77^ ^. 
 
IN A STRAWBERRY FIELD. 
 
Cexas 
 Coast 
 Country 
 
 f^ t^ tS^ 
 
 Hlso briefly dcscnbing 
 the Resources of all 
 Counties along the 
 Gulf, Colorado <St Santa f e 
 Railway line 
 
 3 J' J' 
 
 Xssucd \>y the passenger Department 
 
 Santa fe Route 
 
 jviay, 1898 
 
70009 
 
 Corbitt & Butterfield Co.. 
 
 Railway Printers, 
 
 Ciiicago. 
 
 
Somewhat personal 
 
 • • 
 
 Do you live in a climate where the winters 
 are long and severe? In Texas there is 
 practically no winter; one can comfortably 
 work outdoors the year round. 
 
 Is your locality subject to devastating- drouths? 
 In the Coast Country of Texas the average rainfall 
 is forty-tive inches a year, well distributed through 
 the growing season ; and no irrigation is required. 
 
 Is the soil of your farm worn out? Texas soil rarely 
 requires fertilizers; it is deep and rich and permanent. 
 
 Does it require all you earn for living expenses? The 
 cost is 40^ less to build a house in Texas than in the 
 North, 50^ less for clothing, and 80^ less for fuel. 
 
 Are you now restricted to one main crop a year? 
 Along the Gulf Coast of Texas a man can raise two 
 or tliree crops of vegetables and alfalfa per annum, 
 and more than one crop of some other staples; a 
 great diversity is also possible. 
 
 Are you interested in horticulture? Texas fruit 
 lands annually pay $200 to $500 net per acre. The 
 fruit season begins early and lasts to a late date. 
 
 Is your northern farm worth $100 an acre, with 
 a high tax rate and low prices for products ? Why 
 not try the $10 an acre lands in the southern part of 
 Texas, where taxes are low and markets excellent ? 
 
 This pamphlet is intended for the man desirous of 
 more information on the important subject of where 
 to go for a new home. The descriptions are limited 
 to the southern portion of Texas, along the Gulf 
 
Coast, with a little information about other sections 
 on the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. Farm- 
 ers, fruit-raisers and land-owners are permitted to 
 speak for themselves. The unsigned articles have 
 been compiled from the most reliable sources. 
 
 Here is a country which it is believed offers ample 
 rewards for well-directed toil; w^here the homeseeker 
 may find cheap land, abundant crops, good markets, 
 a friendly climate and hospitable neighbors. 
 
 If, after reading what is herein contained, you are 
 sufficiently interested to wish to investigate further 
 by taking a trip to Texas and seeing for yourself, 
 remember that the Santa Fe Route is the direct line 
 from Chicago, Kansas City, Denver and other north- 
 ern and eastern points to the heart of the Coast 
 Country. For full particulars respecting train serv- 
 ice, ticket rates, etc., confer with any ticket agent 
 or address the undersigned. 
 
 W. J. BLACK, General Passenger Agent, 
 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., 
 ToPEKA, Kansas. 
 
 C. A. HIGGINS, Ass't Gen'l Passenger Agent, 
 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., 
 Chicago. 
 
 W. S. KEENAN, General Passenger Agent, 
 Gulf, Colorado cV- Santa Fe Ry., 
 CiALVestox, Texas, 
 
facts Hbout Texas 
 
 • • • 
 
 Texas is the biggest State in the Union. Texans 
 themselves, who ought to know if anybody does, 
 claim it is the best State. Without arguing a point 
 that has the unanimous assent of nearly three mil- 
 lions of people, it would be strange indeed if an em- 
 pire five times larger than England and out of which 
 could be carved four New Englands, did not rank 
 first in other respects than mere size. 
 
 T^Q R^Uft Texas wears the blue ribbon in re- 
 gard to area, production of cot- 
 ton, number of sheep, cattle and horses raised ; 
 amount of funds set apart for free public schools 
 and colleges, and the size and finish of the beauti- 
 ful capitol building at Austin. It ranks fourth in 
 wealth, about third in railroad mileage, and seventh 
 in population. 
 
 H C0tTip<l1*i9011 Texas produces more rice 
 than South Carolina, more 
 sugar and sorghum than Louisiana, more wheat than 
 the Dakotas; has more prairie land than Kansas, a 
 larger coal area than Pennsylvania, greater oak 
 forests than West Virginia, more corn land than 
 Illinois; raises more cotton than Mississippi; is ca- 
 pable of producing more iron ore than Alabama, 
 and excels New Hampshire in its granite. 
 
 ^^Q J5t*C^ The Lone Star State extends from 
 the 26th to the 3()th parallel of lati- 
 tude and lies between the 94th and g7th degrees of 
 longitude. The average length, east and west, is 
 800 miles, and average breadth, north and south, 750 
 miles. It possesses 400 miles of coast line; has 
 navigable rivers equaling those of any five other 
 states, and 8,952 miles of railroad, mostly trunk lines. 
 From Texarkana to El Paso equals the distance 
 from New York to Chicago. A man bicycling on 
 its boundary lines would travel over 4,000 miles. 
 There are 265,780 square miles of "room," and 
 hardly ten people yet to each square mile. The 
 Austrian empire, with about the same area, sustains 
 a population of 36,000,000; the Cerman empire, 
 
with less area, has more than 50,000,000 inhabitants. 
 Texas could sustain in prosperity a population of 
 95,000,000. A recent census shows that 255,000 
 farmers cultivate their own land, 95,000 are tenants, 
 and 56,000 day laborers. Disciples of calamity are 
 not numerous in Texas. 
 
 COpOCfrapbV beginning with a level coast, 
 
 •^ ^ r Z there is a gradual ascent north 
 and west, to an elevation of 4,000 feet, which affords 
 excellent drainage. Three-fourths of this vast area 
 can be profitably cultivated. The southeastern and 
 southern sections are level and free from rock — this 
 is the famous fruit belt, rivaling California. Dense 
 forests of oak, elm, hickory and pine cover the 
 eastern district — there being 25,000,000 acres of 
 
 A VOYAGE DOWN CHOCOLATE BAYOU. 
 
 merchantable pine alone. The center of Texas is 
 an undulating prairie, like the prolific plains of 
 Kansas, with succulent grasses — a fine stock coun- 
 try and capable of raising immense crops of corn, 
 wheat and cotton. West Texas is broken by hills 
 and mountains, with fertile valleys. The Panhandle 
 region is a table-land, and noted for its fat cattle. 
 
 C^^|1(> As a rule the rich, deep soil of Texas 
 
 needs no fertilizer for standard crops. A 
 
 moderate top-dressing of cotton-seed helps to make 
 
a larger crop, but is not absolutely required. Any- 
 thing can be raised that grows in the temperate zone. 
 Sugar cane, cotton, figs, olives, pears and grapes are 
 a remarkable success in the South. The Mediter- 
 ranean countries do not excel the Texas Coast 
 Country in raising fruit. 
 
 Texas furnishes its citizens a good living. 
 
 OrOdUC^S ^^ ^^9S the various products of 
 this State ( from fields, gardens, 
 orchards, ranches and factories) amounted to a 
 princely fortune. The values of the leading crops 
 were: cotton and cotton seed, $55,500,000; corn, 
 $23,500,000; wheat, $625,000; oats, $3,165,000; 
 garden produce, $2,850,000; potatoes, $1,900,000; 
 hay, $1,335,000; sugar cane, molasses and sorghum, 
 $2,100,000; peaches, apples, grapes, plums, pears 
 and melons, $1,500,000; millet, barley and rye, 
 $735,000. 
 
 Texas ranks seventh as a corn producing state, 
 first in sheep, eighth in hogs, and her herds of 
 cattle are one-sixth of the entire number in the 
 United States. 
 
 And that is not the whole story. 
 
 In i8g7 live stock was assessed at $78,365,590, the 
 leading items being horses and mules, cattle, sheep 
 and hogs. Even the despised goat is quoted at a 
 quarter of a million "simoleons." 
 
 3cf)00l8 etc* Material wealth is not all. 
 Texas has accumulated a per- 
 manent school fund of over $17,000,000. During 
 1896-97, 10,644 white and 2,821 colored teachers 
 were employed. Land Commissioner Baker reports 
 38,000,000 acres of land surveyed for the permanent 
 school fund. All prominent religious denominations 
 are well represented by thriving churches, and 
 society in general is of the highest order. The 
 hospitality of Texas is proverbial; the latch-string 
 is always out. 
 
 t^CSOUrCCS ^^ I'l^t is dug out of the ground 
 must not be forgotten. Coal and 
 iron are plentiful; one bituminous coal formation 
 on the Red River covers 12,000 square miles, with 
 seams three feet in thickness. Bituminous and lig- 
 nite coals are mined in the Nueces district, along the 
 Rio Grande River. Extensive deposits of iron are 
 
reported to exist in eastern Texas, covering i,ooo 
 square miles of surface, many veins being ten feet 
 thick. There are surface indications of petroleum 
 in several counties along the eastern border, and 
 paying wells have been sunk at Nacogdoches. Be- 
 sides these three fields of iron, three of coal and 
 three of oil, three distinct districts of copper have 
 been opened up — the ores of the trans-Pecos region 
 being extensively worked. Gold and silver mines 
 have been discovered near El Paso, and a 140-foot 
 bed of rock salt underlies A'ictoria. Gypsum occurs 
 in the Abilene Country. Asphaltum, bat guano, 
 
 "A LITTLE FARM, WELL TILLED." 
 
 marls, mica and granite are found in paying quan- 
 tities. 
 
 The wealth on top of the ground, waiting to be 
 tickled into a laughing harvest by the man with the 
 plow, is what Texas depends upon to attract settlers. 
 And while cotton, corn and wheat are the " stand- 
 bys " — cotton leading in importance — the beautiful 
 region on the (julf Coast bids fair to soon crowd 
 other sections for first place. Where ten acres will 
 support a family and twenty acres is a competence, 
 the country ought to be thickly populated. 
 
The Coast Country 
 
 • • • 
 
 nif>^V^ Tf- Tci The Coast region of Texas 
 xv«.i;i;-iv -1,1. -1,0 con^prij^es ^^at part of the 
 
 State bordering the Ckilf of Mexico, from Sabine 
 River to the Rio Cirande and extending inland nearly 
 one hundred miles. This pamphlet is more par- 
 ticularly concerned with the portion immediately 
 tributary to the line of the Santa Fe Route, embrac- 
 ing the counties of Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Ft. 
 Bend, Wharton and Jackson. 
 
 It is the location of the coast country that gives 
 to it unequaled advantages and possibilities. Lying 
 on the borders of the temperate and tropic zones, 
 and on the northern shore of a great inland sea, the 
 nipping and eager air of winter and the withering 
 waves of scorching summer heat are not known. 
 There is the gentle, budding springtime, lengthen- 
 ing out into the long days of June; succeeded by 
 summer. Nature's ripening time, which the trade- 
 winds daily sweeping northward from the Gulf tem- 
 per to a delightful coolness; and then the long, 
 bright, sunny fall, ending with a short, mild winter. 
 
 tt i K^f* Tt T^ This is in general a prairie 
 country, an undulating plain, 
 rising five feet to the mile northward from the Gulf, 
 and embracing large forest areas along its water 
 courses. The timber is chiefly oak, live oak, ash, 
 walnut, pecan, mesquite and sycamore. To the 
 west of the Brazos River in the coast country are 
 great tracts of cedar. For several years there has 
 been a large export trade in cedar logs cut far in the 
 interior, hauled to the Brazos and then shipped by 
 boat or rail to Galveston, where they are transhipped 
 to Europe. The general surface is sixty to one 
 hundred feet above mean tide level, most of it suffi- 
 ciently rolling to afford good drainage into numerous 
 local streams and bayous, which in turn empty into 
 the bays along the great Gulf. Good water for 
 domestic uses is found everywhere under the clay 
 subsoil, and artesian wells are numerous. There are 
 few localities but which can be inexpensively drained 
 and the fertile land thus rendered fit for the plow. 
 
Proper drainage is the main problem here — how to 
 get rid of surplus surface water. An underlying 
 stratum of quicksand affords almost perfect sub- 
 irrigation. 
 
 •T^t^^ Clx^il In the river valleys the soil is a deep 
 \^rf%r CFVll i^i^^j^^ ^^^^^^^ j^.-j^^ Fertilizers do 
 
 not seem to be required. There is no "wear out" 
 to it because formed of alluvial deposits originating 
 in the rich lands of the North. The prairie soil con- 
 sists of three kinds of sandy loam, friable and easily 
 tilled; it rots quicker than the stiffer sod of Illinois 
 or Kansas. It is covered with a very compact sod, 
 that must be broken and allowed to rot before it 
 
 GUNNING FOR WILD FOWL ON BUFFALO BAYOU. 
 
 can be pulverized and, even then there seems to be 
 something that requires air and heat to rectify before 
 it will produce well. One year's work will bring it 
 into good productive condition, when, with proper 
 fertilizing, it cannot be surpassed. For pears alone 
 this is not necessary, as experience has fully proved 
 that if set on sod that has been simply lapped over 
 with several turns of the plow, the trees will grow 
 about as well as if the ground had been previously 
 prepared. 
 
 The black waxy or hog wallow loam (suitable for 
 sugar cane, cotton and berries), is exceedingly rich, 
 though more difficult to till. These soils are no 
 better than those found in the Missouri, Miami, 
 
Scioto or Kansas valleys. Their chief value lies in 
 the rare combination which Southern Texas offers 
 of a rich soil, abundant rainfall and genial climate. 
 
 r'K^ f^^Alttl^^ll ^^^ annual rainfall of the 
 
 X^IK IVainrail Texas coast district within the 
 rain belt is from 43 to 65 inches, well distributed 
 throughout the spring and summer; besides, the 
 heavy dews, a characteristic feature of the region, 
 furnish a source of daily refreshment for all forms of 
 plant life. 
 
 vy^ '^j l^*»^\tstt Both soil and climate are 
 VarUa \^rOp» adapted to the bountiful 
 production of a greater variety of field, garden and 
 orchard crops than any like extent of territory in 
 the United States. Indeed, omitting the apple, it is 
 well nigh impossible to mention any field, garden or 
 fruit crop which may not be grown here in the great- 
 est abundance, and of finest quality, if only the 
 right varieties be selected. 
 
 Fruits rivaling those of California and vegetables 
 equa;l to any grown in the North are ready for mar- 
 ket here a month to six weeks earlier tlian in the 
 district which has hitherto enjoyed a monopoly of 
 supplying eastern cities. This is possible because 
 the crop season along the Gulf Coast of Texas begins 
 early and stays late. During one of these long 
 periods two and three crops of many varieties of farm 
 and garden products may be grown, and the soil 
 apparently still be as vigorous as ever. Corn, oats, 
 sorghum, hay, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, sugar 
 cane, Egyptian and Sea Island cotton, Cuban 
 tobacco, figs, pears, plums, grapes — the list might 
 be expanded into a small catalogue. They all do 
 well in this home of things that grow. The farmer 
 and horticulturist does not have to urge forward his 
 restless team of sun and soil. Rather they require 
 holding back, lest the land produce too abundantly, 
 beyond the capacity of its owner to properly care 
 for the resultant crops. 
 
 Fish abound in all the streams, while in the waters 
 of the ( mlf they are so plentiful as to fill the local 
 markets with a variety of finny creatures whose puz- 
 zling names sound queerly to the landsman. And 
 oysters — they can be had for the mere trouble of 
 gathering, if one will go to the Gulf. 
 
 The man who deliberately stays hungry and poor 
 
in the Coast Country is worthless and lazy beyond 
 redemption. 
 
 Lay siege to a South Texas plantation and you 
 could not starve out the owner. He would still 
 contentedly fill his old cob pipe with home grown 
 tobacco, every bit as good as the imported leaf; and 
 shake down ripe walnuts and pecans from trees in 
 the timber lot for winter use. Luscious pears, 
 peaches, strawberries and figs would form his dessert 
 ten months in the year. Hardly a day would pass 
 without fresh vegetables on the table plucked from 
 his own truck patch. From the product of white 
 acres of cotton and flocks of sheep could be fashioned 
 homespun garments good enough for anybody. 
 
 ^~^^?!^ 
 
 ONLY TWO YEARS FROM THE SOD. 
 
 Rich cane fields would contribute syrup and sugar. 
 Fat hogs and sleek cattle would grow fatter and 
 sleeker on river bottom corn and be transformed 
 into bacon or beef. There is also plenty of fuel 
 close at hand — while bayou and stream sustain fish 
 in abundance. Even the vagrant winds bring in 
 wild fowl from the Gulf. No one can be quite so 
 independent as the man who owns a good farm in 
 the Coast Country. 
 
 {^^cti- t^P T ^r%A ^^^^^ ^i^d garden land in the 
 N^Obl or l^ana Q^if ^o^st belt now costs 
 from $io to $25 per acre in small tracts, with a re- 
 duction if bought in large bodies. In the immediate 
 
vicinity of railroad depots and in some other- 
 wise specially favored localities, a liigher price is 
 asked. There is considerable good fruit, berry and 
 vegetable land, not yet taken, which can be pur- 
 chased at an average price per acre of $io to $15. 
 Water rights for surface irrigation (as in California) 
 are not necessary, because the abundant rainfall is 
 supplemented by sub-irrigation. 
 
 fin^ MavWt<^ ^^'^^^ "^^ people do here? 
 int j^l^TK^lXy Galveston and Houston 
 together comprise a population of 115,000 people. 
 Galveston is the chief seaport of the Texas Coast, 
 and Houston is its main railroad center. There is 
 considerable manufacturing and the carrying trade 
 employs large numbers of people. These persons 
 and the truck farmers, fruit-growers and stock- 
 raisers of the rural districts have a constant, near-by 
 market, with thickly settled central and northern 
 Texas not far away. The counties of Brazoria, 
 Harris and Galveston are building a system of fine 
 graded roads, part of them shelled, leading to 
 neighboring trade centers. This employs some sur- 
 plus labor and gives quick and easy access to local 
 markets, while the splendid harbor facilities at Gal- 
 veston afford the grower of grains and the producer 
 of fruits a seaboard market for his surplus, at sea- 
 board prices, untaxed bv railway tolls. 
 
 tfr^Nrtrl ^e^rt^tXf Good schools and churches 
 
 settlements, some of them levying special tax for the 
 support of their educational institutions. Newcomers 
 need not fear they will lose sight of the little red 
 school-house in the lane. The inhabitants are indus- 
 trious and law-abiding, and the country is exempt 
 from social disorders of all kinds. It is a good place 
 to come with your family and settle. 
 
 farming is in danger of being overdone for many 
 years. At x\lgoa, Alvin, Arcadia, Alta Loma, Hitch- 
 cock, Manvel, Pearland, Dickinson, North Galveston, 
 La Porte, Clear Creek, Webster and P'airwood there 
 are about 25,000 acres under cultivation. It would 
 hardly make a good-sized cattle ranch up in north 
 Texas. 
 
T^l^^ ■PutlJI'^ Elsewhere are given in detail the 
 
 ' ^ advantages of the flourishing 
 
 towns that line the Santa Fe right-of-way from 
 Hitchcock to Houston. Suflice to say, that the pos- 
 sessor of a ten or twenty-acre patch of ground in 
 this region confidently believes he has title deeds to 
 the best bit of real estate in the world; and what is 
 more to the point, has figures to prove it. 
 
 Everybody in Texas "pulls" for Texas. Confi- 
 dence begets confidence. It is the firm belief of 
 every farmer on the ( iulf, Colorado & vSanta Fe Rail- 
 way that he either has or will have an orchard just 
 as good and just as paying as the finest one growing, 
 and it does not require a very vivid stretch of the 
 imagination to see, within a decade, an unbroken 
 line of manorial gardens, country gentlemen's resi- 
 dences and closely cultivated farms all the way from 
 Virginia Point to Houston. 
 
 FAMILY PETS 
 
Gulf Coast Climate 
 
 • • • 
 
 The temperature along the Gulf Coast of Texas, 
 winter and summer, rarely varies to exceed 15° daily. 
 January is the coldest month in the year; during 
 twenty years the minimum temperature has fallen 
 below 20° in five years only, below 25° in ten years, 
 gnd below 30° in thirteen years. The temperature 
 along the immediate coast has not reached a maxi- 
 mum of 100° in this period, the highest record being 
 98° in August, 1874. July is the warmest month. 
 Killing frosts do not usually occur at Houston or 
 Galveston until after December i and the unwel- 
 come visitation is frequently delayed until January. 
 Four years in twenty there was no frost whatever at 
 Galveston, and in five different years there was but 
 a single frost. The last hard frost appears any time 
 between January 5 and February i. 
 
 fxi^rs T\^r:%Ac(\ I^^- I- ^^- ^^^"^ occupies the 
 
 cial, U. S. Weather Bureau, ( ialveston. He keeps a 
 careful tab on the daily weather and is authority on 
 the climate of (ialveston. As Galveston may fairly 
 be considered representative of the Coast country, 
 his reports from a record of twenty years are of 
 great interest and value. 
 
