Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1918-04-25
READ THIS LETTER ABOUT
THE LOWER RIO GRANDE
VALLEY OF TEXAS

| AL the lUNltdllOu Ot II. l. DulllH VI
/ DeKalb. and G. o. Miles, of Aurora,
my wife and ! and fourteen others
started for the Rio Grande Valley of
Texas on Tuesday, November 21st.
determined NOT to buy land by all
means not in Texas. With this fore
most in our minds we left Aurora at
! Z D. m. on the Burlington for Kan
sas City, arriving there the. next
morning at 500 IN, in the pour
ing rain. At twelve O'Clock we left
on a special train that was to be our
home for the next six days. 1t kept
on raining all day until at dusk we
passed through Parsons, Kansas.
What we saw in Kansas was not
very good and we were glad to get
to bed in the train when the porters
made our berths down. We slept
soundly until Thursday morning
when we passed through Oklahoma
and were south of Dallas, Texas, with
cotton fields on all sides of us. Gen
| orally, the buildings were small and
poor and the soil was of red, gray
ish color. No land for us in Texas
was one sure CD thing. At two p
m we arrived in Houston, Texas. a
beautiful city. On the roof of the
/ Rice hotel We could oversee the en-
tire town and miles upon miles OF
vast, level. but mostly worthless
country. BY courtesy of the land
company we were given an auto ride
around the city where there were
hundreds of magnificent homes. AT
c p. m. We left Houston, and Friday
at noon we arrived in the Valley
still determined not to buy land in
Texas and would not have given a
dollar an acre for the land in the
| jungle.
Before reaching the place Mr.. Nc
Coll, a member of the land company
and splendid orator, made speech
to us. If he only spoke the truth
but that we knew CD he did not!
He told us of land in the Valley
that could be bought for 81 900 pei
acre, of land that had brought in as
high as 81 200 per acre in one years
crops. (Oh how he led We thot
He told us of three crops per year
and of ten cuttings of alfalfa pei
year and in short, we thought We
had met and heard a champion liar
of the Universe We were sure he
would never dare to show up when
we got there, but Mr.. McColl was
there with the goods and was one OF
the most conspicuous figures in the
crowd
AS soon as We got off the train We
stepped into one of the forty autos
that were waiting for us. The first
farm we stopped at was full of rec
hogs and cattle and the owner of the
| farm. an Iowa man, explained how
he was making money with greer
pasture the year around for his hogs
and cattle and two crops of corn q
year. The hog house was very prim.
tive, made of poles with matched
roof and cost him $500, and this
was all the building necessary in
this climate.
Then we saw an alfalfa farm, ter
crops a year, averaging a ton to the
cutting and from fifteen to twenty.
two dollars q ton.
| Then we went to the pumping sta
tions on the Rio Grande river. On
the way there we stopped at a sugar
plantation where they were planting
on one side of the road while on the
other the cane was ready to harvest
At the pumping plant on the river
we saw the biggest pumps ever made
Ia million dollar system-all PAID
for. Across the river We saw Ole
Mexico and the cowboys rounding uI
the cattle. loading them on a ferry
and shipping them across to Texas
and also a big bunch of goats round
ed up for shipment. Away again
and we stopped at Mr.. McColl's farm
i for Ainnnr hnarfifnr 10 in a Dir
of trees four years old. measuring
As to so inches around. The farm
consists of 100 acres. Mr., McColl
said he refused $4,000 for it and
further says that 100000 would not
tempt him to sell. Here We saw trees
loaded down with grape fruit, or.
anges and lemons.
! Then, on to Mission, a town of 4,
600 and a little over six years age
there was only a railroad station, a
few houses and school house
About mile south of there we Wis.
tied the place of Charles Voltz. COM
monty known as the Onion King. II
surely was a sight to see twenty OF
thirty Mexicans, men, women and
children. planting onions in forty
acre field. The owner stated that
he had often realized from four to
five hundred dollars per acre off OF
onions and always had plenty OF
cheap labor to do the work by con-
tract. A Mexican man gets $4,000
a month and boards himself. A
Mexican woman gets from $1.00 to
| $500 per week. From there we went
to another farmer, whose specially
was corn, hogs and cattle and citrus
fruit 1--WE picked lemon here that
weighed two pounds and measured
II inches around.) His Rhoades
grass. especially adapted to that val
ley, is cut eight times per year. and
yields about ton and half per
acre and the farmers there prefer it
to alfalfa We returned to Camp
Ebenezer about dark.
After a splendid supper, there was
speaking about the valley, its crops
and the irrigation system, while we
all asked questions concerning these
things. Then the hall was cleared
and all who wished to do so lad a
chance to dance to the music of a
Mexican orchestra. The next day,
Saturday was like the day before,
warm and nice, and we could ride in
the autos in our shirt sleeves.
The first farm visited was only
eight months old and now in citrus
fruits and vegetables for the north
ern markets. There were potatoes
strawberries in blossom, and ripe to.
matoes, cabbage, lettuce and onions
I'M