In the soil and subsoil from Hood county the most prominent feature developed by the analyses is the low percentage of phosphoric acid, a minimum quantity. It is, however, made available by the abundance of lime present. The percentage of potash is large in the subsoil, and in sufficient quantity in the soil for thrifty land. In the sample from Robertson county a much larger amount of lime is present, derived probably from the rotten limestone through which the river and its tributaries have cut their way. The percentage of phosphoric acid also is extraordinarily high, with a fair amount of potash, thus making the alluvial land of the river in this place much richer than in Hood county. This increased fertility is also seen in the higher yield of cotton per acre. The lands of the sugar-bowl of the Brazos alluvial are noted for their fertility, yielding usually from 1 500 to 2,000 pounds of seed-cotton per acre. In the above analyses the soil from Oyster creek is richer in mineral ingredients than that from the San Bernard river, containing larger percentages of potash, lime, and phosphoric acid, and resembles very much the red lands of the Brazos river. The black peach land contains a larger amount of humus, and it will be seen that all of the phosphoric acid in the soil is available. COLORADO RIVER LANDS.-The sources of the Colorado and of its western tributary, the Concho, are among the western hills and broad plains and table-lands of the Llano Estacado. For a distance of several hundred miles its waters flow among the sandstones and limestones of the western region with an easterly course to the black prairie region, then turn southward along its border to the lower edge of Burnet county, and thence east-southeast to the coast. The bottom lands of the river, from its source to the black prairie region, are narrow, with many and frequent high bluffs near the stream. COLORADO VALLEY.—Passing the dividing ridge of Brazos, we descend upon the tributaries of the Colorado, about 27 miles from the main stream. This valley, from the summit of the dividing ridge to the eastern base of the Llano Estacado, is about 67 miles in width, and is intersected in that distance by many small running streams tributary to the Colorado, and from 2 to 6 miles apart. The east side of the valley is about equally divided into prairie and forests of mesquite timber, and is much less undulating in surface than the country to the east. The mesquite becomes less abundant on the west side of the river, probably not occupying more than one-fourth of the country, until at the base of the Staked Plain it disappears altogether. The soil of the valley of the Colorado is good, but less moist and fertile than that of the valley of the Brazos. The rain is not so abundant as in the valleys of the streams to the east, but falls in sufficient quantity to obviate the necessity of irrigation, as was sufficiently evinced in the fact that although we traversed it at the very driest season of the year most of the small tributaries of the river were running streams, and few were without water. The Colorado itself was about 40 feet in width, and with a rapid current traversed its valley from side to side in a very tortuous course. The low and gently sloping ridges on each side were faced with red sandstone, and the soil was a rich red loam, which, although light, was very fertile. Limestone and other building material, with the exception of timber large enough for joists and planking, are readily obtained at any point of the valley, and its agricultural features, although not so eminently favorable as those of the country to the east, are nevertheless good. The mesquite, a hard and durable wood, grows in extensive forests, is about 30 feet high and from 4 to 10 inches in diameter.— Captain Pope. On entering the more level lands of the prairies the bottom lands become wider, and thence to the coast have widths varying from one-half to a mile or more. This includes the valley or second bottom lands, the first, or bottoms proper, being narrow and more or less subject to overflow in high-water seasons. The bottoms have a large timber growth of white and pin eaks, elm, ash, cottonwood, sycamore, pecan, and hackberry, with usually a dense undergrowth of cane, etc. The lands are for the most part a reddish loam or silt several feet in depth, underlaid by clay. Near the uplands on either side the lands are darker, and in the black prairie region stiffer and more clayey in character. South of Columbus, in Colorado county, they resemble the lands of the sugar-bowl or Brazos alluvium, and properly belong to it. Cotton is the chief crop on the bottom lands of the river, the stalk growing from 5 to 7 feet high, and yielding from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of seed-cotton per acre. SAN SABA RIVER LANDS.-The lands of the San Saba river, a tributary of the Colorado, comprise narrow and timbered bottoms along the banks of the stream, mesquite valleys, with both red gravelly soils and black loamy and clayey soils, reaching back to the hills. These valleys afford the chief farming lands of that section. (See description of San Saba county.) GUADALUPE RIVER LANDS.—The bottom lands of the Guadalupe river are not very extensive or wide, and have a timber growth of cottonwood, pecan, ash, oaks, mulberry, and hackberry, with a variety of undergrowth. The soil is mostly a sandy loam from 10 to 15 inches deep; the subsoil a yellow clay, sometimes jointed in character. The valley lands are in some places broad and open, with a mesquite growth and a dark calcareous soil. Cotton grows from 5 to 7 feet high, and yields about 1,500 pounds of seed-cotton per acre. SAN ANTONIO RIVER LANDS.