 Dr. Cline publishes the following statistics with 
 regard to temperature : Normal, 52.3° in January 
 to 84.6° in July; highest monthly mean, 63.7° in 
 February to 86.2° in July; lowest monthly mean, 
 46.7° in January to 82° in July; maximum (highest) 
 75° in February to 98° in August; minimum (lowest) 
 11° in January to 70° in August; greatest monthly 
 range, 26° in February to 58° in January; least 
 monthly range 14° in August to 30° in November. 
 The normal precipitation is 52.48 inches yearly, 
 well distributed through the growing season; average 
 number of clear days per year, 133; average number 
 of partly cloudy days, per year, 140; average num- 
 ber of cloudy days per year, 92; average number of 
 days with some sunshine, 318. Prevailing direction 
 of wind is southeast; average hourly velocity ranges 
 from S.o miles in July to 11.9 in January. 
 
^^ g^ .gj The Texas coast winter is 
 
 'OUlr OrCCZCS more a name than a fact. In 
 -summer the weather is without noticeable variation. 
 This evenness of temperature is what makes it possi- 
 ble for the farmer to work comfortably out of doors 
 nearly every day in the year. The genial southern 
 trade wind, blowing over a thousand miles of salt 
 water, brings both warmth and coolness, and con- 
 tributes to maintain a similarity of seasons. ThifJ 
 wind is always in motion, but rarely with enough 
 violence to stir the dust. During a long period, 
 only a few times has it blown a gale, while cyclones 
 are unknown. 
 
 No matter how fervent may be the direct rays of 
 the sun, a step into the shade brings pleasant relief. 
 The nights are uniformly agreeable. Occasionally 
 there is a hard frost, preceded by a strong wind from 
 the north. It is the " norther," the fag end of which 
 drops down from snow-covered Dakota prairies to 
 inform Texans that Christmas is coming. Sensi- 
 tive ears and tender plants have hardly felt the nip 
 when the flurry is over, and the all-pervading Gulf 
 breeze resumes its sway. 
 
 a-^^Mi^c^Xfti^^a^ Hon. N. W. McLain, ex- 
 
 OXpCrrS y lCW6 director of the Minnesota 
 state agricultural experiment station, is an enthusi- 
 astic convert to the allurements of the Gulf coast 
 climate. In a newspaper article he says : 
 
 " Many of those who have lived there for years, 
 speak confidently concerning the general healthful- 
 ness of this region, daily visited by the salt sea 
 air. The trade-winds blow every day from the Gulf. 
 They dispense life to vegetation and health to the 
 inhabitants, wherever they reach. The long sum- 
 mers characteristic of this latitude, are by them 
 rendered not only endurable but enjoyable. 
 
 " On Christmas Eve it seemed strange to see bare- 
 footed boys gazing at Santa Claus and his reindeer 
 flying over artificial snow in the shop windows 
 in Houston; and the salutation, ' Merry Christmas' 
 sounded like a joke at a funeral. On New Years 
 day, it seemed rather unseasonable to sit without a 
 coat or hat, on a porch literally covered with roses, 
 and elegant Marechal Niels blooming out on the 
 lawn. On the twelfth of January I pulled oranges 
 from fine old trees, among the most luxuriant gar- 
 dens and lawns in Victoria. The nineteenth day of 
 
January I walked through a small field of alfalfa 
 sown the twenty-eight day of last October. The 
 growth completely covered the ground, and the 
 plants averaged eighteen inches in height. January 
 22d, in the gardens and fields near Alvin, I found 
 the people pick-ng strawberries." 
 
 No IVI^l^lK^ Malaria is not prevalent in 
 j V ; a^ai la. ^j^^ country except when in- 
 vited by carelessness or ignorance. Though this 
 is a flat region, it has but few tracts of swampy 
 land of small extent. Where forests occur, along 
 the bayous, they are devoid of undergrowth; a sign 
 that nothing is present productive of ague. The 
 surplus rainfall drains into the Gulf — chills and 
 fever only appearing sporadically along overflowed 
 and undrained river bottoms. On the high open 
 prairies, malaria is an almost unknown visitor, ex- 
 cept where water is permitted to remain stagnant. 
 
 Colds and catarrh cause more suffering and 
 deaths in the New England states alone, than the 
 combined diseases of the Gulf Coast. No deadly 
 epidemic diseases have visited this section for a quar- 
 ter of a century. Periodical fevers are almost entirely 
 absent. 
 
 RrtllAl'rtlll Galveston and Houston are both 
 l/V^MOtVII he^nhfui cities. Dr. Robt. McEl- 
 roy, city health ofiicer at Houston, says : 
 
 " The health of the city of Houston compares 
 favorably with any city in the United States. Our 
 death rate for the three past years was as follows : 
 1895, 13.5 per 1,000; i8g6, 10.4; 1897 13.5. 
 Malaria, which was prevalent here in the early days, 
 is comparatively unknown now, due principally to 
 our fine quality of artesian water, of which there is 
 an inexhaustible supply. More sewerage and bet- 
 ter surface drainage also adds much to our improved 
 condition. Contagious diseases are comparatively 
 unknown. Our mild and even temperature, our 
 supply of good water, together with our Gulf breeze, 
 makes Houston one of the most desirable places to 
 live in found anywhere in the South." 
 
 ^-i 1 -Witcif-i^tt From a recent report issued bv Dr. 
 
 OaiWStOn ^ (._ p.^j^^^^ j^^^^^j^ ofticer,'Gal- 
 
 veston, it is learned that the general health of that 
 city has been good, notwithstanding the outbreak 
 of dengue fever during the fall of 1897. Statistics 
 
show that out of a population of 50,000 there 
 were only 166 deaths during the months of August, 
 September and October, 1897, as against 175 in 
 i8g6 and 187 in 1895. This too with a growing 
 population. Increased sanitary efficiency has brought 
 about this condition of affairs. When the $300,000 
 appropriated for municipal sewerage has been spent, 
 the general healthfulness of Cialveston will be even 
 better. During 1897 the death rate per thousand 
 was a fraction under 14, which is a good showing. 
 It is noteworthy that typhoid fever, diphtheria, scar- 
 let fever, cholera infantum, and other like diseases, 
 are almost unknown here. For example, there were 
 only twenty deaths from typhoid, scarlet, malarial 
 and continued fever; and but eight from diphtheria 
 in that year. 
 
 HOTEL AT GALVESTON BEACH. 
 
 finally 
 
 The summers in Texas come early and 
 stay late. If that long succession of 
 warm and sunshiny days when one instinctively seeks 
 the shady side of the street becomes monotonous to 
 those who cannot get away for a summer vacation, 
 there is, to offset this, only two months of winter, 
 and that resembles a northern October. You will 
 like it here when once acquainted. There is a fas- 
 cination in what at hrst sight appears undesirable. 
 The soothing (kilf airs are a perpetual invitation 
 to cease worry and fret and hurry. They call to just 
 enough intlolence to prevent the human machine 
 from too hastily wearing out. It is not a misde- 
 meanor to be a trifle lazv in Texas. 
 
'Cowns and Colonics 
 
 • • • 
 
 Below may be found a detailed description of the 
 more important cities, towns and colonies situated 
 on or contiguous to the Guli, Colorado & Santa Fe 
 Railway in the Ckilf Coast country. The various 
 Mennonite colonies are mentioned elsewhere. 
 
 jl5|rt^3. The town of Algoa and its fruit land sub- 
 ^ urbs lies on the main line of the (iulf, 
 
 Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, midway between 
 Houston and Galveston. The location is a favor- 
 able one, both as regards quality of soil and near- 
 ness to important markets. The town proper is 
 growing nicely, but no effort has been made to boom 
 it — rather it has been the desire to first settle up the 
 fertile surrounding country. A first-class shelled 
 road leads from Algoa over a free wagon bridge to 
 Galveston, so that products can be rapidly handled 
 either by rail or wagon. 
 
 Some 2,000 acres of land adjoining Algoa have 
 been platted into small tracts, ranging in size from 
 two to forty acres. Each tract fronts on a public 
 road and all are within one and a quarter miles of 
 the station. The object has been to make this an 
 ideal place for orchards, gardens, etc. There will 
 be no taxes to pay here until the year igoo. Prices 
 of land are governed by location; liberal terms 
 offered actual settlers. 
 
 Hlt^ LOItl^ ^-^^^ T>oma (population 700) is 
 the first station beyond Hitch- 
 cock, being seventeen miles from Galveston, on the 
 main Gulf, Colorado e\; Santa Fe line. It is the center 
 of the Gulf Coast's magnificent fruit belt — a high 
 prairie, heavily sodded with native grasses, and drain- 
 ing to the Gulf by an almost imperceptible descent. 
 
 The soil is a black sandy loam, several feet thick, 
 with a yellowish clay subsoil, all underlaid with 
 coarse gravel. 
 
 Alta Loma has plenty of pure fresh water, ob- 
 tained from artesian wells at a depth of 550 to 700 
 feet. In this vicinity are nineteen artesian wells. 
 The water works for the citv of Galveston were 
 
located here at a cost of about a million dollars. 
 Five million gallons of water are delivered in the 
 citv every twenty-four hours. 
 
 The entire tract of S,ooo acres is surveyed into 
 subdivisions of ten, twenty and forty acres, and is 
 traversed by roads so arranged as to afford every 
 ten-acre parcel easy access to the station. 
 
 Alta Loma has a tine public school building with 
 an attendance of 150 children; has two churches. 
 Baptist and Presbyterian; has a first-class canning 
 factory and preserving works, the plant represent- 
 ing an outlay of more than $10,000 and doing a 
 prosperous business; also has a shirt and overall 
 factory employing quite a number of operatives. 
 The tovN^nship has about thirty miles of graded roads 
 and a fine system of drainage. Hundreds of acres 
 are now planted in fruit trees, vegetables and flower 
 gardens. "x\lta Loma," in the language of its 
 founder, "has not a man, woman or child but what 
 is well clothed and well fed. Its people are healthy, 
 prosperous, law-abiding and happy." 
 
 ?ilvil1 ^^ Brazoria County, near Mustang Bayou, 
 surrounded by fertile prairies, and at the 
 junction of the Ciulf, Colorado & Santa Fe main 
 line and Houston branch, is the wide-awake city of 
 Alvin. Its present population is 
 estimated at 1,500 people, chiefly 
 acquired within the past six years. 
 There are about 
 4 ,000 people 
 within three and 
 a half miles of 
 the center of 
 town. All kinds 
 of retail business 
 are fully repre- 
 sented. Alvin 
 now has several 
 
 spacious school a dooryard at alvin. t-w 
 
 buildings, |« 
 
 several attractive church edifices and no'' 
 saloons. Ice factory plants, two cotton gins and a 
 vinegar establishment are recent acquisitions. 
 There is an abundance of pure, palatable water, 
 obtainable at a depth of 15 to 20 feet, and several 
 strong flowing wells of choice artesian water. 
 
 The climate of this nook is even and healthy, 
 
being pleasantly affected, summer and winter, by 
 the Gulf breezes. The soil is a dark, sandy loam, 
 with clay sub-soil, underlaid at a depth of lo or 15 
 feet with water-bearing- quicksand. Average annual 
 rainfall is 45 inches. 
 
 The LeConte and Keifer pears here find a con- 
 genial home. Peaches, apricots and plums are suc- 
 cessfully grown, and the Japan orange is being intro- 
 duced. Grapes are a success, the dreaded grape rot 
 being practically unknown. Strawberries do well, 
 if the ground is properly prepared, the fruit ripen- 
 ing in January and continuing to yield until June. 
 It is not uncommon to pick ripe strawberries here 
 Christmas day. The cape jessamine is extensively 
 cultivated around Alvin, forming an important prod- 
 uct. All kinds of vegetables flourish — in fact, the 
 briny atmosphere, sandy soil and early seasons make 
 this the truck farmers' gold mine, two or three crops 
 a year being easily grown. Three crops of Irish 
 potatoes are frequently raised in one season. Dairy 
 products command good prices, and poultry-raising 
 is a source of profit. 
 
 The nearness of Houston and Galvc-ston, with 
 ample service over the Santa Fe Route, supplemented 
 by excellent country roads, brings Alvin in close touch 
 -with unexcelled local markets. In March, April and 
 May, i8g7, the shipments by express from Alvin to 
 northern and eastern markets amounted to 13,970 
 crates of strawberries. It is estimated that the daily 
 income this season from strawberries will average 
 $1,000 per day for the two shipping months. 
 
 '0'|Y|gl'^|*H^tii Amsterdam is a new town loca- 
 ted about twelve miles south of 
 Alvin, in the southeastern part of Brazoria County. 
 This town was started about two years ago by the 
 Texas Colonization Co., which company owns an 
 •adjoining tract of 50,000 acres. 
 
 The land is bounded on the east by Chocolate 
 Bayou and on the west and south by Bastrop Bayou 
 and Bastrop Bay. The soil is mostly a heavy black, 
 with considerable black-sandy loam; it is well- 
 drained and very productive. A great many tracts 
 have already been sold to actual settlers, who have 
 built very comfortable homes. 
 
 Chocolate Bayou is navigable several miles above 
 this property and boats make regular trips. 
 
 This is an exceptional body of land, owing to 
 
proximity to* the Gulf and excellent drainaoe as well 
 as the superior quality of the soil. Prices range from 
 $12.50 to $15 per acre, on very favorable terms to 
 actual settlers. The way to get to this property is 
 to buy a ticket over the Santa Fe Route and get off 
 at Alvin, taking- a private conveyance thence to 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 Tlfff^Ai-^ Arcadia was settled in the spring of 
 /aiXaaiA j8gQ_ ji- jg situated on the line of the 
 Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, twenty-one 
 miles from Galveston, and tweniy-nine feet above 
 sea level. The soil is divided into a sandy and 
 black loam, underlaid with yellow clay at an average 
 depth of one foot. For vegetables the sandy loam 
 is generally preferred, though both are good for fruits. 
 
 The whole country is sub-irrigaled at a depth of 
 five or six feet, rendering it drouth proof so far as trees 
 are concerned, although even vegetables rarely suffer. 
 
 Artesian water can be had at a depth of 100 to 
 600 feet, the quality being better at the greater 
 depths. Every variety of vegetable succeeds well. 
 Tomatoes ripen by the middle of May; strawberries 
 are ready for picking last of February, and bear 
 abundantly until June, a yield of $150 to $300 per 
 acre not being uncommon. LeConte and Keifer 
 pears are always vigorous, absolutely healthy, and 
 bear an average of eight bushels to each tree six 
 years old. ^Vmerican grapes are uniformly healthy, 
 productive and free from p^t or mildew. Cotton 
 does well without manuring, the yield ranging from 
 one-half to a full bale, and in lower locations sugar- 
 cane is a success; it is not hurt by frost before the 
 first of December and rarely prior to the middle of 
 January. Pears have been planted here on 3,000 
 acres and peaches on 200 acres. The largest orchards 
 are owned by B. F. Johnson, C. Peterson, J. Whar- 
 ton Terry, C. E. Angell and E. C. Lamb. 
 
 Whether the weather is wet or dry, there is no 
 malaria, the sea breeze sweeping it away. Land is 
 for sale at reasonable prices. 
 
 TJy^^l>l Areola, in Fort Bend County, is the 
 /arLCiil' pretty name of a pretty town on the 
 Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, where that 
 road connects with the International & (ireat North- 
 ern and the Sugarland c\: Areola Railways. This 
 promising place is eighteen miles from Houston and 
 forty-three miles from Galveston. 
 
 25 
 
The country roundabout is filling up with a desir- 
 able class of farmers, one hundred families having- 
 settled here, and the land has proven to be the 
 equal of any along the Gulf Coast. Here is the 
 dividing line between the immense stretch of black 
 prairie extending eastward to Galveston Bay and 
 the bottom lands of Oyster Creek and Brazos River 
 on the west. West of Areola the bottom lands have 
 been utilized as cotton, sugar and corn plantations; 
 they are now being divided into farm tracts and 
 rapidly taken up by small farmers. The eastern 
 prairies were originally devoted to the grazing of 
 cattle; these also are being placed upon the market 
 in small holdings. 
 
 Good drinking and stock water is obtained any- 
 where in the Areola region at a depth of 20 to 40 
 feet. Pure artesian water flows freely when tapped 
 300 to 800 feet below the surface. 
 
 Nearly everything grows here. Cotton makes one 
 bale to the acre; the corn product is 40 to 50 bushels 
 per acre; oats are a success, the annual yield per 
 acre averaging 60 to 75 bushels. 
 
 At Areola is located the sugar plantation and fac- 
 tory of J. H. B. House. Cane yields 20 to 30 tons 
 per acre and the factories pay about $3 per ton for it. 
 
 Truck gardening is also quite remunerative. 
 Beans, onions, peas, cabbage, potatoes, beets, toma- 
 toes, melons, etc. , grow to perfection and bring high 
 prices in adjacent markets. From $200 to $500 can 
 be made from a winter garden of two acres, and the 
 same ground planted in summer with grains. Pears, 
 strawberries and all kinds of fruit do well. Tame 
 grasses — timothy, crimson clover, bermuda and 
 alfalfa — are successfully grown. 
 
 Areola has three railroads, low freight rates, two 
 sugar factories, a lumber yard, two hotels and livery 
 stable. The town desires a general store, cotton 
 gin, newspapers, brickyard, drug store, canning fac- 
 tory and floral garden. 
 
 ^dtlil ^^^^' Jackson County (population 2,000) 
 lies near the waters of Matagorda Bay, 
 but has little water front, thus being beyond the 
 range of any coast storms. The land is level. 
 Much of it needs artificial drainage to become pro- 
 ductive; this can easily be accomplished by taking 
 advantage of the many fresh water creeks, such as 
 Mustang, Sandy, Navidad, Lavaca, Arenosa, Benan, 
 
Coxe's and Keller. These streams are skirted with 
 timber, furnishing an abundance of fuel and fence 
 posts. About 70 per cent, is prairie and 30 per cent, 
 timber. 
 
 The soil is fertile, producing corn, cotton, vege- 
 tables and fruits; corn yields an average per acre of 
 30 bushels; sweet potatoes, 200 bushels, prairie hay, 
 one ton, and cotton 300 pounds. With proper cul- 
 tivation pears are particularly successful. Good 
 water is plentiful. The climate is healthful. 
 
 Edna, the county seat, is located on the line of 
 the Southern Pacific Co. sixty-seven miles west of 
 Rosenberg. It is a growing town of 1,500 inhabi- 
 tants, closely in touch with the surrounding country. 
 Edna's public schools, churches and stores are far 
 above the average. 
 
 Unimproved lands, in tracts of almost any size, 
 may be bought at $4 to $10 per acre. Higher prices 
 are charged for lands near the county seat and rail- 
 road, or for improved farms. Prospective settlers 
 in the Coast Region of Texas are invited to exam- 
 ine what is offered in the vicinity of Edna, in case 
 they should not find exactly what is wanted at a 
 point nearer the Culf, Colorado & Santa Fe Rail- 
 wav. 
 
 ^1 CiinOO '^'''^ years ago there was no El 
 
 ^ Campo. Today the town has a 
 population of over 1,000. More than twenty new 
 business enterprises have been established here within 
 the past six months. If you ask what makes the 
 place grow, it may be stated as one reason that 
 Wharton County is being rapidly populated by a very 
 enterprising class of people, largely consisting of 
 Swedes. There are very few negroes. 
 
 Around El Campo is some of the richest soil in 
 Texas, high and comparatively dry. The surround- 
 ing country, which was once a large cattle pasture, 
 is being divided into fruit and cotton farms. 
 
 El Campo has butchers, bakers, lumbermen, bank- 
 ers, grocers — in fact every leading branch of trade 
 is represented. The New York, Texas ^: Mexican 
 Railway furnishes good shipping facilities. 
 
 The business district is composed of substantial 
 wooden structures of modern architecture, while 
 large, spacious churches have been erected by several 
 denominations. 
 
^■%it»V>^t\t>G. Fairbanks is localed twelve miles 
 7-Airi7ilim» northwest of Houston, on the 
 Houston & Texas Central Railroad and on the main 
 county thoroughfare, called the Washington County 
 Road. This is now being macadamized; several 
 miles are already completed, and work is rapidly 
 progressing on about five miles more, taking the 
 road to within two and one-half miles of Fairbanks. 
 
