponies drawing six
bales of cotton to market from five to
twenty miles. 1t is about six miles to
the east fork of the Trinity river, where
most wood is gotten and hauled from one
to ten miles. / have also noticed two
small ponies pulling from one to one
and half cords of green wood. A man
never starts to a gin with less than a bale
of seed cotton and oftimes more, In
rainy weather these roads are waxy and
often impossible. 1t takes from four to
six horses to pull an empty wagon. The
difference Is as great as a load in dry
times compared to a load in Tennessee.
II is absolutely impossible to haul when
the ground is waXy, because the wheels
will take up hundreds Of pounds of mud
at every revolution. This is a very dis
agreeable feature of the black lands. l
have asked old settlers who have nursed
the country in its infancy, if they had be-
come used to the mud and they inyaria-
bly, say no. 1t Is a large saying in Texas
that "if you will stick to the black land
in dry weather it will stick to you when
II gets wet" and it Is a truth beyond
question. Tim Der grows rapidly. There
is enough IN east fork bottom and its
trib utaries to supply this vast scope of
country, and then scarcely be missed
Among the principal natural growths
may be mentioned our old fashioned
dock, over cup, red-bud, elm, two species,
water oak, blackberry, pecan, ash and
walnut. There are no wide spreading
oaks here. The timber is all small and
| bUshy-Texans call it "the brush" ]
say this section produces we'll Corn this
year averaged from forty to seventy-five
bushels per acre, l have seen thousands
of bushels offered at twenty-five cents a
bushel delivered, and comparatively nc
| sale for II at that low price. This proves
how large the supply is and how little the
| demand. And there is perhaps more
corn used here than any where in Amer
| lea; because they have the hog fence law
] consequently hogs are born and raised
! in pen perhaps no larger than SxlC
I and corn fed alta ether. There is a great
/ deal of FORK too in this country. I hav,
/ seen numbers of pigs sixteen and eighteen
| months old weigh from three 10 FIVE hun
/ bred pounds. Besides a great amount OF
corn Is fed to beef cattle. I have also
/ seen large wagon bed filed with chop
/ ped corn fed to forty or fifty head at Z
single feed. They commence feeding tht
beef cattle about the middle of November
aud continue this way until March, Civ
/ ing them ali the corn and cotton SEED
they can eat. Every prairie is lined
/ with cattle and ponies. Considering the
vast amount Of corn consumed, and tn,
/ present low price, tells itself OF the abun
| dance raised IN north Texas. Mcul
/ attention is given to the development
/ of fine stock. They have colt shows and
race tracks, where it Is no trouble 10 &c
up any size bet a man wants. To en-
| courage the stock bushes in Texas, il j
not misdenea nor to gamble on hors'
/ racing They say the cotton crop Is al
but a failue this year. 1t will avera q
nearly "a half bale per acre. This looks
like more than 40 ordinary crop to me.
| Wheat Yields from twenty 10 forty bush
els TO the acre Our old fashion red chat
would make twice as much, but it cam
be raised on account OF wheat binds and
the heavy winds, Nothing but bearded
wheat is sOwed and it does not make Il
much in any country as the above named.
Oats make from forty TO one hundred
bushels 70 the acre, and the world cam
beat the black iand for millet. Corn,
cotton, wheat, oats and millet are abou
all have noticed aug sigus Of Fruit
do not do we'll on the black land. A fe,
peach scrubs may be seen now and thel
] but no apple trees. have paid te