San Saba County news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1874-19??, 1893-02-03
SAN SABA COUNTY.

5 Ed. News: the cou utry In
[ creased in population, colt, N, rye
t fruits and every farm and richard
t product. produced in the TIE mper-
ate Zone was planted, md when
3 the harvest time came V ielded an
abundant harvest.
Of the irrigable lands of San
, Saba county the larger P ortion is
of rich loan; this is thtl case In
the valley of the Colorado River,
of the greater part of the nc rthern
part of the county, of large sec
tions in her southern part and of a
small portion of the up lands in
her central part. The remand, n
Iof the arabic land is of arich blacit
alluvial soil. This soil is to be-
found almost throughout the val
ley of the San Saba river, and the
valleys of most of its branches.
The two soils, just mentioned, are
from two to eighteen feet in depth
and in many instances even deep
er. The truth is that it is by no
means rare thing to see it thirty
feet deep. These soils, as a gen
eral thing, have a clay foun, 1ation,
which Is the secret of our lands
withstanding drouths SO well. As
regards the strength of the two, it
is evident that the black is the
stronger, though harder to cult
vate. There are farms in the coun-
ty that have been in cultivation for |
for over twenty years, and will and
do now produce from forty to fifty
bushels of corn per acre, and other
farm products in proportion. And
all of this without fertilizers of
any kind. The department of ag-
riculture, called farming, was for
almost two years (1886 81, almost
paralized. But the abundant rains
of the winter of 1887 and from
that time on have given it an ener-
gy and robustness of life that it
never had before. Indian corn
and oats grow in San Saba county
to perfection.
San Saba has both the soil and
the climate adapted to fruits, but
the chief among them is the
grape. This county is specially
eaaRtaa to erapA-.-As fine speci-
mems of this fruit are grown here
and that too, with so little effort
on the part of the raiser) as the
world has ever seen. The day is
is not far distant when the world
will know this fact and avail it
self of its benefits. Every variety
of fruit that has been tried produ-
ces the very best results. AS to
peaches and grapes, a few short
years will find San Saba success
full rival of California.
Farming has been put at the
head of the agricultural list though
stockraising belongs at the head,
and is likely to remain SO for a :
considerable time. During the
early history of San Saba her cit :
liens were mostly devoted to the
live stock business. With the
finest range in the world and a
favorable climate, stock of all f
kinds remained fat the year round.
Such a thing as having a shelter I
or feeding stock was never dream !
ed of. Though grass was free and
plentiful there was one drawback,
the Indians. These rowing rascals
stole horses and killed cattle when
ever they felt like it 1t was no
uncommon occurrence for one to !
be set foot, the Indians stealing +
all his horses. "Times have
chanOedr' We have neither the
Indians or the free grass now. q
The country is covered with a net
work of wire fences. We have not
so many stock as we once had, but
they are of better breed. The .
short horn" has to a great extent +
succeeded the "longhorn," and
blooded horses ARE succeeding the +
Spanish plugs. About the wear +
1878, Rice Sloan introduced into 6
the comfy from Missouri, num-
Der of durham cattle Others have +
since followed his exmaple, and at n
present we have a good grade of .
cattle in San Saba. We have g
superior grade of sheep and good q
grade of horses, asses and goats.
That every mans friend, the hog, +
grows almost spontaneously. For h
a number of years every man put L
forth his every effort to increase q
the size of his herds, no matter
what quality the grade might be.
This, they have since found to
have been an error: their motto T
now is, fewer stock and better il
stock. S
The following is from the tax T
rolls of 1890: Land val s,546,O62 i
CITY and town DroDertv val $780, T