 The land in that vicinity is a black, sandy loam, 
 mostly prairie, with strips of timber along the creeks. 
 The elevation is from five to eight feet to the mile, 
 which affords excellent natural drainage in connec- 
 tion with the railroad and county road ditches run- 
 ning through the center of the property, and a creek 
 on either side. 
 
 The lands around the town are being rapidly 
 settled by thrifty northern farmers, who seem to be 
 contented and doing well. The prices range from 
 $5 to $io per acre. There is a sawmill and planing 
 mill within four miles of Fairbanks, which supplies 
 cheap building material. The best of well water 
 can be had at the depth of 15 to 30 feet at a cost of 
 50 cents per foot with pipe and pump all complete. 
 
 A school, postoffice, depot and express oftice are 
 part of the conveniences of the towm. Newcomers 
 have organized and expect to raise vegetables and 
 melons in quantities, so that they can ship in car- 
 load lots to northern markets. Some of the finest 
 vegetables and melons on the Houston market in the 
 past two years were raised at Fairbanks, and a 
 number of carloads were shipped to northern mar- 
 kets with very satisfactory results. 
 
 Mr. C. W. Hahl has several acres of canaigre 
 planted which is doing nicely, and promises to be a 
 profitable crop; this is used for tanning purposes. 
 It is becoming very popular where introduced and 
 the demand cannot be supplied. The profit per acre, 
 at a conservative estimate, will be from $40 to $50. 
 
 ^^1'M^gl'Otl ^'^^^^ cities rise and flourish in re- 
 sponse to a need. Rarely are they 
 created by individual fiat or caprice. 
 
 Galveston supplies a distinct want, that of ocean 
 port for the Southwest, and therefore will grow stead- 
 ily year by year, keeping pace with the territory it 
 serves. The city is built on the extreme eastern end 
 of Galveston Island, just off the Gulf Coast of Texas, 
 
is six miles in area, and has a population of nearly 
 60,000. , 
 
 This fact appears remarkable; that a city of that 
 size should transact business equal to other commu- 
 nities with three or four times more inhabitants. 
 The anomaly is easily explained. The hnest land- 
 locked harbor on the Gulf of Mexico has given Gal- 
 veston an immense carrying trade. Here come ships 
 from European and South American ports to carry 
 away our cotton, corn and wheat, in exchange for 
 money or foreign commodities. So profitable has 
 been the handling of these exchanges that conserva- 
 tive merchants and brokers were content to reap 
 assured gains without seeking to bring in strangers 
 by heralding to the outside world the city's manifest 
 advantages. Already this is the third richest city in 
 the United States according to population. 
 
 Galveston was not discovered in the true sense of 
 the word, until a few years ago. Then the great 
 West awoke to the fact that by means of the Santa 
 Fe Route it was linked to a first-class deep water 
 port, the largest and deepest on the Gulf Coast, sev- 
 eral hundred miles nearer the interior than is New 
 York City. For example: Galveston is 220 miles 
 nearer to St. Louis, 739 miles nearer Denver and 483 
 miles nearer Kansas City than New York is. 
 
 The United States Government estimates that 
 $6,200,000 is required to secure a channel of sufli- 
 cient depth across the bar at the entrance of the bay. 
 Now there is nearly 27 feet of water at average tides, 
 which will be increased to accommodate any craft 
 that floats. Jetty construction was begun in 1885, 
 but work was not actually pushed until i8go. The 
 south jetty is seven and one-half miles long and the 
 north arm has been extended nearly six miles. 
 
 During 1896 there arrived at Galveston 28 vessels 
 from foreign ports, of which number one-sixth car- 
 ried cargoes, not including the small local craft. 
 The clearances were 303, all with cargoes. The 
 number of vessels entered in the coastwise business 
 that year was 369. A gratifying increase in ocean 
 trade is reported for 1897. As an exporting city 
 Galveston ranks fifth, and has regular steamer lines 
 to Houston, Key West, New York, Brazos, Santi- 
 ago and Morgan City; also between Galveston and 
 the foreign ports of Hamburg, Bremen, Liverpool, 
 Manchester, Tampico and Yera Cruz. 
 . Four miles of completed wharves, on the bay 
 
front, with room for more, amply accommodate 
 existing traffic. Four immense grain elevators have 
 been erected, with storage capacity of 2,500,000 
 bushels; other elevators are projected. During the 
 commercial season, after September i, the docks are 
 hlled with bales of cotton. Cotton is the chief staple 
 of Texas and half of it comes to Galveston, making 
 this the second cotton port of America. Every bale 
 of cotton leaves in the city from $1 to $1.50 to pay 
 for handling, wharfage, etc. 
 
 Cotton and woolen mills, bagging, binding, twine, 
 rope and lace factories are established here; the total 
 of manufacturing establishments is 43. The hsh 
 and oyster business will soon rival that of Baltimore. 
 
 The total exports for i8g6 amounted to $56,000,- 
 000; customs-house receipts for iSg6, $191,945. 
 
 ^iM^ 
 
 m. 
 
 IKr^ . 
 
 m-' 
 
 COTTON WHARF, GALVESTON. 
 
 These figures give a fair idea of the business pass- 
 ing through Galveston. 
 
 Another factor of Galveston's prosperity is its 
 selection as headquarters for general offices and 
 shops of the Santa Fe System in Texas. Handsome 
 and substantial business blocks compactly line sev- 
 eral wide streets, and merchants appear to be pros- 
 pering. The many beautiful homes, fine churches, 
 and numerous schools of Galveston attest its supe- 
 rior advantages as a residence city. Several large 
 hotels invite and foster transient custom. Many 
 residents of the interior Texas towns spend their 
 summers in this delightful spot, invigorated by the 
 cool sea breeze; and in the winter invalids and 
 
pleasure seekers drop down from the North to enjoy 
 May weather in December. 
 
 To miss seeing Galveston is not to have seen a 
 representative Texas city. 
 
 TSii-i*i\i*(yi*ty Hitchcock, in Clalveston County, on 
 
 1 niCnCOCK n-iain line of Gulf, Colorado & Santa 
 Fe Railw-ay, fourteen miles from Galveston, is the 
 original home of the pear industry in Texas, Here 
 lived the eminent horticulturist, H. M. Stringfellow, 
 who first discovered that this section could produce 
 with profit the finest pears in the world. The attract- 
 ive home, beautiful grounds and well-kept orchards 
 formerly belonging to him attest the admirable quali- 
 ties of this place. The original Stringfellow orchard 
 now includes probably the largest nursery in Texas; 
 its beauty attracts many visitors. 
 
 Numerous strawberry patches and truck farms lie 
 within a radius of three miles. The land is sub- 
 irrigated. Good well water is found at a depth of 
 twelve to eighteen feet, and there are thirteen flow- 
 ing artesian w-ells, varying in depth from 400 to 700 
 feet, with a flow ranging from 45 to 145 gallons per 
 minute — the water rising twenty-five and thirty-five 
 feet above ground. 
 
 Several large rose nurseries are located here. 
 Judge Austin owns a fine nursery, containing 30,000 
 roses and 1,000 magnolias. W. L. Schumate and 
 Capt. J. Aiken have 250,000 rose bushes, and F. 
 Renaud 30,000. Tourists can obtain, in season, 
 beautiful bouquets of rosebuds to take north, if 
 orders are placed a day ahead. Cape jessamines are 
 a decided success at Hitchcock, and the Satsuma 
 variety of Japan orange is quite popular. 
 
 Over 1,000 acres of the country immediately tribu- 
 tary to Hitchcock are planted with pear trees, 100 
 acres w'ith strawberries, 100 acres with grapes and 
 500 acres are devoted to cultivation of other fruits 
 and vegetables. H. N. Lowrey, three miles west 
 of Hitchcock, has planted 10,000 pear trees, 3,000 
 peach trees and 4,000 plum trees. The Wheeler 
 Fruit Company has 11,000 pear trees and 25 acres in 
 strawberries. 
 
 Persons desiring to invest in small fruit farms will 
 do well to visit Hitchcock. At this point and Alvin 
 enough has been accomplished to prove beyond cavil, 
 that the coast country of Texas cannot be surpassed 
 for productiveness. 
 

 ■Mm ' rr: 4* 
 
 ^^ 5 
 
T^OUStOn ^^ steamships made Galveston, rail- 
 roads have made Houston — that pros- 
 perous and beautiful city of over 65,000 people which 
 has grown up at the head of tide-water navigation, 
 fifty-five miles from the head of the jetties at Bolivar 
 Peninsula. A proposition is before Congress to 
 - deepen and widen the channel connecting Houston 
 with the Gulf, thus increasing its shipping facilities. 
 The proposed dimensions of this channel are 25 feet 
 deep and 100 feet wide. When completed this will 
 materially add to Houston's already great commer- 
 cial importance. 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HOUSTON. 
 
 The city was founded in 1821 and has grown from 
 29,000 inhabitants in iSgo to its present size. Near- 
 by are immense forests of pine, oak, etc., and the 
 profusion of magnolia groves in the suburbs has 
 given it the name of the " Magnolia City." 
 
 These are some of the things that Houston offers 
 the newcomer: 
 
 A healthful and enjoyable semi-tropical climate; 
 mean summer temperature of 90° and average win- 
 ter temperature of 60°; sweet, pure and soft artesian 
 water; a low death rate — only nine to the thousand; ' 
 
fifty miles of paved streets — vitrified brick, stone 
 and wood; no stagnant water, and an admirable sew- 
 erage system; handsome public and business build- 
 ings, and many beautiful private residences; the fin- 
 est electric street railway system in the South, 35 
 miles completed; a taxable valuation of $22,000,000, 
 the rate being $2 per $100; a high school and 15 
 public schools for benefit of 10,000 children. 
 
 The bank clearances were over $231,000,000 for 
 fiscal year ending July i, 1S97. Three million dol- 
 lars are invested in building associations, $350,000 
 in transportation lines, and $4,600,000 in manufac- 
 turing and industrial establishments, including six 
 cotton compresses and four cotton seed oil mills. 
 There is plenty of money here to do business with. 
 
 Eleven trunk lines of railroad enter Houston, 
 affording ample means for traffic with half of the 
 vast area between the lower Mississippi River and 
 the Pacific. The roads actually centering in this 
 city have a mileage of 5,817 and the connecting sys- 
 tems a mileage of 31,000. Seven of them have their 
 general oftices and shops here, disbursing $400,000 
 annually, and the Santa Fe is erecting a handsome 
 new passenger depot to accommodate its increasing 
 trafiic. The jobbing houses of Houston do an im- 
 mense business ($32,000,000 annually) among the tim- 
 ber regions of East Texas, the central cotton section 
 
 36 
 
of the State, and the sugar districts of Texas and 
 southwestern Louisiana. Eighty miles of switches, 
 side-tracks, etc., afford complete facilities for hand- 
 ling freight. In addition to the facilities offered by 
 the Santa Fe Route for rail transportation to sea- 
 board, a system of barges deliver cargoes on board 
 ocean steamers at Galveston without trans-shipment. 
 
 Other items of interest are the gas works, with a 
 plant capacity for 100,000 population; public school 
 buildings valued at $365,000, and fine artesian water, 
 the average supply being 3,000,000 gallons, drawn 
 fron 39 wells. 
 
 As a cotton market. Houston takes a front rank. 
 The gross receipts for season of 1S97-98 were 
 1,161,133 bales. The annual lumber trade amounts 
 to over $25,000,000. 
 
 The principal trade of the city of Houston is in 
 Texas products, such as cotton, sugar, molasses, 
 rice, fruits, lumber, wool and hides. Houston has 
 an enviable future before it, if the growth of the 
 last decade should be continued. Its location is 
 such as to command a large share of the industrial 
 prosperity of Southern Texas, and it will always be 
 an important factor in that region. Every home- 
 seeker should visit Houston. 
 
 Acknowledgement is hereby made of the courtesy 
 of Dr. V. S. MacNider and Messrs. Blackburn & 
 Bailey, in furnishing photos of Houston for repro- 
 duction herein. 
 
 r ^ 1r)oi*t'£ ^^^ confluence of Buffalo Bayou 
 ^ and San Jacinto River form w^hat is 
 
 known as San Jacinto Bay, a body of fresh water 
 seven miles long by from one to two miles in width. 
 At the lower end it is almost separated from Gal- 
 veston Bay, the great inland sea of Texas, by a prom- 
 ontory which ranges in width from 1,500 feet at 
 its point to one and one-half miles at its base. 
 This promontory has an elevation of forty feet above 
 San Jacinto Bay, and thirty-tive feet above Galves- 
 ton Bay, the former bank being abrupt, while the 
 latter recedes in graceful, easy terraces almost to the 
 water's edge. Beautiful hardwood trees, green ten 
 months in the year, draped with Spanish moss and 
 mistletoe, fringe the borders of the promontory, and 
 picturesque little islands of the same timber give a 
 most pleasing effect to the general landscape. 
 
 By water this promontory is located forty miles 
 
from Houston and thirty miles from Galveston, but 
 by rail or wagon road it is but twenty-four miles 
 from Houston and thirty-two miles from (lalveston, 
 being practically, either by land or water, midway 
 between the two great cities of Texas. 
 
 On this strip of land the town of La Porte is situ- 
 ated. It is already quite a place with ample rail- 
 road, navigation, telegraph and telephone facilities. 
 La Porte possesses churches, school-houses, hotels, 
 livery stables, stores of all varieties and well-equipped 
 bathing houses. The surrounding agricultural coun- 
 try (and there is none better in the state) is well de- 
 veloped. The proposed great ship channel will 
 make it an important commercial point. 
 
 La Porte is becoming widely known throughout 
 Texas as a delightful summer resort. It is a veri- 
 table Coney Island for Houston, and summer excur- 
 sions from that city are frequent. The hunting and 
 fishing in the fall and winter attract many sports- 
 men from the North, who often remain for months. 
 The bathing, boating, fishing and sailing facilities 
 are unexcelled. 
 
 Surrounding La Porte, together with the adjoin- 
 ing tract of land known as South La Porte, is about 
 4,000 acres of land, which has been laid off in small 
 tracts for fruit and vegetable farmers. The prices 
 of town lots in La Porte and its neighboring farms 
 are reasonable and the terms easy. 
 
 In addition to its properties at La Porte, the 
 American Land Company (with headquarters at 
 Chicago, St. Louis and Houston) also has charge of 
 the tracts at Meadowbrook and Webster; corre- 
 spondence invited. 
 
 IVI^tlVCl ^^^ settlement of Manvel is situated 
 ' in Brazoria County, on the Gulf, 
 
 Colorado & Santa Fe Railway main line, midway 
 between Areola and Alvin, and is thirty-six miles 
 distant from Houston. Two hundred heads of 
 families have settled within a few miles of the depot. 
 Many of them are Dunkards, a religious sect whose 
 industry and thrift are proverbial. 
 
 It has been demonstrated that it is as fertile as 
 any other portion of the coast. Nearly 4,000 acres 
 of land has been cut up into ten, twenty and forty 
 acre tracts, lying near the town site, the selling 
 price being $15 to $30 per acre. The summer of 
 1897 the cultivated acreage was as follows: Pears 
 
and other fruits, 250 acres; strawberries, 100 acres; 
 vegetables, 50 acres. 
 
 Cotton is being extensively planted and the region 
 around Manvel bids fair to be as great a cotton and 
 corn country as Northern Texas. The soil is of 
 two kinds, black-sandy and black-waxy, the latter 
 being well adapted for corn and cotton. 
 
 Five miles from Manvel is a choice tract of 20,000 
 acres, in a solid body, located on the west side of 
 Chocolate Bayou. It has been surveyed, sub-divided 
 and platted into lots of forty acres each, with road- 
 xyays for everyone, connecting with the main high- 
 way, and so arranged that they can be conveniently 
 cut into smaller lots of ten or twenty acres each. 
 
 JMcadOWbrOOk Meadowbrook, Harris 
 County, Texas, consists of 
 about 20,000 acres of land, located in the celebrated 
 South Texas Coast Country, and controlled by the 
 American Land Co. It is within twenty miles of 
 Houston, the county seat, which is the largest city 
 of Texas. 
 
 The land is all a beautiful prairie, except that the 
 banks of Buffalo Bayou and its tributaries are 
 fringed with groves of hardwood timber, principally 
 of the several varieties of oak, the utility of which 
 for fuel, fence posts, etc., is apparent. Three 
 railroads and three county roads pass through 
 Meadowbrook, and it is perfectly drained by Buf- 
 falo Bayou, one of the important waterways of 
 Texas, passing through the tract from the west to 
 the east. Two railroad stations, with side-track and 
 other shipping facilities, are already situated on 
 Meadowbrook and arrangements are well under the 
 way for the third. 
 
 This large body of land has been divided into 
 farms of 160 acres each, and graded roads are being 
 constructed along the section lines, at right angles 
 to Buffalo Bayoti, thus affording each quarter section 
 the double purpose of an outlet to the railroads and 
 county roads as well as drainage to the Bayou. The 
 main road from Houston has been graded and grav- 
 eled to within nine miles of Meadowbrook and will 
 be completed in the near future. 
 
 Fruits of nearly every variety, both large and small, 
 all kinds of vegetables, and the great staples of cot- 
 ton, corn, oats, sugar and hay give the most grati- 
 fying results at Meadowbrook. Improved farms 
 
surrounding this tract show positive evidence as to 
 what can be produced and it has been placed on the 
 market at prices and terms, that, together with its 
 general conditions, invite comparison with any other 
 lands in that most favored portion of these United 
 States. 
 
 f^^^Ml^ll^ The town of Pearland, fifteen miles 
 ^ south of Houston, on the Gulf, Colo- 
 
 rado & Santa Fe Railway, is the center of a splendid 
 country. The town-site has been laid off on a mod- 
 ern plan, with boulevards and broad streets, reserv- 
 ing locations for churches and parks. It is expected 
 to build up here a model community. Pearland is 
 surrounded by thousands of acres of the finest prai- 
 rie land, nearly every acre of which is suited to fruit, 
 vegetable and general farming. Ten thousand acres 
 of the land immediately surrounding Pearland have 
 been sub-divided into ten, twenty and forty-acre 
 tracts, which are being sold at $15 to $25 per acre, 
 one-third cash, the balance in one and two years. 
 Each tract will front a broad, graded road. 
 
 Pearland is now a thriving village of 300 inhabi- 
 tants. It has schools and churches and is surrounded 
 by a desirable class of citizens who are engaged in 
 fruit-raising and general farming. Considering age, 
 Pearland can show one of the finest pear orchards 
 along the coast. 
 
 I^icHinOTld Richmond is the county seat of 
 Fort Bend County. It is a pros- 
 perous and enterprising town, containing about 1,500 
 people. Its location on the west bank of the Brazos 
 River, within a short distance of the P'alls of the 
 Brazos, will give it, when the 3,000 horse power 
 there is fully developed, a commanding position as 
 a manufacturing center. 
 
 Richmond is not only a pleasant place in which to 
 live, but it is a good place to do business in. Al- 
 ready the town possesses water works, an electric 
 light plant, bank, three railroads, a telephone ex- 
 change, two cotton gins and a grist mill. One nota- 
 ble feature is an immigrant house, where any per- 
 son who has bought land in the county or who 
 deposits a certain amount of money in bank is 
 granted free house rent for a month or so in order 
 to make ready for the occupancy of his new home. 
 
Not content with being in the center of a mag- 
 nihcent agricultural country, Richmond is reaching 
 out for various enterprises and affords excellent op- 
 portunities for the location of manufactories based 
 on cotton, timber and sugar. 
 
 RoSCUbcrOf Rosenberg is very favorably sit- 
 ^ uated in Fort Bend County, at 
 the junction of the main lines of the Gulf, Colorado 
 & Santa Fe Railway and Southern Pacihc Co. It 
 is also the northern terminus of the New York, 
 Texas & Mexican Railway, and the Rosenberg, 
 Damon Mound & Gulf Railroad. It lies 66 miles 
 north of Galveston and 36 miles west of Houston; 
 contains 750 inhabitants (mainly from northern 
 states) and is the natural trade center of a rich 
 country. This outlying territory consists of say 
 400 sections of high prairie lands and rich river 
 bottoms where, without fertilizing, the a\'erage crops 
 are forty bushels of corn, seventy bushels of oats, 
 three tons of millet hay and one bale of cotton per 
 acre, AH kinds of fruits — except apples— are raised 
 here, as well as all varieties of vegetables. 
 
 The Brazos River bottoms contain great forests 
 of oak, ash and other hard woods, interspersed with 
 magnificent plantations where corn, cotton and 
 sugar cane grow luxuriantly. Desirable farming 
 lands lying within a radius of three to eight miles 
 from town command $8 to $25 per acre. Taxes 
 are low, about $1 per hundred on a 40^ valuation. 
 