-The bottom lands of the San Antonio river are narrow and unimportant. Its valleys have in some counties a width of 11⁄2 miles and a growth (in Wilson county) of elm, hackberry, pecan, ash, and mesquite. In the counties near the coast the river flows between high banks of white clay-stone, or adobe, along which there is usually a growth of pecan trees and mesquite. NUECES RIVER LANDS.-The Neuces river is mainly confined to the thinly inhabited southwestern section of the state. In San Patricio county its bottoms have a growth of live oak, cottonwood, ash, elm, hackberry, and willow, and a black alluvial soil. Its valley lands seem to be preferred; they have a growth of mesquite and "wesatche", and a light sandy soil, which is easily tilled. RIO GRANDE RIVER LANDS.-The bottom and valley lands of the Rio Grande river from its headwaters southward to Edinburg, Hidalgo county, are narrow, and, so far as known, are unimportant, the hills of the uplands coming to the river banks very often. From Edinburg to the mouth of the river these lands widen out rapidly, and embrace those of the Sal Colorado, which stream is said to be but an outlet of the Rio Grande in high water, and runs off almost at right angles to it. The entrance to the mouth of the Rio Grande is over a bar of soft mud varying from 4 to 6 feet deep, and the river within a few hundred yards of its mouth is not more than 1,000 feet wide. The shore-line of the coast, scarcely broken by the action of the river, is formed of a series of low shifting sand-hills, with a scanty herbage. Inside these hills are numerous salt marshes and lagoons, separated by low belts of calcareous clay, but a few feet above the sea, and subject to overflow. The first high land is 10 miles from the mouth. Northward to Brownsville the lands on each side of the river are level and covered with a dense growth of mesquite. The margin of the river, which is exposed to overflow, abounds in reed, canebrake, palmetto, willow, and water plants.-Mex. Bound. Survey, vol. I. The valley from Brownsville northward has a width of 50 miles. The following information is from Rev. J. G. Hall, of Brownsville : The growth of these lands is mesquite and ebony, though there are many other scrubby varieties. In many places, too, the undergrowth is very heavy, forming chaparrals. For the first 50 or 60 miles up the river the valley loses itself in the plain; farther up it becomes narrower, until at little over 100 miles it becomes almost nothing. The land along the lower river is in belts of black waxy and of sandy soils, both being very fertile, but the former more so than the latter. Neither has a clay subsoil. With rains these lands are wonderfully productive, and now that the border has been comparatively quiet for some years the agricultural interests are rapidly advancing. These belts of land are sometimes 8 or 10 miles wide and sometimes 2 or 3 miles. The timber is not very heavy anywhere, but is heaviest along the river. Up to this time there has been very little cotton planted, but the people are beginning to turn their attention more to its cultivation. The following analyses are given to show the composition of the valley lands of two of these rivers: No. 22. Colorado river valley loam soil from Bastrop, Bastrop county, taken 10 inches deep. No growth where taken. No. 23. Colorado valley loam soil from 4 miles east of Austin, Travis county, taken 10 inches deep. Timber growth, pecan, elm, oak, and hackberry. No. 24. Soil taken 8 inches deep from a field near the above that has been under cultivation more than forty years. No. 28. San Saba river red valley soil from north of San Saba, San Saba county, taken 10 inches deep. Timber growth, mostly mesquite. No. 37. Rio Grande valley soil from near Brownsville, taken 12 inches deep, and sent by Rev. J. G. Hall. Growth, mesquite and ebony. These soils show large percentages of potash, with a sufficiency of lime for the large amounts of phosphoric acid that are present. There is a comparatively large amount of humus in the Travis county soil. The analysis of the cultivated soil is instructive in showing large reductions in all of the essential ingredients, viz, potash, lime, magnesia, phosphoric acid, and organic matter. It is evident that the addition of phosphate manures to this land will soon be necessary to maintain its fertility. The soil of San Saba river valley is rich in all of the elements necessary to fertility and durability, viz, potash, phosphoric acid, and lime. It is light and sandy, and yields abundant crops. The soil of the Rio Grande valley contains an extraordinary percentage of potash, a large amount of phosphoric acid, and a very large amount of carbonate of lime. The percentage of humus is also great, and the soil has a large retentive power for moisture. Altogether, this soil, which is easily tilled, seems to be nearer what may be thought to be a 66 perfect soil" than any other in the state. The following description by Captain Pope (a) regarding the valley lands of the Rio Grande from El Paso southward is given at length, because of the little that is generally known concerning a region in which these valleys offer almost the only tillable lands: VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE.