The Minneapolis journal., 1906-08-04
PANHANDLE Is A
FRUITFUL FIXED
Section Of the Lone Star State
that Offers Many Inducements
to the Man Seeking . New Looa-
ton Climate Is Delightful.
EXCELS PRINCIPALLY
IN STOCK RAISING
This Industry Greatly Stimulated
by the Opening Of Branch
Houses atsFort Worth by Big
Chicago Packers. -

Houses atsFort Worth by Big
Chicago Packers. -
~ HERBERT vANDzRhooF.
The Panhandle country Of Texas. COM
prising the northwest portion Of tha
state, furnishes fruitful feld for settls-
ment- From Fort Worth long lines Of
shining steel rails, emerge IN every direc-
tion. branching fanlfke across the country
Of the Panhandle
The question At transportation has iona
since been satisfactorily solved, ana the
cattle raisers take full advantage Of the
facilities thus furnished. IN the beginning
OF things Fort Worth was recognised a.
the center and headquarters Of the cattle
country found their best market there
and continue to do SO to the present day.
With eleven trunk lines conversfns a<
Fort Worth. radiating in sixteen different
directions, the station had no rival
worthy Of the name. Il got the business
from the start, and. what ia still better,
having secured the traffic, managed to
keep it.
Now, much of the prosperity Of the
Fort was not DUE altogether to It's ex.
cellent location. Facilities for handing
business are capital things In their way.
but. and this is large ana convincing
but, the business must be there in order
to be handled About three years ago the
packing industry made Its appearance in
strong force, and an impetus was given
to trade which has lasted ever since. !,
Advent Of the Packers.
A snaau concern. known as the Fort
Worth Packing company. had been In ex.
iztence for several years, but proved sIto-
gether inadequate to handle the business,
which was growing up with the country.
Enter then the giants Of the packing
trade, Masszs. Armour and Swift From
then On there came decided change
over the Industrial conditions OF Texas.
And right here It may be mentioned
that the honely but useful hog 10 an
absolutely necessary adjunct to the mod
ern packing-house, The cattle trade In
itself is not sufficient to pay the expenses
Of large packinghouse plant equipped
with expensive modern machinery.
Therefore. the establishment Of the Ar.
| mour and Swift plants was largely In the
nature Of a gamble. Hogs in the Pam
handle country were scheduled as q drug
on the market. The farmers locked upon
| them as neither beautiful nor practical
In the first instance they were correct.
There Is no great beauty In a hog at It's
| best. Even when he smiles he is not
attractive. But in the second instance
the farmers were wrong. For a hog Is
nothing II not practical.
It remained for the packers to educate
the farmers as to the utility Of the un-
graceful hog. And they went at their
task with commendable energy. with the
happy result that the hog supply is to-
day the most important asset of the
humble farmer OF the Panhandle country.
Magnitude OF the Industry.
| There can be no doubt as to the boon
which tho packing-ho have conferred
upon the Texas farmer and livestock
grower. They have created not only
demand in their own business but have
ers from outside.
Take glance at the figures, which
speak for the packing. houses. They show
that Armour and Swift have slaughtered
more than 1900 head per day for every
working day in the year. and in addition
| to this number OF cattle and calves,
handled about the same number Of hogA
These packing plants added during the
past year departments which create other
profitable sources OF wealth 70 tho
farmer. Each of them can take care Of
10000 chickens They also have egg de-
try aad have Goss0n nos yet rsashed as anywSsrs S
near their capacity for handling this
product ,.-..l
handle by the. packers. Let US see what
the land itself promises to the settler.
The large proportion OF crisp. bractny.
sunshiny days makes II a delightful cli-
| which has made Dallas county famous,
ts strongly in evidence in the country
about Fort Worth. And the fact that the
settled offers tempting Inducements to
those who wish to found homes in this
fascinating portion Of the state Of Texas.
The wealth Of the territory in question
grass, the curly mesquite, the different
varieties OF grazing grass. all afford ex.
eellesnt sn grazing and render the country
Yet, without good water supply the
most promising land is little better than
a desert. And in this matter nature has
Tne entre state
Texas Is underlaid with strata of water
bearing rock. From Eagle Pass on the
Rio Grande to Fort Worth extends, an
artesian belt Of tremendous width and
limitless supply. It can be easily tapped
by artesian wells at q low altitude. From
the highest plains to the coast level
water can be secured and brought to the
surface by natural pressure.
No Lack OF Water.
Apart from the artesian supply the
river systems Of Texas furnish q plenti.
ful quantity OF moisture for the use OF
the tiller Of the soil. Also, the natural
rainfall can be depended upon to keep
the crops in good condition.
| According to official statistics the aver
1 age rainfall In Texas is marked by dis-
tfnct zones and decreases from, east 70
west at the rate of hve inches for every
sixty miles. It Is fifty inches along the
eastern border from the mouth OF the
Red river to the Sabine, twenty five
inches through tho west central region
along the one hundredth meridian, fifteen
inches in the valleys Of the Pecos and
the Staked Plains, and ten inches In the
trans-Pecos and along the border Of New
Mexico.
Under the foregoing favorable condi-
tions 1t Is not to be wondered at that
the Panhandle country Is attracting q
, steady stream Of immigration within
: its borders. Fruit culture and the pro-
duction Of garden vegetables have devel-
, oped from an experiment to the dignity
!, Of an established industry, the wheat and
oat crops are all that could be expected.
and the fact that alfalfa can be Success.
fully grown In the Panhandle oountry