 Rosenberg has several church societies and tine 
 school buildings. Being 132 feet above sea level 
 and 40 feet above the Brazos, good drainage and 
 consequent good health is assured. Excellent 
 water is obtainable at convenient depths. 
 
 Its location in the midst of forests of red and 
 white cedar, cypress, ash, etc., makes Rosenberg a 
 desirable place for the manufacture of woolen goods. 
 A canning factory would also do well here. The 
 transportation facilities above mentioned give this 
 town manifest advantages as a distributing point. 
 Persons desiring further information should address 
 Geo. B. Lang, Secretary Progressive Association, 
 Rosenberg, Texas. 
 
 ^^^I-M The thriving" town of Sealy is situated fifty 
 
 ^ miles west of Houston and ninety-hve 
 
 miles northwest of Galveston at the junction of the 
 
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway and the Mis- 
 souri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and has a popula- 
 tion of about 1,500. It is the first division on the 
 Santa Fe line out of Galveston, with a round-house 
 and other necessary improvements. 
 
 The town is situated on a slight elevation above 
 the surrounding- country, just at the beginning of the 
 rolling land adjacent to the coast country proper, 
 thereby having excellent natural drainage and splen- 
 did water, and is one of the healthiest places in 
 South Texas. The Brazos River is five miles dis- 
 tant. Sealy possesses a first-class public school 
 system and churches of the various denominations. 
 
 The citizens liberally support a weekly newspaper, 
 and the town boasts of a tannery, harness and saddle 
 manufactory, a mattress factory, also two of the 
 finest steam cotton gins in this part of the country, 
 one of them having just lately been purchased to be 
 put in operation this summer. A complete electric 
 plant of 700 light capacity is building. A commo- 
 dious opera house and public amusement hall, five 
 first-class hotels, besides numerous business edifices, 
 complete the list of principal buildings. 
 
 In addition to the magnificent resources of Austin 
 County elsewhere briefly alluded to, it may be said 
 that the excellent railroad facilities at Sealy make the 
 raising of canteloupes and watermelons one of the 
 leading industries of the region. About 500 acres 
 of melons will be marketed at Sealy this year to be 
 shipped north. The value of adjacent farming lands 
 varies from $5 to $40 per acre. 
 
 fillOCfiOl* Lies thirty-three miles from Galves- 
 
 ^ ton, twenty miles from Houston, and 
 
 begins just two miles north of Alvin, on the Houston 
 branch of the Santa Fe, with eight daily passenger 
 trains. This is a new town located upon a tract of 
 10,000 acres of land purchased by the Southern 
 Homestead Company of Houston, and characterized 
 as the finest large body of land along the Gulf Coast. 
 It is in the center of the newly developed fruit and 
 vegetable belt and is being highly improved with 
 finely graded roads and ample ditches. Many set- 
 tlers have located at this place. 
 
 dl^lltS "^ '^^ thrifty town of Wallis (population 
 
 500) is located in Austin County, at the 
 
 junction of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway 
 
with the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, 
 eighty-two miles north of Galveston and forty-five 
 miles west of Houston. Its twenty business houses 
 carry large stocks of goods and it has a wide-awake 
 newspaper. Educational and social advantages are 
 as advanced as those of any like settlement in South- 
 ern Texas. Railroad facilities are unusually good. 
 
 Austin County is briefly described under another 
 caption. A few additional facts pertaining especially 
 to the territory surrounding Wallis will be of interest. 
 The lands between the Brazos and San Bernard Riv- 
 ers are of inexhaustible fertility, being as rich now 
 as when first cultivated forty years ago. The prairie 
 lands are worth $5 to $20 per acre; bottom lands, 
 $10 to $30. 
 
 Cotton is a crop that never fails. In 1897 Wallis 
 marketed 5,000 bales. In a good season the output 
 is about 8,000 bales. Corn averages 40 to 60 bush- 
 els to the acre. Vegetables and small fruits are suc- 
 cessfully raised. The country around Wallis is in- 
 habited to a considerable extent by Germans, who 
 with their customary industry have made valuable 
 improvements. Homeseekers who prefer to get back 
 from the Coast and at the same time have the bene- 
 fit of the Gulf breezes, should investigate the claims 
 of Wallis and vicinity. 
 
 CClcbStCI* ^^^ colony of Webster, Harris 
 County, Texas, is located on a tract 
 of about 5,000 acres of land midway between Hous- 
 ton and Galveston, on the line of the Galveston, 
 Houston & Henderson Railroad, over which also 
 operates two other lines, thus practically affording 
 it the advantages of three railroads. It has a depot, 
 side-track and other ample shipping facilities. Popu- 
 lation about 300. 
 
 This is a magnificent body of black prairie land, 
 perfectly drained, and is in the midst of the great 
 fruit and vegetable district of South Texas. Well 
 developed farms in and surrounding Webster evi- 
 dence its great productiveness. Clear Lake, a navi- 
 gable stream and tributary of Galveston Bay, directly 
 adjoins this land and its settlers have all the advan- 
 tages of water competition. Real estate at Webster 
 will be sold in tracts to suit the purchaser and at 
 very reasonable prices and terms, considering the 
 location. The American Land Company is develop- 
 ing this property. 
 
^riU^M^^vi Rosenberg station, on the Gulf, Col- 
 orado & Santa Fe Railway, is the 
 most convenient point of departure for a large section 
 of country to the southwest. After passing through 
 Fort Bend County, the next one is Wharton, dubbed 
 by its enthusiastic inhabitants the banner county of 
 the coast country. It is in the second tier back from 
 the Gulf. The county is watered by Peach, Jones, 
 Sandies and Mustang creeks, also the Bernard and 
 Colorado Rivers. Wharton contains 1,172 square 
 miles, a princely domain of 718,000 acres, three- 
 eighths woodland and five-eighths open country; sur- 
 face is level, divided equally between prairie and 
 woodland; soil is alluvial and adapted to almost 
 everything that grows in the south. Along the Colo- 
 rado River especially the soil is of great depth. 
 On the water courses there is a sufficiency of tim- 
 ber for firewood. Railroad facilities are excellent, 
 the county being traversed by three lines. The 
 average annual yield in Wharton County is 20,000 
 bales of cotton, 200,000 bushels of corn, 20,000 
 bushels of Irish potatoes, over 10,000 bushels of 
 sweet potatoes, 20 cars of pecans, etc. Being in 
 the fruit belt, everything of that kind does well 
 here. Unimproved lands bring $5 to $15 per acre; 
 improved, $15 to $30. 
 
 The town of Wharton, county seat, stands on the 
 east bank of the Colorado River, 50 miles from 
 the coast. It is the principal distributing point for 
 Wharton and Matagorda counties. Present popula- 
 tion, 2,000. Its business establishments have a 
 heavy trade, and the social and educational advan- 
 tages of the town have kept pace with its industrial 
 growth. 
 
jMennonitc Colonies 
 
 • • • 
 
 The present exodus of Mennonites from various 
 northern states to Southern Texas is in many respects 
 a, remarkable movement. Nothing like it has been 
 witnessed for many years. 
 
 , These Mennonites are a thrifty people, noted as 
 home-builders. By hard v/ork, prudence and fore- 
 sight they have made a success of nearly all their 
 undertakings. It seems to be their mission to be 
 pioneers of farming industry. 
 
 They are an exceptional race. Piety and practical 
 affairs go hand in hand While fearing God they do 
 not fear Nature. No unfavorable combination of 
 soil or climate or circumstances has ever routed them. 
 They may leave one locality for another, but the 
 migration is based on other grounds than failure at 
 home. Each change is a step forward. 
 
 They are withal shrewd buyers, investigating care- 
 fully before pulling up stakes and starting anew. So 
 well known is their sagacity in this respect that keen 
 competition exists among holders of large bodies of 
 raw lands whenever it is known that a new Mennon- 
 ite enterprise is to be launched. It is a comi^liment 
 to the resources of any country to be selected by the 
 Mennonites for colonizing purposes, because by ex- 
 perience they have learned what good land is and 
 will have no other. 
 
 Mr. W. B. Slosson, of Houston, Texas, who is at 
 present the authorized general agent for the Men- 
 nonite colonies at Crosby, Ft. Bend, Thompson or 
 Menno City, Westheld and Brookshire, was instru- 
 mental in bringing down to the Texas Gulf Coast 
 more than a thousand Mennonites during the Fall 
 of iSgy. Nearly 400 have already located and many 
 others are coming in from far away Oregon, South 
 Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa, as well as from 
 Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Northern Texas. 
 Mr. Slosson has acted in conjunction with a Commit- 
 tee of Eleven, many of them Mennonite preachers 
 and all men of influence. The Santa Fe Route was 
 unanimously chosen bv them as the official line for 
 transportation of settlers and goods, thereby further 
 
cementing a friendship which began when the Santa 
 Fe brought the Mennonites over from Russia to 
 America many years ago. 
 
 The question may be asked: Why are tliese people 
 leaving their northern homes and coming so far 
 south? An important reason is that the good cheap 
 lands of the Middle West are almost gone and the 
 tide of immigration must seek other outlets. One 
 of these outlets is towards Southern Texas. For 
 years the coast region was owned and controlled by 
 cattle men; they did not want their great pastures 
 cut up into small holdings. That day has passed, 
 and they are inviting rather than repelling the advent 
 of the farmer and fruit-raiser. 
 
 Another factor is found in the movement for deep- 
 water harbors at Galveston and other points on the 
 Texas coast, permitting the immense surplus crops 
 of the northwest and southwest to be more easily 
 and more profitably marketed than heretofore. This 
 has widely advertised Southern Texas. 
 
 Other reasons, as detailed by the committee in 
 their literature, may be briefly summed up in the 
 items of a healthy climate, good water, excellent 
 markets, no blizzards, sufficient rainfall, low taxes, 
 cheap freight rates, cool Gulf breezes in sunimer, 
 scarcely any winter, fruit culture successful, a diver- 
 sity of crops possible, more than one crop a year 
 obtainable in some instances, friendly neighbors, and 
 an opportunity to build up a prosperous community 
 of those holding the same faith and swayed by like 
 traditions, l^robably the three most important ele- 
 ments are cheap lands, large crops and a pleasant 
 winter climate. 
 
 t^^t^f\t^ct.i\it*^ ^ promising settlement has been 
 OrOOKtiniriJ; started at Brookshire, thirty-five 
 miles west of Houston, where good prairie lands may 
 be obtained at prices varying from $5 to $8 an acre. 
 About 6,500 acres have been secured. Hon. Fred. 
 Harpster is in charge locally. 
 
 />^^-»l-_. ^^l^«*m* Twenty-five miles north- 
 Crosby Colony ^^^, J Houston, in Har- 
 ris and L,iberty Counties, within seven miles of three 
 railroad stations, is the flourishing colony of Crosby. 
 The land is mainly a dark or black, sandy loam, rich, 
 well-drained and well timbered. All the staple crops 
 can be raised, as well as fruits and vegetables. Sev- 
 eral streams afford an adequate water supply. This 
 
colony was organized with parlies from Oregon, Kan- 
 sas and South Dakota. The land is held at $5 to $8 
 per acre, and about 8,000 acres are available; 2214 
 acres already occupied. 
 
 -^;^k 
 
 ..,,. ,l 
 
 
 'iM 
 
 JHF ^^^^^^M^K^i^^^^ MM 
 
 »H 
 
 ^^fe^^ 
 
 ^H 
 
 A HILL OF STRAWBERRIES IN MARCH. 
 
 ^i^t»t t^t\A ^^^^ ^^^^ colony located by the 
 T'Ori OCTIU Mennonites was in Fort Bend 
 County, seven miles south of Richmond and Rosen- 
 berg, on the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. 
 Nearly 5,000 acres of black "hog-wallow" lands 
 were bought for $10 per acre on favorable terms. 
 More than forty families have already settled here 
 and every week adds to their number. New houses 
 have been built, the prairie broken, orchards planted, 
 wells dug, and other improvements made. Schools, 
 churches and store-buildings have been built and the 
 success of the colony is assured. 
 
 'I^K.^nttXQ^Ai^ />»• ^^^ second Mennonite Col- 
 ^^nOmpbOn or ^j^^ ^^s placed at Thompson 
 IVfctlllO CitV Station, eighteen miles north- 
 
 ' ^ west of Houston, in Harris 
 
 County, on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. 
 About 3,000 acres of good black-sandy loam lands 
 have been purchased, and over forty families already 
 located. It is expected that a hundred additional 
 families will follow soon. Several thousand acres 
 more can be secured when needed. Prices range 
 from $4.50 to $7.50 per acre. This is prairie land, 
 
 47 
 
with plenty of timber. Water is found at a depth 
 of 15 to 30 feet. There is a fine road direct to the 
 city of Houston. A saw mill and planing mill have 
 been erected, and lumber can be obtained for $5 to 
 $7 a thousand feet. This colony is locally known 
 as Menno City, and the postoffice will soon be 
 changed to correspond. Rev. H. A. Koehn, for- 
 merly of Newton, Kan., is the local agent at Menno 
 City.' 
 
 Tn^ctf-f-t^iA ^^'^^ Westfield Colony was started 
 Wivoll Ivlil by 115 persons who came in one 
 party from Colorado. Members have since been re- 
 ceived from several other states. The colony shows 
 the effect of working together to a common end, for 
 already extensive improvements have been made or 
 are under way. Westfield is sixteen miles north of 
 Houston, Harris County, on the International & 
 Great Northern Railroad. A macadamized road 
 connects the village with Houston. Several thou- 
 sand acres of good black-sandy prairie land have 
 been reserved, for sale at $5 to $6.50 per acre on 
 terms to suit. Many of the old settlers in this lo- 
 cality are of German descent, having accumulated 
 considerable of this world's goods. Schools and 
 churches are within easy access. Rev. Henry Berg- 
 thold is the local agent. 
 
 ^-^ 
 
 HOUSTON HIGH SCHOOL. 
 
I^cstimony of farmers 
 
 • • • 
 
 It is one thing to generalize ; quite a different affair 
 to state particular facts. C)ne may fluently speak 
 in an impersonal way and general terms of the glo- 
 rious empire state of Texas. Such adjectives may 
 mean much or little. To prepare a statement of what 
 has been accomplished on your own tract of land, 
 with conclusions drawn from personal experience, 
 requires scientific accuracy. An imaginative dis- 
 course will not pass muster. 
 
 Bearing this in mind, and in order that the situa- 
 tion in Texas might be fairly presented to outsiders, 
 we have asked several farmers and fruit-raisers to 
 tell herein their own story of success or failure, for 
 the guidance of others. What they say, follows: 
 
 Rev. I^Cnry Bcrgtbold Rev. Henry Be rg- 
 ^ thold, of Westtield, 
 
 Texas, formerly of Colorado, is evidently well 
 pleased with his Texas venture, as may be seen from 
 the following letter recently written by him : 
 
 " I came here from Colorado, and was a member 
 of the first committee sent out to locate Mennonite 
 colonies. My report being favorable a large party 
 of us left Colorado and settled here. I had been in 
 several Western States looking for a location and 
 felt the great responsibility in selecting a home for 
 •my family and friends. We are now in Harris 
 County, Texas, i6 miles north of Houston, which 
 is our market. Although having settled here only a 
 few months ago. we are doing what we started out 
 to do — getting homes. Lumber being cheap, we 
 soon had our houses built. Now we are breaking 
 prairie and planting our gardens and orchards. 
 
 " I never saw a country where people can live so 
 cheaply as soon as they get started. We have Ger- 
 man neighbors here who have got a better start in 
 one year than they could in five years in Colorado. 
 
 " Not for a single moment have I ever regretted 
 coming to this Coast Country, and it looks now as 
 though we, and those of our people who are now 
 coming to the Westlield colony, would all own lands 
 and homes of our own in a short time." 
 
Cbaa. BusbbaUSCtI }.^'- Chas. Bushhausen 
 lives at rearland, 1 exas, 
 within a mile of the station. He owns 41 acres of 
 land, of which all but 10 are used in raising straw- 
 berries, cabbages, onions, beets, cotton and oats. 
 Strawberries are his largest crop and cabbages the 
 best paying one. His experience in fruit is limited 
 to strawberries, Mr, Bushhausen considers them 
 a paying crop, the best one for a small farm. He 
 has experienced a partial failure with cotton. 
 
 The home market does not consume his entire 
 'product. For very early fruit and vegetables it pays 
 to ship them a long distance. Medium early and 
 late fruit and vegetables should be sold nearer home. 
 
 Mr. Bushhausen recommends the South Coast of 
 Texas without any reservation whatever. 
 
 R. f). Busbway ^r. R. H, Bushway, of Al- 
 vm, lexas, contributes the 
 following statement, under date of January 13, 1898: 
 " My native state is Illinois, I came to the Coast 
 Country of Texas six years ago, since which time I 
 have been continuously identified with the fruit indus- 
 try. For the last four years my time has been de- 
 voted to the nursery business as founder and mana- 
 ger of the Alvin Nursery Co. Our grounds occupy 
 forty acres of land, situated two and one-half miles 
 from the city of Alvin. Ten acres of this land is in 
 bearing pear orchard, ten acres in an orchard two 
 years old, and twenty acres now being put into cul- 
 tivation. Besides the above, we have fourteen acres 
 under lease, mostly planted in strawberries and nurs- 
 ery stock. Aside from the nursery our only commer- 
 cial crop is strawberries, which have proven extremely 
 profitable when properly grown and marketed. 
 
 " The following statement taken from our books 
 for i8g6 shows results obtained: 
 
 Number of 24-quart crates shipped from 7 acres.. .512 
 
 Total receipts $1,217.00 
 
 Cost of 572 crates, at 18c $ 92.16 
 
 Cost of picking, at 60c. per crate ... 309.60 
 
 Nails, expenses, labor, etc 20.00 421.76 
 
 Net proceeds of 7 acres 8 795.24 
 
 " Our berries are grown on black land without fer- 
 tilizer of any kind, and by the system employed one 
 man and team can plant and attend fifteen acres. 
 By good cultivation and liberal application of com- 
 mercial fertilizers, the above results can be increased 
 threefold. 
 
 51 
 
'' In our six years' experience we have never had 
 a crop failure, and only once a partial failure — even 
 then good strawberry beds net their owners nearly 
 $loo per acre. Such land as our berries are grown 
 on can be bought in ten-acre blocks at from $15 to 
 $30 per acre. 
 
 " While a larg'e quantity of out products hnd a 
 ready sale at good prices in the state, by far the 
 greater percentage is shipped direct to the North, 
 where the demand for our early berries and vegeta- 
 bles is only limited by our ability to produce. Almost 
 our entire crop is shipped by express; however we 
 hope by another year to see the acreage increased so 
 that it will warrant a through freight service to such 
 important points as Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas 
 City, thereby reducing the cost of transportation to 
 a minimum. We have been very successful in ob- 
 taining fancy prices for our early berries from north- 
 ern markets and consider this outlet for our products 
 practically unlimited, as we are fully three weeks 
 earlier than our competitors. 
 
 "After six years of practical experience we have 
 no hesitancy in affirming that every dollar intelli- 
 gently invested in fruit growing in the Texas Coast 
 Country will return three times the interest of the 
 same amount invested in cotton or grain farming, 
 proportionatelv to the capital put in. 
 
 " In regard to health will say that I came here 
 badly affected with nasal catarrh and at the end of 
 three years every symptom was gone, and nowhere 
 does the general health appear so good. 
 
 " To the intelligent, industrious man or woman 
 seeking to better their condition and acquire a home, 
 the Texas Coast Country offers inducements not 
 equalled by any other section — and to such is ac- 
 corded a hearty welcome." 
 
 "C* O* O^XHS Mr. T. B. Davis, of Areola, came 
 from Brazoria County, Mississippi, 
 and bought 160 acres of prairie land two and one- 
 half miles east of Areola. Fifty-five acres are planted 
 to cotton, corn, potatoes, berries, watermelons, vege- 
 tables and oats. Mr. Davis' best crop is cotton. He 
 has had no experience with fruits. He is experi- 
 menting with a small orchard and believes pears 
 and strawberries to be the leading fruits. He has 
 never had a complete failure of any crop, although 
 corn was cut short one season account dry weather. 
 
 52 
 
He makes a fair profit every year and reports living' 
 expenses very moderate. 
 
 The school and church privileges at Areola are 
 good and taxes not too high. 
 
 The home market consumes all that can be raised, 
 at a fair price. While having had no experience in 
 shipping fruits or vegetables, Mr. Davis says the 
 facilities for shipping are excellent. Furthermore 
 he thinks that the climate is not excelled by any 
 other country. 
 
