The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-04-21
Cotton, Corn, Wheat and Oats
Give Big Yields and Yearly
Help to Swell the States
Wealth by Many Millions.
COTTON Is THE LEADER
IN POINT OF VALUE
Hog and Cattle Raising Also Inn
portant Factors Development
of Packing Industry = Fruit
Growing and Truck Gardening.

Growing and Truck Gardening.
BY HERBERT VANDERHooF.
Usually when. one speaks of any OF the
principal states of the Union it is to link
its name with some product for which 1t
is especially noted For instance, ILL
nois and Iowa are both great corn states,
the Dakotas excel in wheat, Wisconsin is
a dairy state, while various other states
have their especial products in which they
excel.
You can't speak of Texas in any such
general manner. Because Texas raises
such a variety of products, and each In
such enormous quantities, that the figures
Of her crops are simply astounding.
Take the cotton crop, as an Illustration
Many people have the idea that cotton is
the great staple of the state. Not at all:
Texas is indeed the greatest producer OF
the staple in the Union. but that is only
one feature Of its agricultural activity.
The cotton crop will run over 100000
bales year and this represents an in
crease in production over six times as
! great as in the balance of the country.
Texas Is also a great corn producer. 1t
is now growing over 10o, 100000 bushels
| a year, which means that it has quin-
| tupled its production during the past
! three decades. The growth of corn has
| also made it a great hog producing
! state, and it's annual contribution Of hogs
to the country amounts to more than
100000 head a year. It was develop
; ment of the hog growing industry that
induced the great packing houses of Ar
. mour & Co. and Swift & Co. Of Chicago
! to- locate big packing plants at Fort
! Worth, and this has become the packing
| center of the state, and a business
amounting to millions is now down there
annually. -
When it comes to wheat growing.
Texas does not take such conspicuous
position, and yet it's figures are imposing.
It is growing between 16, 900, 900 and 90
100000 bushels year, and its production
is steadily gaining. In 1870 it grew only
415,112 bushels. and the increase of the
crop of 1900 over that of 1870. was reck-
oned at 1854 per cent, which is a pretty
4 fair rate OF growth for thirty years.
| oat Crop 10000, 900 Bushels. -
Oats is another crop which is not usual
to associate with Texas, and yet it is
raising over 20,000,000 bushels a year.
The value of the four crops mentioned
above in 1900, placing a moderate mar
ket value upon the four commodities
amounted to s202.150. 900. -.-a. ..,.
This great production of wealth is
mainly the output of that extremely rich
section of the state in which Dallas and
Fort Worth are the natural trade centers
| This part Of the State-the northern-is
not only the most thickIy settled. but il
, has been a great field for railway de-
velopment. due to the extraordinary rich
ness Of the land and the great crop!
grown thereon.
One other factor in agricultural worl
in Texas is. that the farmer can worl
, every day in the -year-out-of doors.s--It Il
, not like it is North, where the ground i
frozen for months at time, and in which
the growing season is limited. Here tn
5 cattle can roam without shelter all tn
time and generally can find all the forag
0 that they require.
l. This has made the state the great cat
3 tie raising state it is, only that, instea
$ Of the, only long horn steer, the cattl
raisers have gone in for blooded stock. /
! is a rare thing to run across long hOr
) now. The land, for instance, except on
on the western ranges, has become to
valuable to raise cattle, except such a
, will bring the highest market prices
Hence the average farmer now carries
l. few blooded steers along each year, an
| these bring him in ready cash wheneve
8 he cares to sell. Of the 7,00O.0 900 head c
: cattle in the state the majority will grad
/ | well up. --..... a.. -. So. ...
: The value of the land in this rich blac
belt of the state has stimulated true
d farming, fruit raising. ETC., and the man
thriving towns and cities. with the exec
: lent railway facilities. give ready out
!. let to the farmers for all they can brin
to market. AS yet these branches of agr
- culture may be said to be in their in
fancy, but the profits have been so lare
: that they are gaining every year. Peache
n apples. grapes, melons of all kinds an
10 vegetables grow with the greatest pre-
fusion, while there are certain section
lie of this country where they devote them
i. selves to the Bermuda onion and gro
IS crops of fabulous size. Not only tina
IL but such a reputation has the Bermud
: onion grown here attained in the maj
- kets of the East that some of the mel
- chants there stand ready to take all tha
III can be shipped. -.r.s-
The fruits of Texas grow to a goo
Of size and possess the finest f1avors. II
ct peaches already have acquired reputa
ton. and the state now boasts of MOI
q than 1000. 900 peach trees.
" Millions In School Lands.
"a Texas has millions of acres in scho
lands, which are owned by the stat
~ itself. The national government he
:. . never owned any of the lands of tt
| state, owing to proviso agreed upon {
the time the state was admitted to IL
ne Union. While millions of acres of thes
ID lands have been sold there still renal
many millions more, and these lands al
ty gradually being sold by the state at
H. low appraised valuation. Millions of the:
acres still remain in the most fertile ar
No. desirable portions of the state.
ss It Is the demand for these lands tn;
is bringing so many thousands of new Sc
tiers to the state. Every train that Ell
ne tiers it now brings an eager throng
as seekers for these promised lands. Men
the North and East are selling for s.
de and 500 an acre: and are putting the
in money in these lands a few dollars
acre. They know they cannot lose an,
se thing, while the chances are favorab
,st for their making the price of the lar
ng from their first seasons crop.
was talking with one of the new Sc
.w tiers from Ohio. a man of about As, wi
lst told me that he had been farmer in 4
We Buckeye state all his life.
Didn't you feel rather reluctant
NO break up and come away down here
Ne / asked him.
M M mot particularly he replied ST
~ not an entire stranger; I've brother w
. came down here about twenty years az
u and while I've been plodding along a.
ms Just making good living for my fam
ar. he's been coming. money. He has q
Z; vised me many times to come down he
zen and at last I've taken his advice"
So Your brother is farmer?" / querit
'ys One Ohio Mans Fortune.
Yes: he came here with little mon
MT and bought farm a few miles fro
Tvs Dallas. He paid about 81 an acre
no his land. and it has made him rich by
yas crops. He has never had crop failu
But today he sell that same la
20 and get the cash down for $50 an &C
to ! He paid $500 for 1t when he bought,
I'd today is offered $4,000 for the sal
of the way land values are advance
down here. I am going to buy sol
e ers cheap lands, but as soon as / have 6
tne them under cultivation their values
, ,ns begin to rise every year. ;,
can II have come to the conclusion II
the man who stays up North and FAR
am on high priced land Is wasting his TIT
ball IF T had come down here when my brotl
the did would be worth 100000 more tn
me am today
That is the spirit that is general amo
rry | the .homeseekerS. They are an indust
the | Gus, hard working class, and they {
is here for the purpose of lettering. tn