-At Frontera, about 5 miles above El Paso, the Rio Grande commences to make its passage through the chain of mountains which intersect its course, and to a point immediately in the neighborhood of Molino it is bordered closely on both sides by a range of high and rugged mountains. At Frontera, four miles above, the range on the west side subsides into the vast level table-lands which extend, with little interruption, many miles to the westward; but on the east side the mountains gradually depart from the river, becoming more rugged and lofty, until they unite on the "Jornada del Muerto" with the continuous ridges of the Rocky mountains. The river cuts through them between Frontera and Molino by a succession of rapids, and at one place by a perpendicular fall of 2 or 3 feet, and this passage has, from the period of its discovery by the Spaniards, been known as El Paso. The Mexican town of that name is about 2 miles below the debouchure of the river from the mountains. With the exception of the limited strip between Frontera and Molino, the immediate valley of the Rio Grande is from 2 to 5 miles in width and perfectly level, and the river traverses it from side to side in many sinuosities. These level bottom lands can be readily irrigated from the river, and possess a soil which, although not deep, and containing rather too large a proportion of sand for the notions of farmers in the United States, is nevertheless extremely fertile, and well adapted to the production of all the cereal grains. The system of irrigation renews the fertility of the soil by spreading over it every year a fat deposit several inches in thickness, which is brought down in suspension by the river, and to this deposit is undoubtedly due the fact that the Mexicans for so many successive years have been able to continue the same crops upon the land. The soil is only about 4 or 5 inches deep, and for cultivating it the Mexican implements have been conclusively shown, by experience of several years, to be the best. The wooden plow which they use barely enters the earth sufficiently to turn up 3 or 4 inches in depth, and they thus never pass below the yearly deposits of the river. The iron plow, on the contrary, passes several inches below this, and turns up a soil more than four-fifths of which is sand, and consequently of little productiveness. As an evidence of the results, it will suffice to say that of two fields of the same size contiguous to each other and identical in soil, the one cultivated with great care by the government, after the American fashion, the other the property of an old Mexican, who cultivated it himself without assistance, the products were little or nothing for the first and a crop averaging from 30 to 40 bushels of corn to the acre for the last. The immediate valley of the river between Dona Aña and Frontera contains about 128,000 acres of arable land. The most valuable feature, however, of the valley of the Rio Grande is yet but partially developed; and as it ministers to the luxuries rather than to the necessities of life, it cannot, in the absence of demand for such things, occupy a very important place in the present wealth of New Mexico. I refer to the peculiar adaptation of the valley to the culture of the grape. The east side of the Rio Grande is faced by chains of lofty mountains at an average distance from the river of 15 miles, which, at San Felipe at the north and El Paso at the south, impinge directly upon the banks. A semicircular sweep of country is thus inclosed from the northern and eastern winds, and in consequence we find within it a very mild and equable climate, little subjected to the change of the seasons. The river having a general course to the southeast, and the ranges of mountains on the east side being nearly parallel to it, the whole of this area has a southern and western exposure, and, with a soil sufficiently fertile and of great warmth, it is most wonderfully adapted to the culture of the grape. SURVEYS AND MEASUREMENTS IN TEXAS.-The system of surveying lands is not that common in other western states, viz, that of dividing it into townships, sections, and numbered subdivisions; but the Spanish land measure in use when the state was a separate republic, and in which the original land grants were expressed, is the legal measure. The divisions are varas, labors, and leagues, and distances are at present given in linear varas, instead of in chains and feet. Spanish land measure. 1 vara. 1 acre 1 labor league 1 league. 1 league and labor .33 inches. To find the number of acres in a given number of square varas, divide by 5,646—fractions rejected. REMARKS ON COTTON PRODUCTION IN TEXAS. In Thrall's History of Texas it is stated that cotton-seed was brought to the Brazos river in Texas in 1821 by Colonel Jared E. Grace, one of the earliest settlers, and that in 1825 he erected the first cotton-gin in the state. The next year the Austins built one on the west side of the Brazos about 10 miles north of Columbia. This was subsequently burned, and the place has been known as the Burnt Gin place. About the same time another gin was built on Old Caney, in Matagorda county. The staple at that time was packed in bales of 50 and 100 pounds weight and transported to the Rio Grande on mules, 250 pounds constituting a mule-load. In 1831 Edwin Waller sent a schooner-load of cotton from the mouth of the Brazos to Matamoras, and sold it for 62 cents per pound. a Report to Captain A. A. Humphreys, in charge of the office of explorations and surveys, on "artesian well experiments". |