 He recommends the Coast Country to men who 
 have enough money on hand to pay for building and 
 fencing; also sufficient means to carry them through 
 one year with economy. 
 
 itf^M^MT T\^S^*»S^Ur> ^^^- Ileinrichs visited the 
 
 franZ DcmncbS ^oast Country several times 
 and assisted in locating the first three colonies. He 
 is a representative Mennonite; has bought and is im- 
 proving 310 acres of land in the Fort Bend Colony; 
 prefers South Texas to Kansas, because he finds 
 here copious rainfall, no blizzards, scarcely any win- 
 ter, a healthy climate and pure water. 
 
 " I think it is a good place for poor people," 
 writes Mr. Ileinrichs, "as vegetables can be raised 
 every month in the year and the cattle and sheep 
 business pays well, with free range. 
 
 " A friend of mine who came here from South 
 Dakota with weak lungs is now well. He could not 
 walk a quarter of a mile up north, but took a stroll 
 of three miles here with me last month. 
 
 "With good markets and low-priced land, close 
 to deep water ports at Houston and Galveston, we 
 are bound to make money. Our Mennonite people 
 like this country and more are coming." 
 
 3CQQ€ 
 
 7TW f^iii " I came to Texas from middle 
 >M« l/ill Tennessee," writes Mr. Jesse 
 W. Hill, of Areola, Tex. "My farm is situated two 
 and one-half miles northeast of Areola. It consists 
 of 160 acres of black-sandy and black-waxy soil. 
 The line of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry. is 
 two miles away. Eighty-five acres are in cotton, 
 corn, oats, potatoes and strawberries, with a little 
 corn and peanuts. Cotton is the staple crop, 
 although potatoes, oats and strawberries do well. 
 I have three or four hundred fruit trees, all growing 
 rapidly. Pears and peaches seem to be the leaders 
 
 53 
 
r-^n'^-.S 
 
 r<>^^ W'K' 
 
 TEXA£ 
 
 COAST. .,.,^, 
 
 FESTIVAL) M^-^^i 
 HOUSTON ^^ 
 
 DEC. 18971-^ 
 
 TEXAb COAST FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION, HOUSTON 
 
Had a partial failure once with corn, account drouth. 
 " By economy some profit can be realized. Mar- 
 kets are fairly good. I can sell everything I raise 
 at living prices. Have not shipped any vegetables. 
 The general health of the country is good. My 
 family has had comparatively little sickness. Our 
 health has been better here than for fifteen years 
 past in other localities. Capacity for work is almost 
 unlimited. I would recommend our country to any 
 man who has enough means to improve his farm 
 and pay expenses for a year. After that he can 
 make a living all right." 
 
 B« f* 'Johnson Mr. B. F. Johnson, of Arca- 
 dia, Tex., is president of the 
 Gulf Coast Horticultural Association, consisting of 
 the counties of Brazoria, Galveston and Harris. 
 
 He came to the Lone Star State from Arkansas 
 five years ago and owns sixty acres of land, three- 
 fourths under cultivation. He reports that his best 
 crop in quantity is Irish potatoes and that cabbages 
 are the best in quality. Fruit trees are just coming 
 into bearing. Has never had a partial or complete 
 failure, except in the case of cotton. Lands that 
 are in a good state of cultivation have paid a very 
 nice income. Taxes are moderate. Schools very 
 good, being supported wholly by the state school 
 fund. Home market fairly good, in a small way; 
 for large shipments other markets must be sought. 
 
 Mr. Johnson has shipped fruits and vegetables by 
 both freight and express, and states that express 
 rates do not leave a very large margin of profit. It 
 is his idea that if the farmers combine their ship- 
 ments into train loads they would make more money. 
 
 " I must say," writes Mr. Johnson, " I have 
 never known of any section of country with such 
 bright possibilities. I know we can grow as many 
 Irish potatoes per acre as any section in the United 
 States, and of as good a quality; besides we pro- 
 duce two crops instead of one." 
 
 Continuing : " The climate is as good as could 
 be desired, and this region is simply superbly 
 healthy. We have no need of doctors and away 
 from the bayou there is no malaria. I have never 
 known of a case of chills and fever. A neighbor, 
 with nine in the family, has lived here five years 
 and has never called a physician." 
 
 55 
 
In conclusion Mr. Johnson recommends indus- 
 trious settlers of small means to locate in his neigh- 
 borhood, if they have sufficient "get up and get." 
 Those who come expecting that dollars can be 
 picked up off the prairie will be disappointed. 
 There are only three things that grow in Texas 
 without any effort on the part of the land owner, 
 viz., prairie grass, cattle and mosquitoes, the latter 
 for two or three weeks in the springtime only. 
 
 InO* B. KlaaSSCn The following letter is from 
 Mr. J no. B. Ivlaassen, once 
 a resident of Lehigh, Kansas, now living in Texas. 
 He was one of the committee appointed by the Men- 
 nonites to locate their Texas colonies and has care- 
 fully inspected the Coast Country. Mr. Klaassen 
 says ; 
 
 " I was one of the Committee of Eleven that loca- 
 ted the first three colonies in Texas and am sure I 
 did the best work of my life in starting a movement 
 of our Mennonite people in this direction. Several 
 of our committee visited and inspected the Coast 
 Country, and in September, 1S97, we located the 
 first three colonies. 
 
 " December 18, 1897, I brought my family and 
 a car of goods over the Santa P'e Route to my 300- 
 acre place in the Fort Bend Colony; this was thirty 
 days ago, and already I have erected a house, two 
 sheds and chicken-houses, have 160 acres fenced-in, 
 two wells dug (30 feet deep each), 40 acres broken 
 and am ready to put out an orchard and garden; will 
 break this year 100 acres more. 
 
 " Horses, mules, young cattle and sheep all do 
 well here, but it is not best to bring old cows. We 
 have good health. My wife and children are pleased 
 — no more drouths and blizzards for us. 
 
 " I am glad that this movement of our people to 
 Texas is taking such a wide range, covering not only 
 the northwestern states, but Oregon and Manitoba, 
 and recent correspondence from Russia goes to show- 
 that it is becoming a matter of interest in other 
 countries as well — but there is plenty of room in 
 Texas and cheap lands; let them come." 
 
 KCV. fy. H. Kocbn I^^ following letter from 
 Rev. H. A. Koehn, for- 
 merly of Kansas, now located at Menno City, Har- 
 ris County, Texas, briefly gives his impressions of 
 
the Coast Country. Rev. Koehn is a prominent 
 Mennonite preacher. 
 
 " I left Kansas and came here with this new col- 
 ony because after careful investigation I found a 
 much better climate, and because the lands here are 
 much cheaper than in Kansas. I have now been 
 located at the Menno Colony for several months; 
 have built a house, and last week completed my 
 barn, 20x32 feet, 14 feet high, with an L 14x20 
 feet, one story, shingle roof; material, pine lumber 
 and cypress shingles; it cost me $61.45 for the whole 
 barn. The lumber was hauled about ten miles from 
 the mills. 
 
 " We have here a good settlement of ^Nlennonites 
 from the North, and every week adds to our num- 
 bers, yet there is plenty of room for others who wish 
 to make homes of their own and are willing to work. 
 
 " There is good water and good health. We are 
 much pleased with our new home. My wife and I 
 brought with us ten children from Kansas. All are 
 well, and under the good free schools of Texas, we 
 will educate them here in both English and Cerman. 
 
 " Most of our people have paid from $5 to $6 per 
 acre for their land, and being near the largest city 
 in Texas and on a railroad line, a bargain is secured. 
 I hardly think good prairie lands can be bought else- 
 where for so small a price as here. We all came 
 over the Santa Fe road, and are much pleased with 
 the treatment received by its representatives." 
 
 eU LandrCtb ^^'- f' Lamlreth resides a quar- 
 ter of a mile from I'earland sta- 
 tion. He came to Texas from Iowa two years ago. 
 His farm is a large one, consisting of 269 acres. 
 Ninety acres are in cultivation, the main crops being 
 oats, cotton, corn and sweet potatoes. Mr. Land- 
 reth reports that his crop of oats is more valuable 
 than any other crop, while sweet potatoes exceed 
 the others in quantity raised. He has not had much 
 experience with fruit. Mr. Landreth is fortunate in 
 being able to say that he has never had either a 
 partial or complete failure of any crop, which per- 
 haps accounts for the fact that averaging one year 
 with another, his farm has paid a good profit on the 
 investment. 
 
 In common with other residents of the Coast 
 Country, he finds that school and church privileges 
 and social advantages are all that could be desired. 
 
 57 
 
while the cost ot living is cheaper than in the north- 
 ern states. 
 
 The home market consumes the entire product of 
 his land, and prices, as a rule, are good. 
 
 To quote Mr. Landreth: " I consider Southern 
 Texas a very healthy country. Myself and family 
 have enjoyed better health since coming here than 
 for a number of years in Iowa. Had throat trouble 
 in Iowa and am almost free from it now. Would 
 recommend this section for persons of small means 
 if they are willing to hustle. • The chances of ac- 
 quiring a competence with limited capital are far 
 better than in any of the northern states." 
 
 6 LcmtlK? ^^^' ^' Leming is one of the small 
 ^ landowners at Alta Loma, Tex., 
 coming here from Nebraska two years ago. His 
 fourteen acres of ground is one-quarter of a mile 
 from the station. Twelve acres are under cultiva- 
 tion; about one-half set to trees and grape vines, with 
 an acre of asparagus. His orchard has not begun 
 to bear yet. Mr. Leming reports that a slight freeze 
 damaged his cauliflowers last November, otherwise 
 crops have been successful. So far his little farm 
 has not become a dividend producer; but he makes 
 a living off of it. Taxes reasonable; schools fair. 
 Home market does not consume all that he raises. 
 Has shipped long distances by express and sold at 
 good prices, but profits were considerably reduced 
 by the transportation charges. Shipments by freight 
 were a losing venture. 
 
 The general health of Mr. Leming has improved 
 since coming to Alta Loma, and he can work with 
 more comfort than in the North, except for a few 
 days in midsummer, when the wind blows off the 
 land. Finally, Mr. Leming advises that new set- 
 tlers coming here should bring with them enough 
 means to keep them for a year or two until the land 
 can be brought into a proper state of cultivation. 
 
 O. P- Martin l\ 5 1 S-acre ranch of Mr. O. 
 P. Martm, four miles from 
 Pearland, has not yet been entirely opened up to 
 cultivation. He now has 80 acres planted to cotton, 
 corn, potatoes, peanuts and garden truck. Oats 
 and hay are his most valuable crops. Mr. Martin 
 has not yet engaged in fruitraising, has never had 
 a failure and his products always yield a fair profit. 
 
He finds good local demand for everything he wishes 
 to market. 
 
 "'A person of small means," writes Mr. Martin, 
 " can secure a home in this section easier than any 
 other place I know of. Have never had better health 
 than since coming to Pearland." 
 
 Z. f). Patterson \^'- J.- ^.- Patterson, of 
 Arcadia, lex., came to 
 Texas from Kansas. He is located within one 
 mile of Arcadia and has been here five years. His 
 holdings consist of ten acres of prairie land, all 
 under cultivation. Mr. Patterson's best crops are 
 grapes, berries and potatoes. The crops mentioned 
 scarcely ever fail, and prices realized are sufficient 
 to yield a fair profit, averaging one year with another. 
 His land is exempted from taxation until igoo. 
 School and church privileges and society are of the 
 best. He has at all times been able to dispose of 
 his products in Galveston at good prices. The ship- 
 ment of berries north has proven profitable. Mr. 
 Patterson is of the opinion that this is the best 
 climate he ever experienced, and he has been in 
 nearly all the states. Ten acres, in his judgment, 
 is enough for the average truck farmer and fruit 
 raiser. 
 
 A CAPE JESSAMINE FIELD OF TWENTY ACRES. 
 
H^1*0T1 PctCl*9 ^^^- Aaron Peters, of Fort Bend, 
 Tex., a member of the Mennon- 
 ite Church, from South Dakota, bought 205 acres 
 of good land at $10 an acre in the Fort Bend Col- 
 ony. Each lOO-acre tract has timber and water on 
 the back end of it. He has already built a house 
 and stable, at less tlian half what they would cost in 
 Dakota. He is plowing his lands for trees and will 
 have an orchard all put out by spring. 
 
 Mr. Peters' family has had good health since com- 
 ing to Texas four months ago, and a great many of 
 his friends and neighbors in Dakota are coming down 
 this year to share the pleasant climate with him. 
 
 He pertinently inquires why his JMennonite breth- 
 ren should stay north, where what is raised during 
 one-half of the year is used in feeding for the other 
 half. 
 
 8* )V* Richardson Mr. S. N. Richardson 
 came to Alvin, 1 exas, from 
 North Carolina seventeen years ago. He owns 
 twenty acres of sandy loam land within two blocks 
 of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe depot at Alvin. 
 He raises pears, strawberries, peaches, plums and 
 other fruits, flowers, corn, oats, garden vegetables 
 and nursery stock. Pears, after they begin to bear 
 well, are his best crop, running 500 bushels to the 
 acre and increasing in quantity after the trees are 
 eight years old; average price to date more than a 
 dollar per bushel net. Cape jessamine flowers and 
 plants are also leaders with him and pay well. Can 
 grow 40 to 50 bushels of corn to the acre, and vege- 
 tables ad libition. 
 
 Mr. Richardson's pear orchard is eleven years old, 
 and he has had no trouble thus far in disposing of 
 product. Has also grown strawberries for a number 
 of years with hue returns, crops being sure and sale 
 certain. Peaches and plums have not been so proht- 
 able. Grapes ha\e \iekkd fair returns. He thinks 
 the Japan persimmon and lig are the coming fruits 
 of tliis section. Tliere has never been a complete 
 failure, and never less than half a crop has been har- 
 vested. 
 
 Prices of vegetables depend on the time of market- 
 ing. By getting in early, satisfactory prices may be 
 realized. Crops must be planted to mature before 
 competition of interior points is felt. If a man is 
 
 61 
 
awake to opportunities and takes advantage of them, 
 he will make money. Planting' season lasts for the 
 whole year. 
 
 State and county taxes are $i.io per $ioo valua- 
 tion. School and church privileges are good. Alvin 
 and the adjoining country neighborhoods have excel- 
 lent educational and religious facilities. 
 
 The home market takes some produce, but bulk of 
 it is shipped north. Mr, Richardson says he has 
 shipped fruit and vegetables as far as Chicago and 
 Denver by express with good success. Shippers are 
 now mostly using fast freight in carload lots. He 
 thinks a foreign market for fresh pears will soon be 
 a necessity, unless facilities are afforded for evapora- 
 ting or otherwise disposing of the large product. 
 
 " I came here for health," says this gentleman, 
 " and have had it. There is no climatic disease and 
 a man can work the year round. This is a fine coun- 
 try for a rustler, but a lazy man is not at home here, 
 for to succeed at the truck and fruit business requires 
 energy and brains. Many men of small means have 
 settled here and succeeded and there is room for 
 more." 
 
 m. r>, €b0ma9 Mr. W. H. Thomas, of Alta 
 Loma, Tex., owns one of the 
 largest farms in the vicinity, consisting of over 50 
 acres sandy loam. He came from Colorado three 
 years ago and located one mile southeast of Alta 
 Loma. Forty-five acres are under cultivation and 
 set to an orchard of pears and plums, with some 
 grapes. The best crop in quantity is sweet potatoes; 
 in value, corn and peanuts. 
 
 Mr. Thomas has not raised much fruit as yet. 
 While there has been a partial failure in some of the 
 crops, it was not complete. Prices are fair, and he 
 is satisfied with his investment so far. Home mar- 
 ket does not consume all that can be raised. Ship- 
 ments of vegetables to Colorado have brought mod- 
 erate returns, with better prospects for the future^ 
 
 " I think the climate here in the Coast Country 
 is No. I," says Mr. Thomas. "Have found noth- 
 ing to prevent one from continuous work. Further, 
 I believe that settlers with funds enough to get a 
 start, can with industry do very well here, providing 
 their home experience has been along the line of 
 raising small fruits and vegetables." 
 
m. F)* 'CborntOn ^^^- ^^'- ^- Thornton, of 
 Pearland, makes a specialty 
 of general truck farming- and strawberries. His 
 sweet potatoes yield heavily and bring good returns 
 if handled properly, although strawberries and 
 blackberries are perhaps the best paying crops. 
 The weather has always been just right for Mr. 
 Thornton and his crops have never failed. 
 
 Living expenses and taxes are low. The local 
 market takes all that he raises. He advises that 
 extra early fruits and vegetables be shipped long 
 distances, as the high prices cover all risks of freez- 
 ing, etc., but for crops that mature at other times 
 the nearer home they can be disposed of the more 
 there is in it for the grower. 
 
 Mr. Thornton has no fault to find with the climate 
 and invites industrious settlers of small means to 
 come to the Coast Country. 
 
 T f\ trVOVCI* '^^^ following interesting letter 
 from Mr. L. U. Troyer, of Fair- 
 banks, Tex., a member of the Mennonite church, 
 formerly of Missouri, but for over two years a resi- 
 of Harris County, gives briefly his experience in 
 the Coast Country, and his reasons for leaving the 
 North. The communication is dated January ii, 
 i8g8: 
 
 " I removed from Cedar County, Mo. to the Coast 
 Country of Texas, for the reason that my wife was 
 told by her physicians that she must seek a better 
 climate, or die. I also had been afflicted with 
 catarrh for several years. We came to this Coast 
 Country two years and a half ago. Today my w^ife 
 is a well woman and I am entirely cured of 
 catarrh. No money could induce us to go back 
 to the North to live, as the climate, good health and 
 a new prosperous country, growing rapidly, holds 
 out great inducements to me. 
 
 " I want to say that this healthy climate, with its 
 ocean breezes, and the good water found every- 
 where, has given us both a new lease of life, and 
 several of my neighbors have come here and are 
 equally well pleased. 
 
 " The Mennonites, who have already located five 
 colonies in the vicinity of Houston, have made no 
 mistake in this removal, nor in selecting the Santa 
 Fe as the official route. With the deep water ports 
 just opened, and immigration from the North steadily 
 
increasing, the good lands and rich soil of South 
 Texas will make our industrious, Mennonite church 
 people, not only a good living, but a competence: 
 and at the prices land has been bought for them there 
 is hardly a question but that it will double in value 
 within the next two years. Their investments here 
 in lands are so much less, while their proHts are so 
 much greater, (on account of being near markets 
 and deep water ports) than in the North, that they 
 will continue to be as they now are, entirely satis- 
 fied with the change. 
 
 " Another point which I deem important: Vege- 
 tables, melons, fruits, as well as grains, (all of which 
 do well here) should be shipped in carload lots, and 
 our people grouped together as they are, can arrange 
 to plant so as to ship in that way and receive the lar- 
 gest amount of profits from their labors. They can 
 raise in the late fall onions, cabbage, celery, potatoes, 
 cauliflower and other vegetables, so as to ship them 
 North in carloads early in the spring, where they will 
 find a bare market. Then, in the late summer, another 
 crop for the late winter shipment to the North. In 
 this way they will make it extremely profitable. Our 
 Mennonite people will raise a large acreage of 
 melons this year on the sod. 
 
 " These dark sandy loam lands around the city of 
 Houston, are rapidly being settled up, and I can 
 assure my Mennonite friends of a warm welcome by 
 those of us who have preceded them, as well as 
 from the southern people. They certainly appre- 
 ciate their coming, as all wish this country settled 
 up by such a worthy, honest class of people." 
 
 STEM OF KEIFER PEARS. 
 
pear Orchards 
 
 • • • 
 
 UCII is the importance of the 
 
 pear industry of the Gulf Coast 
 
 of Texas, that a special article 
 
 must be devoted to that topic. 
 
 r^ l^^^*^!-^^ The LeConte 
 
 I^C COIltC Pear is sup- 
 
 ID^^V posed to be an 
 
 '"lii'i^llliiijgjliip . 
 
 American 
 seedling from the 
 ancestral Asiatic 
 pear, which, in its own 
 home, is an immense 
 forest tree, often attain- 
 ing the age of 300 years. 
 The original Le Conte tree 
 is still standing in C^eorgia, 
 a magnificent speci- 
 men, hardy, beauti- 
 ful and prolific. 
 These wonderful new 
 pears are as hardy as 
 forest trees, of luxuriant foliage, grow to a great 
 size, are here free from blight, and yield every year 
 an enormous crop of fruit which sells in Eastern 
 and Northern markets at prices that compete with 
 the older and better known varieties. As a Iruit for 
 canning, drying or preserving, they are acknow- 
 ledged as unequaled. When picked somewhat green 
 and ripened in cellars, many connoisseurs pronounce 
 them equal to the famous Bartlett. 
 
