Year: 1877

and produces good crops. In the up


land, as | would call it, or post oak,


the soil is about the same as our sandy


loan Of Delaware light and easy


of cultivation and very productive


depth Of soil from one and a half to


twelve feet then you find the black
prairie, light loan, easy of cultivation


and still more productive than the first


named then they have the black


waxy. This 1 found on the Brazos


bottoms between the two Brazos rivers.


l never saw such crops grow out of the


ground before. l saw one field of corn,
! in which one hundred acres had been


planted, three and half feet apart one


way, and drilled in rows-say one foot


apart-and this corn on the 18th of


May was five and half to six feet


high. 1t had been better titled than


the majority of corn that l saw in


Texas. 1 then inquired the depth Of


soil on these bottoms, and was told that


in many places it was thirty feet.
! Well, thought I to myself, if this could


be removed to Delaware it would make


the State rich and the people in it, and


enough left then on the Brazos bottoms


to last until the next Centennial with


out any improvements. I saw corn


growing on ground that the owner said


had been in corn for fifteen years and


there seems to be no falling off in the


crop. The crops in Robertson county


are principally cotton, corn, wheat,


oats, rye, barley and sugar-corn. The


average crop, as | was told, is about


three-quarters of a bale Of cotton, fifty


bushels of corn, twenty bushels ofwheat,


sixty bushels of oats. The land Of


Robertson county is not so well adapt


ed to wheat as if is further up toward


the entrance of the State but if the


land was prepared there as our farmers


have. to prepare it here, and then take


care Of their crops in the same way, I


am not prepared to give you any esti-


mate what your crops would be, but /


am sure they could be nearly doubled.


Some will wonder if this land will grow


fruit. l answer, yes. There seems to


be but very little interest taken in fruit,


but still there is enough to convince


ny one that this is no fault Of the


land. / saw peach trees four years


old as large as our six years old; in a


word, every kind Of fruit that has been


tried is doing well, and when l looked


at. the grapes that were growing wild


thought Of Caleb and Joshua when


they came back from the land of


promise. They brought grapes to show


to their people. l am not right sure


that their grapes were precisely the


same as the Texas grape, but one thing


l am sure Of, the Texas grape will com


pare favorably in quantity and per-


haps in quality; but I have never
tasted either. There is an abundance
of blackberries. | did not see any
whortleberries don't know whether
they grow there or not. Some may
want to know what this land can be
bought for per acre the improved
land can be bought at from five to
thirty dollars, according to location
and the improvements unimproved
land from one to FIVE dollars, accord
ing to location and kind Of land. All
bottom land is considered worth fifty
cents per acre more than upland. You
can get any kind Of land you want and
in any quantity, on the edge of town,
or at any distance you may desire.
The only thing you have to guard
against is the title. l understand there
are a good many in dispute. Be care
full then; don't buy lawsuit; it does
not grow cotton nor corn, and is not |
profitable employment. Some may
wonder if this land is like Blackbird |
Forest-well set in bushes. | answer,
no +; when a man buys land in Texas
he can have it prairie just ready for
the pillow, or he can have portion of
it timber. About one-halfof the coun-
try is rolling prairie and well watered,
the other half timber of post oak,
pecan and hickory. The next thing
inquired for: Can we get farming i'm
plements in Texas? / answer, yes;
every thing. you need from corn drop
per to steam thresher, and all kinds
Of stock, and at very low prices. You
can buy work horses at from twenty
to twenty-five dollars. This is not
hearsay. | saw them selling in Dallas
at these prices, and / saw the very best
horses, good color and style, five years
old, well broken and sound, for fifty
and sixty dollars. Such horses here
would readily bring from one hundred
and seventy-fve to two hundred dol
lars at public sale. l don't know how
thief, who stole the mule,
ever got eighty dollars for it. He must
have been as sharp in selling as he was
in stealing, but probably he understood
talking mule. But to come back to
business-milch COWS are worth from
eight to twelve dollars, according to
sile and quality; yearlings at three
dollars each; hogs do well, but there
seems to be No interest in the hog bu-
siness to any extent; sheep do well
and there seems to be some interest in
raising them. | saw a great many on
5he prairies, but srill there is plenty of
pasture for one hundred times the
number, and then raise them to profit.
| saw wool buyers hunting it up all !
through the State where / went 1 had !
The price of wool, but have mislaid it
will give the price some time again.
The next thing enquired about: Can !
5he farmer find market for his pro-
luce after he has grown it? l answer, q
yes ; wheat, new, sold in Dallas at 81 so
per bushel; corn, in the shuck, at 40
It's. per bushel 28 cts. for oats. I
,annot give you the prices Of cotton, as
cotton was an entirely new thing to !
ne, and to give the price without the |
cost of producing it would not be salts {
actory to any that cotton was profta- j
Die. But think from the interest t
q bon 1baxy oopSfdo,. - ,,o,,,.o .el.II e