Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-05-10
CALLAHAN COUNTY.
The Finest watered County in Texas-small
Grain Yielding Observation-Disclosures
full Healthfulness of the Climate.

! \ GAZETTE reporter met Judge B. r.
| Webb of Baird, Tex, who is now in the
| city on business, and knowing him to be q
! gentleman well posted in public affairs re-
| lating to his section proceeded at once to in
! terview him, with the gratifying result OF a
| most favorable report from Callahan
| county.
How is your county getting on, and what
! IS the outlook for the present season.
Callahan county is in most f1ourishing
| condition, and l doubt if there is an equal
| area anywhere in the country that can sur
| pass it The grass on the prairies is knee
| high and our cattle are already fat. An eX-
| cellent wheat crop for this year is already
| assured and crops of every kind are in fine
| condition.
| How is Callahan as small grain coun-
| try2
There is not better in the state. We
| have raised thirty bushels Of wheat and 100
bushels of oats to the acre, though of course
We do not claim this as an average. At our
district fair and at the Dallas fair we had
en- exhibition oats raised in Callahan county
weighing forty-eight pounds to the bushel,
and sweet potatoes weighing twenty-five
pounds each. | do not think that this rec
ord has been surpassed anywhere in the
country
Du your farmers raise much cotton.
Yes, cotton is fast becoming the leading
crop with our farmers. 1t grows well and
withstands the dry weather in the summer
better than corn. It also produces longer
and better staple, commanding better
price in the market than cotton grown in
Middle and Eastern Texas. We now ship
several thousand bales annually, and the
area planted in cotton is increasing rapidly,
| am glad to believe, however, that Callahan
will never become exclusively cotton
raising country, her splendid capacity for
small grain and livestock will never permit
this.
Does the livestock industry there con-
tinue to hold lis own9
We have more and better cattle horses
and sheep in Callahan now than at any
former time. Our stockmen have given
much attention to improving their stock. and
ourpastures are as good as they were when
the country was first settled. Our soil is
not of the black waxy kind, but while it
cultivates easily and freely, it is yet suffi-
GENTLY stiff to afford good sod for the
native mesquite graSS-a sod that does not
give way because the pasture may DE
heavily grazed. To the west of Callahan,
especially on the waters of Colorado and
near the BraZos, the soil is more Of a sandy,
loamy character. The sod there is not so
good to begin with, and more readily gives
way, if heavily stocked. In Callahan, you
may Craze the pasture as bare as q floor.
and the next spring the crop of grass will
be as good as ever This is an important
feature with the stockman and farmer, who
desire to arrange their business on perma-
1ent basis.
DO you grow any fruits out there?
Peaches and grapes do eXcellently well,
and the quality of the fruit is far superior
to that grown where there is more rain
and moisture. Other small fruits do not
grow so well, but this subject has as vet
received but little attention.
Is your county settling up much now?
Ihayn l. -t- s-r,
crease in population and values, and more
for the past year than usual. We have
never doomed Callahan or tried to do so.
Having good thing, we have been content
with it, more SO perhaps than we ought to
have been, considering how many of our
suffering fellow creatures are wanting Just
such homes as the splendid unoccupied
lands in Callahan will afford.
What is the value of good upimproved land
III Callahan2
Good farming lands can be bought there
at s.. % to IS per acre. as productice as any
in Tarrant or Dallas counties, that will
cost from $50 to $50 per acre. and we have
good churches and school facilities. within
the reach Of almost every tract of land in the
county, and much healthier climate than
you have here or east of here. A large
proportion of open, dry weather, and the
absence of mud. render our climate es-
pecially suited TO people troubled with
material complaints. consumption, bronchial
affections and diseases of that character
Is your town and county supplied with
good drinking water2
In this respect Callahan is the best
county in the west, and Baird has better
supply of water than any other town Oh
the Texas and Pacific road west of Weather
ford. We have six nice church houses and
are talking of renting out our two-story
Jail for grain elevator, having so little
use for it as a jail. Our streets have ex-
cellent drainage. so that mud and standing
water are things almost unknown. Quite
number of families from other states are
now residing in our town, for purposes of
health alone. Indeed, the healthfulness of
our climate almost works miracles, and
causes the aged to renew their strength |
like an eagle. To illustrate, an old gentle |
man and his wife came there from Ala |
bama with family of children nearly all |
grown up, but within year after their ar
rival there, they We're, greatly to their sur |
prise. blessed with a new son and heir.
Had Sarah lived there, Isaac would have
been a much older man at the time of his |
death, and that historic VOW and PRAYER of |
Hannah would, under our climatic condi- |
tons, have been entirely unnecessary. It |
is indeed a wonderfully exhilarating |
climate and a fine country.