 The Le Conte of the Coast Country is the earliest 
 pear grown anywhere in the United States. It can 
 be placed upon the market during the latter part of 
 June, which is fully three weeks earlier than fruit 
 can be plucked in California. The Le Conte is a 
 very fair eating pear; while it does not rank as high 
 as some varieties or command the highest prices, it 
 is a pear that supplies the market, patronized by 
 the middle class. The Le Conte is a very rapid 
 grower, and yields abundantly; in fact it is subject 
 
to over production, which must be guarded against. 
 More than g,ooo bushels of Le Conte pears were 
 shipped from thirteen acres of nine and ten year old 
 trees in H. M. Stringfellow's orchard at Hitchcock, 
 during 1893, and the subsequent product has been 
 marketed in equally large quantities. 
 
 A Coast Country orchard of Le Conte and Keifer 
 pear trees, upward of ten years of age, properly 
 attended to, should yield a certain annual revenue 
 of $300 to $600 per acre above all expense of taking 
 care of the trees and cost of marketing the fruit. 
 
 J. J. SHIRLEY'S PEAR ORCHARD, ALVIN. 
 
 Gth^r ^i%vi^t%^€X ^" the Gulf Coast of 
 S^tnCr VanCneS .^^^^^ ^j^^^^ has rarely 
 
 been a failure of the Le Conte, Keifer and Garber 
 pear crop, while in quality the fruit grown in more 
 northern climes suffers in comparison. The Keifer 
 is grown for home consumption. The Garber is 
 better adapted for shipment. 
 
 Mr. J. J. Shirley, of Alvin, reports that about 70 
 to 100 trees are set to the acre, and at ten years 
 old they produce 5 to 10 bushels of pears to the 
 tree. He has one Keifer tree ten years of age, 
 which last season yielded 17 bushels, worth $20; 
 also one Le Conte tree at ten years yielded 16 bush- 
 els, for which he got $15. These were his best 
 trees, and should not be taken as a standard by 
 which to estimate average proceeds. Last season 
 
Texas buyers paid $i per bushel for the pears, boxed 
 and put into the cars at the point of shipment. 
 
 Mr. Sampson, near Alvin, has 23,000 pear trees, 
 and many orchards run from 2,006 to 10,000. The 
 Garbers ripen shortly after the Le Contes are through 
 bearing, say early in x\ugust. After the Garbers 
 the Keifers begin to ripen, between September ist 
 and loth and continue to bear until about the mid- 
 dle of October. The Garber ranks as one' of the 
 choicest of eating pears. The Keifer is best suited 
 for canning and preserving. Other varieties grown 
 are the Bartlett and Smith's Hybrid. A few years 
 will find whole train loads of pears being shipped 
 north. At present quite heavy sales are made in 
 Northern Texas, Indian Territory, Kansas and 
 Nebraska. From $1 to $1.25 per bushel is realized. 
 
 Texas pears may be canned, preserved, evapor- 
 ated or made into cider and vinegar. The profits are 
 certain and adequate. 
 
 CHc Ol*0"fit9 That fruit culture pays is 
 
 ■^ evidenced by the following 
 
 statement of profits realized by owners of pear 
 orchards in the vicinity of Alvin. The figures are 
 gleaned from an article published in a recent num- 
 ber of the local paper at that point. 
 
 The Boher orchard of twelve acres (poor improve- 
 ments but first-class trees) was bought by Mr. Law- 
 ler over two years ago for $5,000, and last fall Mr. 
 Lawler sold it to Mr. Haley for $7,000. Mr. 
 Boher paid $12.50 per acre for the land and only 
 cultivated it four years. In that period he made 
 expenses from vegetables grown between the tree 
 rows. The $5,000, less $150, was clear money. 
 
 " Fairy Land," owned by Mr. McDonald, 40 
 acres, only about half in orchard, sold two years 
 ago for $12,000. 
 
 Dr. Fehrenkamp paid $8,000 for 51 acres adjoin- 
 ing Major Durant's. 
 
 The John F. Durant place of 35 acres sold a year 
 ago for $7,500. 
 
 The Nesbit orchard of 20 acres sold three years 
 ago for $3,250. 
 
 The Zychlinski orchard of 36 acres was purchased 
 for $5,000. 
 
 Mr. E. D. Carter paid $2,250 for his orchard of 
 four and one-half acres. 
 
 Prof. J.J. Shirley bought 50 acres twelve years 
 
ago for $6 per acre and refused $16,000 for his 
 orchard over two years ago. He has a large family 
 and they have made a living from the vegetables, 
 strawberries, etc., grown on the place. 
 
 Mr. Henry Sampson has 163 acres which he pur- 
 chased some six years ago for about $10 per acre. 
 On this he has 19,000 pear trees besides other fruits. 
 He says he would not take a cent less than $40,000 
 for his orchard. 
 
 Mr. G. H. Cook has 26 acres, on which he has 
 been living 
 some t e n n 
 years, and 
 besides 
 growing 
 one of the 
 finest orch- 
 
 pEmRS at h 
 
 ards in this section he 
 
 has made money and a 
 
 f-name as one of the most 
 
 successful strawberry 
 
 growers. He refused 
 
 $6,000 three years ago 
 
 for his place. 
 
 The editor concludes by saying: "If you would 
 
 establish an orchard and do not wish to do the work 
 
 yourself, all that is necessary is to buy the land (say 
 
 20 acres) at $25 per acre — which would be $500. 
 
 Expense of plowing same will be $50; fencing, $75; 
 
 buying and planting 2,000 pear trees, $200. Here 
 
 we have an outlay of $825, or half as much for ten 
 
 acres. After this is done, there are plenty of good 
 
 men who will contract to take the land and care for 
 
 the orchard for what they can make on it." 
 
)VIisccUaneou9 products 
 
 • • • 
 
 (DV^PCQ Grapes are planted, cultivated and mar- 
 keted on the Texas Coast just as they 
 are in California, except that the vineyards of Texas 
 bear no comparison in area with the great grape- 
 growing regions of the Pacific Coast. 
 
 Enough has been done from which to form an 
 opinion as to the profitableness of the industry. 
 Leading horticulturists declare that a Texas vine- 
 yard, intelligently located and planted with the right 
 varieties, is a certain source of wealth. 
 
 The vines are staked and trained to a trellis. 
 
 The following grapes grow here in a perfection 
 that no country on earth can excel: Chasselas Mus- 
 cat or Muscatelli, Chasselas Rose de Peru, Em- 
 peror, Black Morocco or Tokay (both flame and 
 white), Malaga or Chasselas Napoleon, Black Span- 
 ish, Lenoir or Black Burgundy, Goethe, Rogers 
 •No. I, Salem, Rogers No. 53, Niagara, Black July, 
 Roulander, Delaware, Missouri, Rissling and Her- 
 bemont. 
 
 If well fertilized, most varieties come into bearing 
 the second year, and when three years old may be 
 counted on for a yield of ten to fifteen pounds of 
 luscious grapes to the vine, and much more as they 
 increase in age. 
 
 The Herbemont, Black Spanish and Niagara have 
 proven themselves to be the most successful varie- 
 ties, as much as $200 net having frequently been 
 obtained from two acres of Niagaras from one crop. 
 The common American varieties all succeed here. 
 
 otl*^WuC1*l*lCS Strawberry growers variously 
 estimate their net average 
 yields at $200 per acre. Plants ordinarily come into 
 bearing several weeks earlier than further north, and 
 shippers have the advantage of high prices in mar- 
 kets that can only be supplied from the coast. 
 
 Strawberries can be set as early as September, but 
 October is the safest month, and even as late as 
 November the plants will make a fine crop the next 
 spring. 
 
As to profits given out by actual growers, the fig- 
 ures have a Munchausen look; but they are facts 
 nevertheless. One reliable grower shows by his sales 
 book a total of $i,ioo sales from less than one acre. 
 Another reports $700 from barely half an acre. The 
 growing of this berry for market rivals in profit the 
 culture of the pear, and the acreage is steadily in- 
 creasing. It brings in a fair return the first year 
 after planting. You don't get gray-haired waiting 
 
 IN A FIELD OF STRAWBERRIES, MARCH 5th. 
 
 for results. Beginning with raw prairie, an acre of 
 strawberries will have cost, to break, harrow, plant, 
 fertilize and cultivate, about $70. The net return 
 next year should not be less than $200, and the same 
 each of the following years. The best results are 
 secured by resetting plants annually. 
 
 A prominent grower of strawberries at Alvin states 
 that during March he and his three boys picked from 
 one-eighth of an acre, seven and a half twenty-four- 
 quart crates of strawberries and shipped them to 
 Denver, where they sold for $8 per case, which was 
 $60 for the lot. This was new land and the first 
 crop off of it. 
 
 X^^<y^l"^bic<^ ^^^ cauliflower will, in the near 
 
 T vy %■ v\ future, be raised in large quanti- 
 
 ties for shipment in carload lots. A salt atmosphere 
 seems to be essential to the perfect development of 
 this vegetable, and as the soil here is well adapted 
 
to it, every condition is favorable to its growth. It 
 is strictly a fall vegetable, and when sown early in 
 July, and set out in August in rich soil, the bulk of 
 the crop can be marketed before January. 
 
 Cabbages, when planted at the right time, yield 
 large returns. There is scarcely a limit to the 
 quantities that can be disposed of in the Northwest, 
 when grown in sufficient numbers to warrant carload 
 shipments. Big crops are raised at Bolivar Point. 
 
 The Creole and White Queen onions are as success- 
 fully grown here as around New Orleans. They 
 mature in April, just when northern onions are 
 sprouting, and the demand is unlimited at $i per 
 bushel. 
 
 The tomato is another crop that will head the 
 list for profit. It is safely demonstrated that the 
 tomato will produce abundantly in the Coast 
 Country, It begins to ripen May 20th, and at once 
 finds ready sale at high prices all over Texas. 
 
 Irish potatoes do well everywhere; the early plant- 
 ing rarely brings under seventy-five cents a bushel in 
 season. Beans, cucumbers, squashes and water- 
 melons are grown in limited quantities. 
 
 I^tCC Texas is fully equal to Louisiana for rice 
 growing. 
 
 To insure a good rice crop, two factors are essen- 
 tial: a level body of land, and an abundance of water. 
 In Louisiana water is largely supplied by pumping 
 from water courses with steam pumps. On the 
 Texas coast it can be had from artesian wells at no 
 cost other than the boring of the well. 
 
 To plant an acre of rice the first time will cost 
 $15. This includes fences, ditches, levees, plowing 
 and planting. After the ground is once prepared, 
 subsequent planting may be done for $8 per acre. 
 Planting season is from latter part of April to last of 
 June, and crop is ready for harvest in five months 
 from time of planting. It is harvested and threshed 
 very much the same as wheat, and yields from fifteen 
 to twenty-five barrels of rough rice per acre, worth 
 $2.00 to $4.50 per barrel. 
 
 A prominent rice planter of Liberty, Texas, re- 
 ports receipts of $3,700 from eighty acres in 1893. 
 and the entire expense only $500, a net profit of 
 $27.50 per acre. If the rice straw is compressed 
 into bales, and sold for feed, it will pay the cost of 
 the rice crop. 
 
Rice is being- extensively cultivated in Liberty 
 County, and is now being introduced into Brazoria 
 County. 
 
 This inc^ustry is now in its infancy in Texas, but 
 the farmers, realizing- that some valuable crop must 
 take the place of cotton, which hitherto has been 
 raised in too great abundance, are turning their at- 
 tention to rice culture with much favor. 
 
 Some of the advantages of rice culture over wheat 
 are: (i) The long period during which the ground 
 can be prepared and the grain sown. Preparations 
 can be carried on from October until June, sowing 
 from March until July, and harvesting extends over 
 a period of nearly four months, from August to 
 November, inclusive; (2) the greater value of the 
 product; (3) the yield per acre, which is from eight 
 to twenty barrels of 162 pounds each. 
 
 The prices of rice range from $3 to $4 per barrel. 
 A great deal of money can be made in a few years 
 in rice cultivation. 
 
 A FIELD OF SUGAR CANE. 
 
 3U0f<ll* O^HC fhere is money in sugar cane. 
 One million acres of south 
 Texas land is suitable for its production. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, only 15,000 acres are devoted to this in- 
 dustry (a paltry percentage) and yet in 1895 the 
 Texas sugar crop sold for $1,500,000, an average of 
 nearly $100 per acre. Seventy dollars an acre may 
 be reasonably counted on, one year with another, 
 one acre of ground turning off 20 to 50 tons of cane, 
 marketable at $3.00 per ton. 
 
Hitherto it has taken a big capital to run a sugar 
 plantation, because in addition to raising the cane 
 it was necessary to change it into sugar in one's own 
 mill. The man with a plow and a mule, however 
 industrious and foresighted, was barred out for lack 
 of dollars. Conditions are changing rapidly, and 
 capitalists are now erecting large central sugar mills, 
 similar to the central factory in Cuba and Louisiana. 
 The small farmer takes his cane there and brings 
 its value back immediately in cash. By this plan 
 the farmer can grow ten acres or five hundred, and 
 the owners of sugar lands can rent them to tenant 
 farmers. The separation of cane growing and sugar- 
 making processes is in line with the system of large 
 packing houses that consume the steer and porker. 
 
 The annual expense for planting an acre of sugar- 
 cane will not exceed $6 to $8, because planting is 
 only necessary every third or fourth year. To culti- 
 vate cane is not half as expensive as to care for a 
 held of cotton. The hardest part is the work of 
 harvesting. Each individual stalk must be cut by 
 hand, a process requiring time and labor. 
 
 Sugar is a remarkable crop in the amount of money 
 it diffuses through labor. It requires much care, 
 much handling and much machinery. It represents 
 a large outlay and brings in a large profit. 
 
 Mr. J. H. House, owner of the Areola Plantation, 
 near Houston, says that his profit per acre per 
 annum in cultivating sugar cane is $80, and that the 
 crop is never failing, though some years it is larger 
 than others. 
 
 At Sugarland Ed. H. Cunningham & Co. have 
 one of the largest sugar refineries in the world. The 
 plant represents an investment of nearly $1,000,000. 
 This establishment not only refines sugar, but re- 
 cently introduced a paper mill, the paper being made 
 from the pulp of the sugar cane. 
 
 ^Q^^H Everybody knows cotton is king, even 
 in these tinics of tottering thrones; 
 but everybody does not know that Texas produces 
 from one-quarter to one-tliird of the crop gnnvn in 
 this country. The annual yield varies from two 
 to three and a half million bales. 1 louston alone 
 handles over half of the cotton crop of Texas. 
 
 The Texas cotton belt is divided by Nature into 
 six districts. The territory along the coast, while 
 not producing as many bales as the central district, 
 
A COTTON GIN AT ALVIN. 
 
 excels it in the number of pounds raised to the acre. 
 It used to be thought that cotton could not be pro- 
 duced on the open prairie lands. The prairies are 
 equal to, if not superior to the river bottom sections, 
 and the first cost of land is much less. The aver- 
 age yield is from three-quarters to a bale and a half 
 of cotton to the acre. Prairie lands yield from a 
 half to one bale per acre and bottom lands 50^ more. 
 Cotton varies in price from $25 to $45 per bale. 
 Mr. W. T. Taylor, of Wharton, afifirms that in spite 
 of the dry weather last season (1897) he raised 600 
 bales on 750 acres. 
 
 Cotton is the Coast Country farmer's monopoly. 
 It is just as convertible into money as a nugget of 
 gold. Owing to fertile soil, good climate and intel- 
 ligent culture, this part of Texas combines maximum 
 yield with minimum cost. The best results are 
 reached on small farms, with home labor. Under 
 such circumstances success is as nearly sure as sun- 
 rise. The Texas cotton raiser who puts brains into 
 his business, does not have to wait until old age for 
 a competency even with the low prices recently pre- 
 vailing. The cotton planter finds here new land, 
 splendidly adapted to his purpose. Another advan- 
 tage is cheap labor. Mexican cotton pickers can be 
 brought in, who will work reasonably and well. 
 
 It is thought* that within the next few years the 
 credit of being the first sea island cotton market of 
 
the world will be Iran-ferred from Charleston, S. C. 
 to Galveston or Houston. 
 
 Another great source of profit is the use which 
 cotton seed may be put to. Aside from the oil, 
 nothing fattens cattle quicker than cotton seed meal 
 and hulls. 
 
 ^Ob^CCO yine cigar tobacco, equal to that of 
 Connecticut or Cuba, is now being 
 introduced at various places throughout the Coast 
 Country and promises ere long to be one of the chief 
 products. The soil is in many places admirably 
 adapted for its cultivation, and as it is one of the 
 most profitable of crops and always finds a ready 
 market, it finds much favor among the planters. 
 
 Or^tlOfCS Oranges do fairly well on the Texas 
 Coast. It is expected that with the 
 introduction of certain hardy varieties from Japan 
 the orange will come to have an established commer- 
 cial value as an article of export. 
 
 jHOfS Figs grow in the greatest profusion. Fruit- 
 growers who are beginning to cultivate it 
 claim it is the most profitable fruit that can be raised 
 in this locality. Two hundred fig trees can be 
 planted to the acre, w hich will begin to bear in two 
 years and be in full bearing in five years, and will 
 then yield annually 2o(j pounds of fruit each, a net 
 profit, when dried and preserved, of $3 per tree. 
 
 kJIUITIS Texas is the home of the plum. It 
 grows wild in the woods in luxuriant 
 profusion. No less than three kinds of wild plums 
 grow in southern Texas, all of fine qualit\' and mar- 
 ketable. The Japan plum is a comparative failure. 
 The American or Chickasaw variety is a success. 
 
 V/OUltl*V Any practical man can take ten acres 
 of land, and 600 of the best laying- 
 hens, and by raising his own feed clear $1,000 to 
 $1,500 each year, and have his fruit trees growing 
 on the same ground. " Broilers" find a ready mar- 
 ket in Houston at twenty-five to thirty-five cents a 
 head. 
 
 Dairying The fact that milk retails in Houston 
 
 at ten cents a quart and butter at 
 
 twenty-five cents a pound, is enough to show that a 
 
 practical dairyman, who raises his own feed, can 
 
realize lifty to seventy-five per cent, profit on his 
 investment and not work very hard either. 
 
 T't»^t%<\rsc>Vf:^tiot% ' '■'^ ^^y ^*- ^^^ whole prob- 
 
 i^ransportation j^,^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ elsewhere, 
 
 where a surplus can be produced, is a good, near-at- 
 hand market, with quick transportation to foreign 
 markets. The ( lulf counties of Texas are every- 
 where accessible to Houston and Galveston by rail 
 or water. Numerous streams and bayous are navi- 
 gable inland for long distances by schooners and 
 steamboats. Several hundred small schooners and 
 steamers daily ply between Cialveston and neighbor- 
 ing inland places, engaged in carrying freight. The 
 Santa Fe Route opens up a vast market in north 
 Texas, Oklahoma, Colorad(j, Kansas City, St. Louis 
 and Chicago. But the best guarantee of good prices 
 is the fact that everything here matures several weeks 
 earlier than a hundred miles inland or anywhere else 
 in the United States, except the south end of Florida 
 and Louisiana. The first half of the crop can al- 
 \va\s \k- marketed without competition. 
 
 STRAWBERRY FIELD IN THE DICKINSON COUNTRf. 
 
H Review 
 
 By I^lr. Stringfellow 
 
 • • 
 
 It is just fifteen years since I moved to Hitchcock 
 to embark in the fruit and vegetable business, and 
 plant the first successful pear orchard in the Coast 
 Country. It may not be uninteresting to take a short 
 retrospect of the past, a review of the present, and 
 a glance at the future. 
 
 At that time the total number of residents along 
 the Santa Fe line between Virginia Point and Alvin 
 could have been counted on the two hands. The 
 Houston branch had not been started; the Santa Fe 
 had just crossed the Brazos River on its march to the 
 North, and a single train up in the morning and 
 down at night, constituted the entire service. Hitch- 
 cock was the only settlement between the bay and 
 Houston, and Mr. Jno. vSealy, who was president of 
 the Santa Fe, being desirous of locating' water -works 
 on my tract at Hitchcock, offered to give me 200 
 acres where Alvin now stands, in exchange for 10 
 acres of my land; but, as one house then constituted 
 the town of Alvin, the prospect was too lonesome, 
 and I declined the offer, although I let him have the 
 use of the land on other terms. 
 
