The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1903-03-04
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
BROWNSVILLE COUNTRY"


City. Texas, Tribune recently pub,
lished some misleading statements
concerning this section, which il
gives as the views of Mr.. Franz
Heubner OF Bay City who visited
here a few weeks ago, and from
which it draws the conclusion that,
while the Brownsville country is a
fine alfalfa and sugar country, it is
far inferior to the Bay City section
rs a rice country. The article is
calculated to give Brownsville and
the entire lower Rio Grande country
a decidedly black eye, and as the
great canal enterprise in this county
was built especially for the purpose
Of cultivating rice, THE HERALD
feels it to be It's duty to amend the
Tribune's statements, and Is glad to
say it can conscientiously do so in
several respects. The Tribune ac-
knowledges that Mr.. Heubner found
this country possessing some very
attractive advantages" which it
sums up somewhat grudgingly az
follows:
at has an unlimited supply of
water, the land is surprisingly rich,
labor IS abundant and very cheap,
and lands are low III price, ranging
from three to five dollars per acre.
But as the land one has to take
lying several miles back from the
river, and which are worthless ex-
cept for grazing, bears such a large
proportion to the river front lands,
the latter costs a good round sum
after all Another advantage is that
Tain never interferes with harvest
ing"
The disadvantages which Mr..
Heubner reported, the Tribune
describes thus:
Mr.. Heubner SAYS the country |
at the mouth OF the Rio Grande. |
like all countries, has It's drawbacks
and advantages. Chief among its
drawbacks are the following: First,
in order to get land on the river,
one must take a strip running
back twenty to thirty-eight miles,
all of the old Spanish grants being
IN this shoestring shape, and none
Of the present owners will sell their
river front without selling the back
lands with it. Second, the land is
all thickly covered with brush, and
1t costs five dollars an acre to have
1t cleared and grubbed. Third, the
river shifts from place to place, fire.
qGently. He saw one pumping
plant left high and dry a mile from
the river, and another was on
huge fiat boat. So that it would
move about with the river. Fourth,
they have losses there from over
flows, Fifth, their lands are more
porous than ours, and the air is
dryer, sun hotter. and rainfall much
less than ours; hence the same
acreage requires much more water
there than here"
To this, THE HERALD can truth
fully reply that the drawbacks
enumerated are decidedly over
dratca. 1t is true, the land here is
largely divided into such strips, as
described, but still there are tracts
in better shape which can be pur-
chased, and which are suitable for
irrigation. 1t is true, that the
greater part of it must be cleared,
but, placing the purchase price at
So to 50, and the cost of clearing at
So, which is the maximum, you
have in the end the richest land in
the world at a cost of only IS to
SO an acre, which is level as a
floor, being easily irrigable, and
adjacent to an abundant and un-
failing supply OF fresh water. As
to losses from overhows, this is a
mistake. There have been no over
flows to amount to anythingi in this
valley for three years, and when {
SAey did come, they were really ,
welcomed as blessing. The many
rnsacas were damned TO hold the