The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-12
WONDERFUL CROPS THAT
GROW ON IT'S RICH LANDS
Products of Both the Tropical and
Temperate Zones There Flourish
in Luxuriance and Aid the
Farmer to Wealth. 4,
BY HERBERT VANpERHooF.

y
ment of southern Texas began.
Few cities of the United States have
/ brighter outlook. To the north and TO
the south, to the east and to the west
Hes fertile territory that can be truth
fully described as great fruit and vege-
i table garden situated a thousand miles
nearer than California. to the great cen
] ters of population and pouring IN their
! products IN steady stream OF agricul-
tural bounty to be freishted from San
Antonio to larger but less fortunate clties
Of the north. No wonder, then. that the
attention Of all America is being attracted
to this ancient city Of the Alamo, first
settled in 1889 and coupled In the minds
Of American youth with the exploits Of
heroic pioneers like Milan, Travis, Bowie
and Davy Crockett.
.tary to San Antonio comes partly as a
result of the gradual breaking OF the
Vast holdings devoted to cattle raising,
Epartly by the increase of irrigation and
the marvellous produetiveness Of the soil
thus rendered At for agriculture. From
live to thirty acres of grass, according
Ito Its abundance, being required to fat
ten g. steer, there is money In raising
lcattle so long as the steers selling price
pays, above all expenses, g. per cent, on
The market value Of the land. But when
the land increases in value there is more
money in selling the ranch.
/ Booming as Never Before. IL.
That is what has happened in the
ycounties contiguous to San ANTONIO. and
that is why the gulf territory tributary
ito the ancient city is booming as it never
sdid before The cattleman goes to west
sern Texas and the territories and the
branches, subdivlded into plantations and
farms, their fertile soil tickled by the
ihoe of the .husbandman, yield crops of
1.-THE greatest possible diversity to pass
Through the gates of San Antonio to ready
markets In the north and east. Where
the eutposts of cattlemen dotted the
there
if1ourishing young cities of q sturdy
growth; new towns are constantly spring
ing up, settlers are Hooking in, and the
rattle of the mower and the song of the
3plowman have supplanted the crack Of
the cowboys lash and the seughing Of
the wind in the chaparral. -
AS an example OF the territory which
contributes to the prosperity of San
fAntonio take the county of Guadalupe,
ito the east II. In 1900 its. population waa
s21,3S5. and Its assessed valuation in 1908
twas s5,7oo,599. It Is the natural home
Iof the grape, peach, plum. and all kinds
Sof berries. The watermelon grown In
this county is becoming more familiar to
northern markets every year. and nuts,
Especially pecans. are a natural and valu-
able crop.
But the remarkable thing about Quad
Salupe county, and this is true of nearly
all the counties surrounding San Antonio
is that the wealth Under the soil is even
greater than that to be found on the
surface. The mineral resources, which
are very great, are entirely undeveloped
Coal has been discovered in various To-
eatiea Clay for b n;sn and af potttsry
pecan, black walnut burr oak. post oak
live oak, blackjack, elm, hickory null
berry, mesquite and blackberry, and life
IFS truly worth living in Guadalupe coun-
ty, which offers every huspandman r1cf
reward for his toll: ~ 's*"-, ~
/, Richest of Commonwealth.
It is not too much to say that the por'
ton of Texas to the south of San An
tonic will become the richest Of common
wealths, should the right of partition re
served by the state on being admitted tt
the union ever be exercised. Not long
ago Governor Iyerrick Of Ohio made tn,
trip across the southern counties, ant
photographed back home that he had jus
seen the richest section Of the creates
state in the union. And there was littl
or no eXaggeration In the statement, a.
many a concrete example will prove. Fo
instance, in Webb county, 200 miles ives
Of Corpus Christi, q man named Alex
ander planted thirty-f1ve acres of onion
I'm 1904 an declared approximately s21 ,00C
His gross receipts We're $500 and hi
Expenses $1,000. In 1905 John Closne
220-acre field in the extreme southern
section Of Hidalgo county, on the P&
Grande. The total yield was 2,475 tons
and 1t marketed at 81 per ton, or $27,
s225. His net profit was $17,445, or $40 q
tper acre, on land which cost less than 5
per acre. Previously the same man ha
sold the crop from two-acre banan
Isgrove for $500, with practically no cos
i5of production. -Four hundred refrigerato
carloads of truck, consisting of Bermud
,sonfons, cabbages, potatoes, watermelOns
eantaloupes, mixed vegetables, and straw
berries, were shipped from the extretn
southwest section during the spring (
1906 and every consignment properl
marketed brought handsome returns t
the producer Southwest Texas. tribu
tary to San Antonio sends vegetables an
fruits to the northern markets from tw
to six weeks ahead Of any other sectio
OF the south, and such an advantage
bound to be permanently profitable.
Finest Climate In the South.
San Antonio, with a population of az
Bexar county, and it's climate is aclznow
edged to be the finest of any In tt
south and west Its altitude is 651 fe,
In the center of the city and nearly 81
feet at the different nearby hillsides ar
In the suburban residence portions Of tt
city. The average annual temperature
68; maximum summer temperature, g.
minimum in winter. IT, The average
clear days during the year Is 254 ar
the average rainfall for the past te
years was 27.6 inches. The age Of II
ethyl best demonstrated by a glance
It's notable old buildings Thus. Il
Alamo. on Alamo plaza, was built
171s: San Fernando cathedral, on Ma
plaza in 1894; Mission Conception tV
miles from Main plaza, in 1881: and Mi
sion San Jose, four miles south. in 172
IN striking contrast to these truly al
cfent structures among the very olde
on the continent is the businesslike a
Of Its modern commercial marts and ii
briskness of its immense railroad traffi
as the great distributing center for
wonderfully productive region
Enormous Profits Made.
The revenues from irrigated fields
Bexar county are phenomenal, ofte
reaching 1925 an acre. Lands that fo
rnerly sold for from 50 to SIS an acre no
bring from $50 to $75, and lands for gel
eral farming purposes bring from $40
$40 an acre. In the Texas coast countr
the products of which mostly find the
way north via San Antonio, farm Ian
are purchasable at prices ranging fro
81 and So to $25 an acre. the exact pri
depending upon the size of the tract al
its location in relation to railroad faci
b. ties. Such land, when devoted to t
crops peculiar to the section, will net t
farmer an average annual profit of fro
s75 to $40o and even $500 an acre, a.
this not In isolated instances. but as
general rule.
And this is the section which contri
i,tes to the growing prosperitysaof S.
Antonio, the ancient anG beautiful "a
through San Antonio senns It's bountii
nroduots to the grateful north.
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