 It seems almost incredible that the short space of 
 fifteen years could have sufficed for the wonderful 
 development that has since taken place. Instead of 
 creeping slowly over an open, wild prairie, and 
 through herds of wandering Jong-horns at the rate 
 of fifteen or twenty miles an hour, once a day, the 
 traveler now speeds at three times that pace, and six 
 times a day, each way, through an almost continu- 
 ous succession of orchards and gardens on each side 
 of the track, and huncireds of packages of fruit and 
 vegetables daily leave the various bustling little 
 towns along the road. This rapid change from the 
 prairie-waste, with its sea of waving grass, to fertile 
 fields and cozy homes, has been due almost entirely 
 to the wise liberality and fostering care of the vari- 
 ous managements, both freight and passenger, of 
 
the Santa Fe Railroad. Realizing that on them 
 rested largely the task of settling up the country, it 
 has been their aim not only to furnish, from time to 
 time, reliable information through agents and print- 
 ed matter, as to the inducements of the Coast Coun- 
 try for the homeseeker, but they have gone further 
 and offered the most liberal excursion rates over the 
 road, and met every reasonable demand for a tariff 
 that will enable the growers to market their products 
 at a profit. 
 
 Of course, in its progress to the present high state 
 of development, Coast Country settlers have had 
 oTDStacles to overcome in places, and disappointments 
 to bear here as well as elsewhere. Drouth, frost 
 and excessive rains have occasionally worked seri- 
 ous harm; but the length of our seasons, and the 
 great variety of products that can be grown, nearly 
 always allow the growers to recoup themselves on a 
 different and successful crop in case one should from 
 any cause be a failure. 
 
 Let us see how the Coast Country now stands. 
 From a few packages of vegetables and berries fif- 
 teen years ago, we are now growing and shipping 
 thousands of crates annually, and best of all, have 
 induced buyers from distant markets to send their 
 agents down to.purchase the various products on the 
 ground. This is by far the most satisfactory plan. 
 It is by all odds better to put prices down to the very 
 lowest notch of profit (as is being done at the pres- 
 ent season) and sell for cash upon delivery at the 
 various depots. 
 
 As to the future of this section, there can be little 
 doubt that it has advanced beyond the experimental 
 stage. While lands have shrunk in value from the 
 boom prices of ten years ago, they are now on a sub- 
 stantial and reasonable basis, below which they are 
 never likely to fall. The bottom has been touched, 
 and the present time affords opportunities that are 
 not likely to remain long. But, while lands will 
 hardly go lower in Galveston County, it will be folly 
 to buy largely on credit, expecting to make a living 
 and pay for it out of the ground at the same time. 
 This has been a fatal mistake of many of the early 
 settlers of this section. They came with insufficient 
 means, inflated ideas of profits, and often lacked 
 that real love for the business which is the greatest 
 secret in successful fruit and vegetable growing; 
 without it, losses and failure will quickly disgust the 
 
planter for money only, which the genuine lover of 
 the business would have borne with patience and 
 conquered by perseverinii:: efforts. 
 
 Prices of all fruits and vegetables have now come 
 to bedrock all over the country, but if they can be 
 grown with proht anywhere, it can be done here. 
 
 In addition to this, we have a most delightful and 
 healthy climate, and the most progressive and liberal 
 railroad in the country, and if a man has made up 
 his mind to change his home (while, of course, it is 
 a serious move) he should give the merits of the 
 Coast Country of Texas a careful examination before 
 taking the step. 
 
 H. M. Stringfellow. 
 
 STRAWBERRIES PICKED ON CHRISTMAS DAY. 
 
T.hc 
 
 Diversified Xnterests of ilexas 
 
 • • • 
 
 Extracts from an interview with Mr. Jas. A. Davis, 
 Industrial Commissioner of the Santa Fe Route, 
 \yhich appeared in the Chicago Daily Record of 
 March 14, 1898 : 
 
 "Texas, with its area of 270,000 square miles, 
 is an empire richer in itself than Chicago and the 
 West generally begin to appreciate. Within that 
 area are greater diversities of products and more 
 pursuits are possible than in a similar area in any 
 part of the world. Cotton is, and will, of course, 
 continue to be, the chief staple product. It is evi- 
 dent from last season's experience that cotton can 
 be grown there more prorttably than anywhere else. 
 The wheat area is rapidly being enlarged, and many 
 flouring mills are now operating in the state and 
 using only Texas wheat. Tobacco is being success- 
 fully cultivated and additional lands are being used 
 for this purpose. Sugar manufacturers, too, are 
 finding practical and profitable possibilities in sugar 
 lands in the southern portion of the state. The 
 pine-timber interests are some of the largest in the 
 country, the output for i8g6 having aggregated 
 400,000,000 feet. For farmers Texas offers an ex- 
 ceedingly good field for the cultivation of small 
 fruits. 
 
 ' ' For high-grade wools Texas is considered by ex- 
 perts to be second only to Australia. Texas cattle 
 are known all over the United States. Oil has been 
 found in paying quantities, and there are indications 
 of new coal fields. 
 
 " The manufacturing interests of the state are in- 
 creasing and the field is now open to many new 
 industries. The local conditions for such are excep- 
 tionally favorable, there being an abundance of raw 
 materials close at hand. The average prosperity of 
 the state is high. The farmers are all greatly en- 
 couraged and are engaged in studying the diversifi- 
 cation of crops and the possibility of reducing the 
 cost of raising cotton and wheat by giving attention 
 
 SI 
 
to other farm products. There is a section of the 
 country on the San Angeio branch of the Santa Fe 
 where wheat and cotton are raised side by side on 
 the same farm. 
 
 *' The towns in Texas are growing rapidly. Gal- 
 veston, Houston, Belton, Temple, Weatherford, 
 Cleburne, Fort Worth, Dallas and Gainesville all 
 show signs of increasing prosperity. The advan- 
 tages of Galveston as a port are becoming better 
 . known every year, and it promises to be one of the 
 leading ports in the country. Chicago and the west 
 are considerably interested in the development of 
 Galveston's port facilities, as in some measure off- 
 setting any monopolistic tendencies on the part of 
 the Atlantic ports." 
 
 PICKING BEANS ON CHADWICK'S PLACE. 
 
Successful Cobacco Culture 
 
 • • • 
 
 The following- article is contributed by ^^r. W. B. 
 Slosson, of the Houston Newcomers' Association, 
 Houston, Texas, under date of March i8, iSgS: 
 
 " Please advise the world that the purest and best 
 o.f Havana tobacco has been, and is now being grown, 
 in at least six counties of the Coast Country. This 
 innovation of transferring the raising of that high- 
 priced staple to southeast Texas is of great interest 
 to newcomers from the North. 
 
 " Last year 600 acres of this tobacco was raised. 
 iSgS will see from 9,000 to 12,000 acres grown. 
 The market price of ordinary tobacco is from seven 
 to eleven cents per pound. The price paid to our 
 Texas farmers for Havana" tobacco M^as from fifty 
 cents to one dollar per pound. The duty on Hav- 
 ana tobacco is $1.35 to $2.00 on wrappers, both of 
 which can be raised and handled here as cheaply as 
 common tobacco heretofore raised. 
 
 "On February 26, i8g8, a meeting of the Texas 
 Tobacco Growers' Association (A. R. P. Moore, of 
 Houston, president) was held at the Houston Busi- 
 ness League. At this meeting, Mr. S. J. Washburn, 
 Vice-President of the DeWitt County Tobacco 
 Growers' Association, said: 'We could dispose of 
 20,000 cars of this tobacco in a single season. There 
 is no limit to the demand for hne cigar tobacco We 
 have the climate and the soil to grow to advantage 
 light tobacco from Havana seed, and in only a small 
 portion of the United States can these grades be 
 raised. New England and New York are nearly 
 driven out of the market already, for the reason 
 that we can grow better grades for less money.' 
 
 " Messrs. Mitchellson & Hubbard, of Kansas 
 City, leaf tobacco dealers, offered me one dollar a 
 pound for some specially high grades that I raised 
 last year. Although I am familiar with tobacco- 
 raising in Missouri, Wisconsin and Ohio, I am sure 
 better profits can be had from raising it in southeast 
 Texas than any other part of the Union. 
 
 "Owen Smith & Co., of southeast Texas, sold 
 their crop of 60,000 pounds at sixty cents a pound. 
 
 83 
 
T. J. Rountree produced, last year, 13,000 pounds 
 from eighteen acres, selling 10,000 pounds at fifty 
 cents and the remainder at twenty-five cents. 
 
 " The absence of severe winds here is a large 
 factor in tobacco culture. The cheap lands, the 
 high duties on imported tobacco, the long seasons, 
 a large rainfall and an equable climate, makes this 
 Coast Country of Texas especially attractive to set- 
 tlers who desire to diversify their crops. 
 
 " In a state like Texas, where nearly all the staple 
 grains are raised successfully (a state which also 
 raises one-third of the whole cotton crop of Amer- 
 ica), where all the vegetables and fruits do well and 
 find a ready market, where the lowest freight rates by 
 both rail and water prevail, coupled with the fact 
 that good, rich prairie lands with plenty of timber 
 can be had on favorable terms at from $5 to $8 
 per acre — and the reason is apparent why immi- 
 grants are now seeking the Coast Country of Texas 
 in preference to any other spot in the Union. And 
 they are coming on every excursion train of the Santa 
 Fe Route; thousands are coming in annually. Those 
 who come (I say it as a formerly northern man) are 
 sure of a cordial southern welcome at all times to 
 this bright land of sunshine and of flowers." 
 
Cdbat One jVIan f)a8 Done 
 
 • • • 
 
 In the Saturday Review, Galveston, April 16, 
 189S, appears an interesting article by Mr. Richard 
 Spillane, entitled, "The Story of a Coast Country 
 Experiment." It takes the form of an interview 
 with Rev. J, J. Shirley, one of the pioneer fruit and 
 veg-etable growers at Alvin. Extracts from the 
 most valuable portions appear below : 
 
 "How much land have you in cultivation?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "I have," said Mr. Shirley, "something over 
 2,000 pear trees. Those trees you see there are the 
 first I planted. Of the 2,000 in the orchard between 
 800 and 1,000 are now bearing. Year by year I 
 have extended my orchard. The trees over there to 
 the west are young. A few years more and they 
 will bear. I have, all told, 44 or 45 acres in culti- 
 vation. Over there to the southwest I have peaches 
 and plums. The big cabbage held you passed as 
 you came up toward the gate is mine." 
 
 "What has been the result in a financial way 
 from your farm and orchard ? " I asked. 
 
 " I have not," said the reverend gentleman, "kept 
 what you would call a set of books, so I can only 
 answer in a general way. While my orchard has 
 been growing, I have grown strawberries, corn, cot- 
 ton, sweet and Irish potatoes, cabbage, okra, Eng- 
 lish peas, beets, turnips, radishes, celery, onions, 
 vegetable musk, sugar cane, sorghum, squash, 
 watermelons, canteloupes, red pepper, and dozens 
 and dozens of other things in the rows between the 
 fruit trees. Every month in the year I have been 
 kept busy sowing and gathering some crop. You 
 know we raise two or three crops a year here on the 
 same land. 
 
 " When I came here, as I tell you, I had $485. 
 Well, I have paid for my land and I have bought 
 more land. I have spent $2,000 in improvements 
 in the way of houses. I have raised my family. I 
 have sent my sons to Georgetown University and 
 had them educated. I sent my daughter to Gran- 
 bury College. I've had money in bank." 
 
 " Have you had any offers for your farm ?" 
 

 
 DOWN THE PATHS OF PEACE. 
 
" Ves, many. I should think I've had one hun- 
 dred or more. The largest amount offered was 
 $16,000 cash." 
 
 "And you wouldn't sell?" 
 
 " No," was the clergyman's reply. 
 
 " Mr. Shirley," said I, "there has been a great 
 deal of discussion about this fruit country between 
 Houston and Galveston. Some men have failed ; 
 some have been successful. Will you tell me — you 
 should be in a position to know — what is necessary 
 for success?" 
 
 "Any man," said Mr. Shirley, " who is willing to 
 work and who has a little money to back him up 
 until he gets started can succeed. Brains — good 
 common sense, I mean — muscle and money mean 
 success in this Coast Country. There is more in the 
 man than in the land. Some men are adapted by 
 nature for fruit growing and for gardening. Some 
 men have the power of adapting themselves to it. 
 Some men would make a failure on any land. Any 
 man who is at all practical can come into this Coast 
 Country and, if he had enough money to carry him 
 over the first two years, he ought to run along like 
 a top after that." 
 
 " How much land should a man take?" 
 
 " I do not think a man should go over 30 acres. 
 He shouldn't work more than 20 acres. He should 
 have a little pasturage." 
 
 I asked the Rev. Mr. Shirley to tell me what had 
 been the monetary return to him from the various 
 crops he had raised. 
 
 " It's difficult for me to tell you exactly," he re- 
 plied. "Take strawberries, for instance. Some 
 years I grow a good many of them, two or three 
 acres, maybe. Other years I grow only an acre. 
 The crop and the price vary. I think it would be 
 conservative to put the monetary return of straw- 
 berries at $250 an acre. They need a good deal of 
 attention, you know. 
 
 "Snap beans; that is a good crop. They pay 
 from $50 to $60 an acre. I raise them in the spring 
 and after gathering the crop I put the land into 
 cotton. 
 
 "Of cotton I raise a bale to the acre on open 
 ground and half a bale to the acre when I plant it 
 between the rows of fruit trees, 
 
 " Corn goes 20 bushels to the acre. 
 
 " Sweet and Irish potatoes I grow between the 
 
rows in the orchards. Of Irish potatoes I raise 
 from 50 to 75 bushels to the acre. Of sweet pota- 
 toes I raise 100 bushels. 
 
 " Cabbage is a winter crop. I plant in October 
 and harvest in January, February and March. Last 
 year my return from cabbage was $100 per acre. 
 
 " Okra grows magnificently in this country. 
 
 "English peas are particularly adapted to this 
 soil and pay well. I make $100 an acre from the 
 crop I sow. 
 
 " Beets do well, but I haven't grown many. 
 
 " Turnips are profitable. Rutabagas and spring 
 turnips grow as well here as any place in the coun- 
 try. 
 
 " Radishes — they are simply prolific. 
 
 " Celery is destined to be one of our great crops, 
 I believe. This is essentially a celery region and 
 where proper attention is given the crop is as fine as 
 anyone could desire. 
 
 " Onions require a great deal of care and when it 
 is given we have excellent crops. 
 
 " I have experimented with rice, with vegetable 
 musk, with sugar cane and with sorghum, and the 
 result has been good. The yield from sugar cane 
 has been 300 gallons to the acre. The sorghum is 
 fine. 
 
 "It is needless, I presume, to tell you what a 
 great region this is for squash, watermelons, and 
 cantaloupes. To grow watermelons or cantaloupes 
 no preparation is necessary further than to turn over 
 the sod." 
 
 " Now," said I, "tell me about the pears, the 
 peaches and the plums," 
 
 ' ' I am growing two varieties of pears — the Keif- 
 fer and the Le Conte. Both are successful, but 
 my orchard will not show as good returns as will 
 those of other orchards in the Coast Country. My 
 orchard, from the fact that it is the oldest in the 
 Alvin district, has been the place to which visitors 
 have made pilgrimages. Not only that, but, from 
 the fact that it was the first to bear, my neighbors 
 have come to me to examine the fruit. I have 
 always allowed visitors or my neighbors to help 
 themselves to fruit, so, you see, the yield will appear 
 smaller than it really was. I think one-half of the 
 crop each year has gone in the way I explained. 
 
 "The Le Conte trees begin to bear when six 
 years old. The Keiffer bears when four. The first 
 
year my trees bore fruit they averaged — that is, I 
 sold — one-half bushel of pears to the tree. I got 
 $2.00 per bushel. The second year the trees bore, 
 or, rather, I sold, at the rate of one bushel to the tree. 
 This year I will sell about five bushels to the tree." 
 
 " How much do you get per bushel for pears ? " 
 
 " I expect at the least $1.00 per bushel. Those 
 I sell in small lots 1 believe will bring $1.50 per 
 bushel. Those I ship will bring $1.00 per bushel." 
 
 " How about plums and peaches ? " 
 
 " Peaches grow finely here, but the trees are short 
 lived. After bearing three or four years the trees 
 die out. The same applies to plums. Figs are 
 profitable and easy to cultivate." 
 
 ' ' Do you make use of such pears as you do not 
 ship away? " 
 
 "Assuredly. I have made pear cider here that 
 my neighbors buy and when I let the cider go to 
 vinegar, I have no trouble selling it at 25 cents pel 
 gallon. I am about to build a cider press that will 
 turn out three barrels a day. I am going into the 
 vinegar making business, and have no doubt the 
 worth of the article and the purity of the making 
 will create a demand that will support the industry." 
 
 I asked Mr. Shirley if he thought there was any 
 danger when all the pear trees in the Coast Country 
 got to yielding that the market would be glutted. 
 
 " Gracious, no ! '' he replied. " Why, some gen- 
 tlemen from London, who were here, and who were 
 asked what they thought about it said the city of Lon- 
 don could consume the entire fruit crop of this region. 
 
 "You see, we fruit growers have made a good 
 many mistakes heretofore. We are only now learn- 
 ing our business after having been in the crucible of 
 experience. Formerly we didn't know exactly the 
 proper time to pick the fruit or exactly the way to 
 ship it. Now we have our eyes open. We know 
 something about cold storage, too. And we know 
 where and when to ship." 
 
 " What have been the elements that have militated 
 against the Coast Country?" Rev. Mr. Shirley was 
 asked. 
 
 " Drainage has been one of the great drawbacks," 
 he replied. " That we are overcoming slowly, but 
 surely. Irrigation is another. It will not be many 
 years before we have these problems solved. Every- 
 thing we do is for improvement ; every season we 
 are nearer to success." 
 
jVlahing a Living in ^exas 
 
 • • • 
 
 The following extracts are taken from a recent 
 interview in the Galveston Saturday Review, with 
 B. F. Johnson, of Arcadia, Texas., President of 
 the Guff Coast Agricultural Association : 
 
 " I haven't got any patience with a man who asks 
 'me if a farmer can make a living in this coast coun- 
 try," said Captain Johnson. " Back in New York 
 state they think they do great work if they gather 
 sixty-five or seventy bushels of potatoes to the acre. 
 Here we can raise from one hundred and twenty-five 
 to nearly two hundred. This is, beyond doubt, the 
 greatest potato and cabbage country on the face of 
 the globe. And just remember that when you har- 
 vest one crop you can go right along and put in 
 another. There is hardly a day in the year when I 
 can not ship something to market. This farm of 
 mine is only four years old. It looks as if it were 
 eight or ten, doesn't it? Do you see how well 
 drained it is? I came here the 20th of March, 1894. 
 This was then virgin prairie. One of the first 
 things I did was to ditch the land. Then I put in 
 five good drains through my fifty acres. Since then 
 I've worked. Oh! you've got to work in this coast 
 country. 
 
 " The crops of vegetables that we can raise are 
 marvelous and the prices we get for our products 
 are about the highest that are paid. We can get 
 our produce to market so early that we get the cream 
 of the trade. I've got fruit growing, as you see, 
 but, goodness gracious, when a man can raise one 
 hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes to the acre 
 and can gather his crop within ninety-four days of 
 planting, and can get from $1 to $1.75 a bushel, 
 what's the use of talking about fruit? And just 
 look at those rows of cabbage. Did you ever see 
 anything finer in the world? This is a paradise 
 for the cabbage grower. 
 
 " I have eleven acres in Irish potatoes," said Mr. 
 Johnson, "and from the first lot I shipped I got 
 $1.60 a bushel net and they ran more than one 
 hundred and fifty bushels to the acre. I have nine 
 
and one-half acres yet to harvest and my Irish pota- 
 toes should net a good sum this season. Did you 
 ever see finer cabbage than in that field? I believe 
 it is the best I ever raised. 1 have eight acres in 
 cabbage. 
 
 " I have three and a half acres of Creole onions, 
 fifteen of watermelons, twelve of canteloupes and, 
 after I harvest my Irish potatoes I'll put that same 
 land into sweet potatoes. I have one and a half 
 acres of tomatoes, one acre of tobacco, a patch of 
 okra, some sweet pepper and a few other things. Of 
 fruits I have small strawberry and blackberry patches 
 and am raising some grapes. I have a hundred 
 peach trees from which the prospect is good of 
 handsome profit this year; four hundred burbank 
 plums that are now full of fruit; two thousand five 
 hundred pear trees which should bear a small crop 
 this year; two hundred quinces, and some apricots, 
 soft shell almonds and Japanese walnuts. 
 
 " Now, one of the main drawbacks of the coast 
 country has been the lack of drainage. Just look 
 around this country here and see what we are doing. 
 Would you think this had been one of the wettest 
 seasons we ever had? Know the reason? Ditches. 
 A few years ago we'd have been drowned out if we 
 had as much rain as we've had this spring. But 
 you see we are draining the country. We're not 
 digging as many ditches as we'd like to, but every 
 day in the week and every week in the year the 
 work of improvement is being pushed. The drain- 
 age is getting better every day and the public roads 
 are being bettered." 
 
