VOL. LXII
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY   18,   1907.
NO. 20
THE GULF COAST COUNTRY OF TEXAS.
BREAKING  UP OF THE BIO
RANCHES AND SETTLEMENT.
Climate,  Water   and   Productions
Under the Most Favorable
Auspices.
of this country, it is due the render to
su.v something about a few tilings whieh
make it exceptional, wheu compared with
any either part of the' Dnlted States.
There are three conditons whieh enter in-
te>  this   whole  matter,   viz:     those  of  lay
and quality of the laml,    the' climate, and
that   of  water. Further een  the  reader
will note how complete and perfect all
these condition- axial there. Anel tirst.
Climatic Conditions.
Personal observation, the testimony of
tiieese' residing there for years, and the
government weather Berries station al
Corpus Chriti, tli«' present capital of the
county of Nueces, afford ample facts iu
regard   to   the   elimate. The   winters,
The writer spent a considerable pan
of April of this year in a visit to the (lulf
Coast Country of Texas to see the new
sections coming into cultivation. To see
and realize wbat is transpiring there now
it waa necessary to ride over wide
stretches of country other than by railway trains, although the railways are
rapidly building into this wonderfully productive country in many directions, knowing that the semi-topical fruits aud vegetables are soon to be grown there during
the winter months and early spring, tp
feed other parts of the United States
still locked in ice and under frost condi
tions.
Where it Lies.
By looking at the map of Texas our
readers will see that the Gulf Coast country we refer to lies much further south
than New Orleans, the productive parts
eef Florida, or Los Angeles, California.
To be more specific, we traveled over and
refer to the country lying between the
Xueces and Rio Grande Rivers, and just
west of the Gulf of Mexico. It will be
remembered that this was the part of
Texas over which the United States went
to war with Mexico in the forties—that
Mexico wanted to make the Neuces river
the houndry and the United States s.-ii.i
na.v, the Rio Grande was the natural
boundary, and see Mexico was pushed
hack to the other side of the Rio Grande.
Some people during the Mexican war
criticised our government much as others '
did Secretary Seward for insisting <en
taking over Alaska from Russia. Ihe
wisdom «.t" both are now fully realised, for
while Alaska is mining millions of gold
and other precious metals, this Gulf
Coast eonntry is soon destined to produce
and send to our ice-locked, teeming population of the north, billions in fruits and
vegetables grown earlier, and in greater
profusion, and in more variety than any
other part of the United States ean grow
them.
The   New  Texas.
Northern people have in all the years
when consiilering Texas, thought only of
long horn cattle anel Sheep ranches. The'
horns have been bred down to such as
Hereford anel Shortbom cattle" now have,
by the infusion <>r these pnre breeds
nmong the native cattle, and sei the old
long-horn athletes are' gone. But the
thing that particularly attracted our attention was the fact that at last the great
eattle ranches in the Gulf Ceeast are slowly breaking up for actual settlement and
cnltivation in productions that yield many
time's the profit cattle-growing brings
And so that wonderfnl country is coming
to its own. ami the people of the north
will very rapidly have occasion tee changer
their views about southern Texas, while
luxuriating on its early fruits, vegetables
and other productions. Before entering
into specific references to the productions
with rare exceptions are without a tinge
of frost, ami when the hitler comes it is
in such moderation as do! tee disturb or
check vegetable growth, ami so from
October on Mirongh the early winter
nionths planting goes on and germination
is rapid under the fairly warm sunshine.
The temperature during summer is little
if any higher than some of the summers
in Indiana, occasionally reaching a little
over 100 degrees. Tbis condition is tempered by the continuous Gulf breezes, day
and night, and the nights are most delightful for sleep and rest by this contin-
ued breeze. This feature is remarked by
all who have resided there many years.
In a word, for I must be_ brief even touching this remarkable country, the sunshine
and warmth the year round contributes to
ih.' constant growth of vegetation, which
enables the husbandman to produce three
and sometimes four crops on the same
land during the year.
Lay and Quality of the Land.
Twenty-live' years ago the country was
a vast grass-growing prairie, but Mexican
cattle were brought across the
Hio Grande and scattered Mesquite
seed all over it. This is a
shrub growing in bunches, much as
current ami gooseberry plants do, but
grows larger, from the size of these to
two nnd ten inches in diameter at the
ground, aud from a few inches to ten and
fifteen feet in Height, the latter being the
largest. The   land   lies   almost   level,
with gentle swells, and inclinations to-
wards the south and the few streams. In
quality it is a mixed sandy and clay loam,
brown to black in color, exceedingly rich
in fertile qualities for production. The
subsoils a somewhat porous clay, lying
from 20 inches to several feet below the
top Soil. These stratas of soil and subsoil alternate for fifty to a hundred feet
in depth, as shown by the numerous wells
bored through them for water, thus show*
ing that the land was perhaps a thousand
years ago covered with the water of the
receding EUo Grande, or Gulf of Mexico,
.er both, ami here the' silt formation is left
in ilu' gradual recession of the water.
The'  third  condition is
The Water.
The government station at Corpus
t'hristi. borne mil by the oldest dwellers
iu this country, show that the rainfall
is 25 to 'Mi inches annually. While this
is found adequate for cotton and some
other productions, this moisture is supplemented by artesian, flowing wells, of
very pure soft water, and this is used for
irrigation and absolute control of produc-
liiin. This feature is one of the most
Important ones in this country, as with
such a soil ami climate as we have de-
scribed there should be no surprise at
what I saw and shall say of the large
pr.elils in farming in this country.
Drouth cannot stay or check growth.
Every farm iji the parts of the country
settled has its artesian well, and in 't
wide district of over 1,500,000 acres here,
in no instance, either out on the big cattle
rum lies, or in the farm settlements, is
there a "dry hole," or a failure to obtain
this water. We saw these wells on
many improved ten and twenty acre
lanns adjoining each other, and also in
wide rnnge on the big cattle ranches, all
over what is known as the Artesian Well
District of this Gulf Coast country, and
so there is no mistake about the abundance of water to control production. The
wells are located on the gentle swells, or
[Concluded on page 4.]