 The farm owned by Captain Johnson is just on 
 the top of the ridge between the watersheds of the 
 Dickinson and Hall bayous. Part of the farm 
 drains into one bayou and part into the other. 
 Although the land looks to be as flat as a pancake. 
 Captain Johnson told me there was a fall of nine- 
 teen feet in the three and a half miles from his farm 
 to low water mark in Hall's bayou. 
 
Other Texas Counties 
 
 • • • 
 
 Below is given a very brief resume of the various 
 Texas counties traversed by the Gulf, Colorado & 
 Santa Fe Railway, excepting those near the Gulf 
 coast which are fully described elsewhere. 
 
 In view of the general plan of the pamphlet, 
 -which is to call special attention to the Gulf coast 
 section, a complete " write-up " cannot be furnished 
 here. But even this condensation may convey some 
 idea of the immense resources of inland Texas, an 
 empire in wealth and power and possibilities. 
 
 HUStin County Population 20,000; county 
 ^ seat, Bellville, population 
 1,500. Well watered by Brazos River, also Mill 
 Creek, East Bernal and other creeks. Along Brazos 
 River and Mill Creek are forests of oak, ash. elm 
 and black walnut; fire-wood abundant everywhere. 
 Area of Austin County, 700 square miles; one-third 
 under cultivation and two-thirds fenced. Soil is a 
 black, sandy loam in the river bottoms; a black, 
 sticky quality on the prairies and one-third sandy 
 black in hills. Principal crop, cotton; corn and oats 
 also raised and every variety of vegetables. Popu- 
 lation mainly a prosperous class of Germans. Best 
 of educational advantages. Summers are never op- 
 pressive, while winters are short and mild. Cyclones 
 have never visited this section, and a total failure of 
 crops is unknown. 
 
 j^^ll COUIltV ^^opulation about 50,000; county 
 ^ seat, Belton, population 5,000. 
 Well watered with four rivers, numerous creeks and 
 springs; also many fine artesian wells in and around 
 Belton. Timbered with oak, pecan, cedar, etc. 
 Gold and silver found in small quantities in the hills. 
 Area of the county, 1,045 square miles, two-thirds 
 under cultivation. Soil is of a black-waxy nature; 
 about one-third timber land mixed with sandy gravel. 
 Principal crops are cotton, corn, oats, wheat, hay 
 and sugar cane. Various industries: flouring mills, 
 cotton and oil mills, cotton gins, compresses, can- 
 ning factories, stone quarries and brick yards. One 
 
of the most fertile and wealthiest counties in Texas. 
 Plenty of cheap lands from $3 to $20 per acre. The 
 abundance of cotton and wool at Belton affords a 
 fine opening there for cotton and woolen manufac- 
 turing. Pleasant winter and summer climate. Never 
 colder than 20° above zero in winter. 
 
 SOSCfUC County Population about 18,000; 
 
 ^ ^ county seat, Meridian, 
 
 population 1,500. Well watered by Bosque and 
 Brazos Rivers, Steel's, Spring and Meridian Creeks. 
 Artesian water easily obtained anywhere from 500 
 to goo feet. Fuel and fence posts can be had from 
 the timbered land. Soil is a black-waxy quality, 
 except on the rivers where it is sandy. Principal 
 crops are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, mil- 
 let and sorghum; also all kinds of fruits are raised. 
 The residents are a prosperous class of people. 
 Hot summers, but always a cool breeze; mild win- 
 ters, very little snow and ice. Land is cheap. 
 
 Brown COUntV Population 17,000; county 
 
 ^ seat, Brownwood, popula- 
 tion 5,200. Watered by Colorado River, Pecan, 
 Bayou, Jim and Ned Creeks. Land well timbered. 
 Area of county, 1,100 square miles. Two hundred 
 thousand acres under cultivation. Soil, a chocolate 
 loam. Crops consist of cotton, corn, wheat, oats, 
 sorghum, millet, fruits and vegetables. Farmers 
 and merchants are prosperous. Very temperate 
 climate all the year round. Rich, productive lands 
 at $4 to $6 per acre on easy terms. 
 
 Burleson County Population 15,000; 
 
 ^ county seat, Caldwell, 
 population 1,500. Land is watered by Brazos and 
 Yegua Rivers and Second Creek. Plenty of timber. 
 Area of the county, 1,000 square miles, about one- 
 third under cultivation. Soil, sandy black. Prin- 
 cipal crop is cotton. Summers hot, winters cool and 
 damp. 
 
 Coleman County Population 7,000; 
 
 ^ county seat, Coleman, 
 population 2,Soo. Well watered by Colorado River, 
 Center, Hords, Jim, Ned, North, Pecan and Bayou 
 Creeks. Plenty of timber for fuel, also large coal 
 deposits in southern part of county. Area of Cole- 
 man County, 1, 290 square miles; one-sixteenth of it 
 
under cultivation. Black prairie land; sandy soil in 
 parts of the county. Principal crops: cotton, wheat, 
 oats and all small grains. Cattle, horses and mules 
 are raised in large numbers. Gulf breeze makes the 
 summers cool, while winters are delightful. Climate 
 cannot be excelled for healthfulness. Lands are 
 cheap; county is being rapidly settled. Schools and 
 churches located in every part. 
 
 CoUitI COUntV I^oP^'^tlon about 35,000; 
 ^ county seat, Mc Kinney, 
 , population 6,000. Land watered by numerous creeks. 
 Large quantities of Osage orange, oak and hemlock 
 timber. Area of county, 30 square miles, four-fifths 
 under cultivation. Black-waxy soil. Crops consist 
 of corn, cotton, wheat and oats; stock-raising is 
 also followed. Principal industries are cotton and 
 oil mills. County thickly settled by thrifty, law- 
 abiding, prosperous farmers. Churches and school- 
 houses in every community. Land in cultivation 
 sells from $20 to $30 per acre. Summers are warm, 
 average temperature 96°; winters mild and pleasant, 
 seldom any snow or ice. 
 
 Cook COUIltV Population 40,000 ; county 
 
 ^ seat, Gainesville, population 
 11,500. Watered by Red River, Trinity and Clear 
 Creeks, and other streams. One-half the county is 
 timbered land. Area, 933 square miles. Soil is 
 black-waxy, sandy and red sandy. Principal crops: 
 corn, wheat and cotton. The citizens are prosper- 
 ous. Gainesville, the county seat, situated on the 
 Trinity River, is a busy city; has eleven churches, 
 six brick school houses, two flouring mills, an ice 
 factory, an iron foundry, a cotton compress, a broom 
 factory, soap factory, cotton seed oil mills, pressed 
 brick works, four newspapers, three banks. The 
 Santa Fe Railway shops are located here. 
 
 Dallas COUntV Population 90,000 ; county 
 ^ seat, Dallas, population 
 64,224. Well watered by Trinity River and three 
 tributaries, also small creeks. Plenty of timber, 
 building stone and fire and pottery clay. Area of 
 county, 900 square miles. About 165,000 acres under 
 cultivation, or seventy per cent, of tillable land. Soil 
 of all varieties from sandy to heavy black-waxy. Prin- 
 cipal crops: cotton, corn, wheat and oats. Market- 
 
f<^-i 
 
 ^H^^H^^^^^^^^^Tf 
 
 IKS. ^ 
 
gardening and fruit-raising have developed to great 
 extent; also profitable dairy and stock industries. 
 Dallas is largest manufacturing city in state of Texas. 
 The settlers are industrious and prosperous. Cli- 
 mate mild both summer and winter. Farming lands 
 for sale at moderate prices. Unusual opportunities 
 for manufacturing industries. 
 
 V^^\t:J% C*rtim1"\5 I'oP'J^^ti*^" 12,500; county 
 1/vll^A V^V^UIll'y seat, Cooper, population 
 2,000. Plenty of hardwood timber. Area of county, 
 290 square miles. Eight hundred small farms in 
 -Delta County. Soil, black and very rich, from four 
 to fifteen feet deep. Crops: corn, cotton and alfalfa. 
 Farmers and merchants prosperous. Winters mild, 
 summers warm and dry. Land can be rented for 
 from $4 to $5 per acre, and bought for from $20 to 
 $30 per acre. 
 
 ■rv^„^^^ r^/-MiM*-v» Population 40,000; county 
 I^CniOn V^OUnty g^^j^ Denton, population 
 5,000. Well watered; artesian water can be obtained 
 at from 300 to 400 feet. Timber in the eastern part 
 of the county. Area of Denton County, 900 square 
 miles; about 100 square miles under cultivation. 
 Soil sandy and mixed with black land. Principal 
 crops are wheat, oats, corn and cotton. Finest 
 wheat belt in Texas extends from Denton west; is 
 about twenty miles wide, and this year averaged be- 
 tween twentvand twenty-five bushels per acre ; stock 
 raising and shipping is carried on to considerable 
 extent. The settlers are a thrifty, prosperous people. 
 Mild summers and pleasant winters. 
 
 /^Il' r^/AiiMf-W Population 65,000 ; countv 
 OlUb \-.QUnUy gg^j^ Waxahachie, population 
 7,000. Land watered by Trinity River and artesian 
 wells. Along the streams there is timber sufficient 
 for fuel. Area of county, 950 square miles, three- 
 fourths under cultivation. Soil is a black-waxy 
 quality. General crops: hay, corn, oats, wheat and 
 cotton. Farmers are prosperous. Climate, mild. 
 
 f^MM«M r^/^ii«l-vi l^opulation 60,000; county 
 anmn \-.OUniy ^^^^^ Bonham, population 
 5,000. Watered by Red River, its tributaries and 
 springs. Plenty of timber along water courses. 
 Area of county, 1,089 square miles, half in cultiva- 
 tion. Soil, black and waxy; along the river it is 
 
sandy. Crops are cotton, corn, oats, hay, wheat and 
 garden products of all kinds. Settlers are unusually 
 prosperous. Climate is mild, averaging from 68° 
 to 75°. Fannin County is noted for the quality of 
 her cotton, which frequently sells for higher price 
 than that of adjacent counties. 
 
 Grimes County Population 25, coo; county 
 seat, Anderson, popula- 
 tion 500. Is watered by Brazos and Navasota Riv- 
 ers and their tributaries. Timber and minerals are 
 found in parts of the county. Area is 781 square 
 miles, one-half being timbered and the remainder 
 prairie land; 100,000 acres under cultivation. Sandy 
 and black waxy soil. Principal crops: cotton, cane 
 and corn. Mild climate, average summer tempera- 
 ture 95°; winter .60°. Lands are cheap; a good 
 county for investors and home-seekers. 
 
 Runt County Population 40,000 ; county 
 seat, Greenville, population 
 7,500. Well watered by tanks and cisterns; abun- 
 dant timber. Soil, black-waxy and sandy. Prin- 
 cipal crops: corn, cotton, grains, hay, fruits and 
 vegetables. Cattle and hogs are raised. Farmers 
 and merchants are prosperous. Climate mild in 
 winter, and south breeze makes the summers pleas- 
 ant. Plenty of good, cheap land from $10 to $30 
 per acre. 
 
 Johnson County population 19,000; coun- 
 
 ty seat, Cleburne, popu- 
 lation 7,500. Watered by various streams and arte- 
 sian wells; abundance of timber. Area of county, 
 1,600 square miles; twenty-hve per cent, under cul- 
 tivation. Soil, black-waxy and sandy loam. Prin- 
 cipal products consist of cotton, wheat, oats, corn, 
 and cattle. The settlers are prosperous. Pleasant 
 climate the year round, especially in the winter. 
 Land can be bought on easy terms; light taxation, 
 good schools and ready market for farm products. 
 
 I^^nipdSd.8 Population 7,565; county seat, 
 
 -^ Lampasas, population 2,500. 
 
 County Watered by Lampasas and Colo- 
 
 rado Rivers, numerous creeks and 
 springs. Plenty of cedar and other fuel timber, also 
 valuable pecan timber. Area of county, 858 square 
 miles; about 50,000 acres in cultivation. A portion 
 
of the soil first class for farming, some is sandy and 
 clay. Principal crops are cotton and grains. Indus- 
 tries, wool growing and sheep and cattle raising. 
 Residents a very prosperous people. Excellent 
 climate the year round. Fine school facilities; good 
 homes are cheap. Largest sulphur springs in the 
 world are here. 
 
 Iv-^tn^f County I'^^^pulatlon 37,302; county 
 
 ^ seat, Paris, population 
 1 5,000. Watered by Red and North Sulphur Rivers, 
 Pine and Saunders Creeks, and other small streams. 
 Water for stock and domestic purposes easily ob- 
 tained at average depth of 50 feet. Timber abun- 
 dant along water courses, such as hackberry, elm, 
 ash, oak and hickory, of splendid quality; also pecan 
 and other varieties, including the famous hois dare. 
 Soil mostly a rich alluvial and black-waxy land, all 
 exceedingly fertile. Principal crops: cotton, wheat, 
 oats, barley, rye, millet, sugar-cane, garden vegeta- 
 bles, also all kinds of fruits. Stock raising is profit- 
 able. Exceedingly fine climate ; the nights, visited by 
 soft breezes tempered by Gulf winds, are always 
 cool. Area of Lamar County is 900 square miles; 
 most of the land under cultivation. Excellent school 
 houses and comfortable churches. 
 
 lyr^jT ^l^ll^l^ Population 50,000; county seat, 
 ' Waco, population 25,000. Watered 
 
 County by Brazos, Bosque, Aquilla and 
 
 other rivers, also numerous creeks 
 and wells. Timber is abundant; oil is also being 
 developed. Area of the county, 1,083 square miles; 
 half under cultivation. Soil of river lands, sandy 
 loam; prairie lands, mostly black-waxy. Principal 
 crops; cotton, corn, wheat, oats and all vegetables; 
 also berries and fruits of every variety. Farmers and 
 merchants are generally very prosperous. Climate 
 is pleasant, being tempered both winter and summer 
 by (kilf breezes; average temperature for past ten 
 years, 69°. (iood homes at reasonable prices. 
 
 Milatn County I'opulatlon 32,000; county 
 ' ^ seat, Cameron, population 
 
 5,000. Land watered by Little River, Iirazos River, 
 San Cabriel, Elm and Pond Creeks. I^lenty of post 
 oak timber, also fine lignite beds. Area of Milam 
 County, ii,0(Jo square miles; 75,000 acres under 
 
 U. ^ C, 
 
cultivation. Soil, black-waxy and gray post oak 
 with clay sub-soil. Crops consist of cotton, corn 
 and oats. Principal industries are oil mill, compress, 
 water works, electric light and ice plants. Both 
 summer and winter pleasant and healthful. Good 
 land, excellent social advantages and tine schools. 
 
 IMiUS County Population 7 500; a.unty seat, 
 
 ' ^ (joldthwaite, population 
 
 1,875. Watered by Colorado River, Pecan, Bayou, 
 Bennett, Brown, Lampasas, Miller and Bull's 
 Creeks. Well water can be obtained at from 25 
 to 100 feet. Half the county well timbered. There 
 is iron ore and traces of silver and coal. Area of 
 the county, 720 square miles; about one-hfth under 
 cultivation. Soil, mixed, sandy and black-waxy. 
 Crops are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, sorghum, millet, 
 potatoes, melons and vegetables; also small fruits. 
 Farmers are doing well and no financial failures 
 among merchants. Climate delightful the year 
 round. A great health resort. An excellent place 
 for those afflicted with pulmonary troubles; no chills 
 (jr fevers. Lands may be bought at low prices. 
 ( lood schools and churches in every section of the 
 county. 
 
 Montcfomerv Pop^^a^ioi^ 13,000; county 
 
 ' *3 ^ seat, Conroe, population 600. 
 
 County Watered by numerous running 
 
 streams. Plenty of timber of 
 all kinds. Deposits of iron not yet developed. Area 
 of county 1,150 square miles; about one-fourth un- 
 der cultivation. Soil, principally black-waxy and 
 sandy. Best crops are sugar-cane, corn, cotton, 
 ]:)otatoes and tobacco; also fruits. Farmers and mer- 
 chants prosperous. Summer climate with average 
 temperature of 75° and winter 40°. ( lood lands, 
 exceedinglv cheap, on easy terms. 
 
 Parker County ^^Z^:^:^:'^. 
 
 lation 7,000. Well watered by running streams, 
 springs and wells. Plenty of timber and coal. Area 
 of Parker County is 900 square n:iles; about 125,000 
 acres under cultivation. Soil, partly sandy loam, 
 black-waxy and black-waxy loam. Crops are cot- 
 ton, corn, wheat, oats, hay, vegetables and fruits of 
 all kinds. Climate mild in summer (C.ulf breeze), 
 variable in winter. 
 
 100 
 
R.1int1^1ct Pmint-\J Population 4,000; county 
 IVUnneiS ^^OUm:y ^^^^ BalUnger, popula- 
 tion 1,800. Watered by Colorado River and several 
 creeks. Some timber and building stone. Area of 
 county is 960 square miles; about one-fifth under cul- 
 tivation. Soil, a sandy loam. Principal crops are 
 melons, corn, wheat, oats and cotton, Stock-raising 
 is the leading industry. Climate warm in summer 
 with pleasant breeze; wintei-s agreeable. 
 
 Carratit Countv i^-'puiation 60,000; coun- 
 
 ^♦•i iMiiv 'wv'Miii.7' tyseat. In. Worth, popu- 
 -lation 25,000. Watered by Trinity River and 
 branches; also creeks. About one-fourth of the 
 county well timbered; half under cultivation; one- 
 fourth grazing land. Soil, sandy and black-waxy 
 land. Principal crops: corn, wheat, oats, cotton and 
 all kinds of vegetables and fruits; also pecans. 
 Delightful breezes in summer; winters warm and 
 considerable rain. Good schools and churches. 
 Population is progressive and liberal. Good op- 
 portunities to make money by stock-raising. 
 
 Com GVCCW PoP^l^tion 7,500; county seat, 
 San Angelo, population 4,000. 
 Countv Watered by Concho River and 
 
 Spring and Dove Creeks; some 
 timber. Area, 1,800 square miles. Soil, a sandy 
 loam. Principal crops: cotton, milo, maize and sor- 
 ghum; also hay. Warm, dry summers; winters dry 
 and very little freezing weather. Farmers are pros- 
 perous. A good countrv for stock farmers and farm- 
 ing by irrigation. 
 
 WTr^ftUiMrttrtM Population 30,000; county seat, 
 OiaSningrOn Brenham, population 8,000. 
 
 Countv Watered by Brazos Riv-er and 
 
 Yegua, Jackson, New Years 
 and Mill Creeks. One-third timber land, some min- 
 erals. Area of county, 600 square miles; 75 per 
 cent, under cultivation. Soil very rich, black-waxy, 
 black, sandy and loam. Crops, cotton and corn. 
 Manufacturing is the principal industry. Climate, 
 mild; average temperature in summer 80°, in winter 
 38°. A total failure of crops is unknown. 
 
Index 
 
 Somewhat Personal 5 
 
 Facts About Texas 7 
 
 The Coast Country 1 1 
 
 GuU Coast Climate 17 
 
 Towns and Colonies: 
 
 Algoa 21 
 
 Alta Loma 21 
 
 Alvin 23 
 
 Amsterdam 24 
 
 Arcadia 25 
 
 Areola 25 
 
 Edna 27 
 
 El Campo 28 
 
 Fairbanks 29 
 
 CJalveston 29 
 
 Hitchcock 33 
 
 Houston 35 
 
 La Porte 37 
 
 Manvel 38 
 
 Meadowbrook ........ 39 
 
 Pearland 40 
 
 Richmond 40 
 
 Rosenberg 41 
 
 Sealy 41 
 
 Superior 42 
 
 Wallis 42 
 
 Webster 43 
 
 Wharton 44 
 
 Mennonite Colonies 45 
 
 Testimony of Farmers 49 
 
 I'ear Orchards 65 
 
 Miscellaneous Products 69 
 
 A Review, by Mr. Stringfellow .... 78 
 
 The DiversiHed Interests of 'I'exas ... 81 
 
 Successful Tobacco Culture 83 
 
 What One Man Has Done .... 85 
 
 Making- a Living in Texas 91 
 
 ■ Hher Texas Counties 93 
 
 ap of Texas Coast Country 102 
 
 Map of Santa Fe Route 104 
 
 Map of Ct. C. & S. F. Ry. .... Insert 
 
BETWEEN 
 
 CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS 
 AND TEXAS. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 433 497 8 % 
 
 Santa Fe