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  Harper: 
  A 
  m^eek 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  299 
  

  

  This 
  region 
  has 
  been 
  correlated 
  by 
  geologists 
  and 
  soil 
  investi- 
  

   gators 
  with 
  a 
  well-known 
  belt 
  of 
  similar 
  age 
  in 
  Mississippi 
  and 
  

   Alabama, 
  but 
  it 
  differs 
  widely 
  from 
  that 
  in 
  some 
  features 
  of 
  soil, 
  

   vegetation, 
  population 
  and 
  agriculture. 
  In 
  the 
  eastern 
  black 
  

   belt 
  the 
  black 
  soils 
  are 
  limited 
  in 
  extent 
  and 
  chiefly 
  confined 
  to 
  

   low 
  grounds, 
  while 
  in 
  thfe 
  Texas 
  area 
  black 
  is 
  the 
  prevailing 
  color 
  

   even 
  on 
  the 
  uplands. 
  The 
  eastern 
  belt 
  has 
  most 
  of 
  its 
  rain 
  in 
  

   wmter 
  and 
  spring, 
  and 
  the 
  western 
  in 
  early 
  summer. 
  The 
  origin- 
  

   ally 
  treeless 
  areas 
  probably 
  did 
  not 
  cover 
  more 
  than 
  lo 
  per 
  cent 
  

   of 
  the 
  black 
  belt 
  in 
  Alabama 
  and 
  Mississippi, 
  while 
  the 
  Texas 
  

   black 
  belt 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  nearly 
  all 
  prairie. 
  In 
  the 
  black 
  belt 
  of 
  

   Alabama 
  about 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  are 
  negroes 
  

   (which 
  has 
  led 
  some 
  persons 
  in 
  other 
  states 
  to 
  imagine 
  that 
  its 
  

  

  I 
  

  

  name 
  referred 
  to 
  that 
  fact), 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  corresponding 
  part 
  of 
  

   Texas 
  negroes 
  constitute 
  only 
  about 
  one 
  sixth 
  of 
  the 
  total. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  last 
  ten 
  years 
  or 
  so, 
  since 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  the 
  boll-weevil, 
  

   the 
  cotton 
  fields 
  of 
  central 
  Alabama 
  have 
  largely 
  given 
  way 
  to 
  

   hay 
  and 
  pasture; 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  black 
  belt 
  of 
  Texas, 
  which 
  has 
  had 
  the 
  

   weevil 
  much 
  longer, 
  cotton 
  is 
  still 
  king, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  very 
  little 
  

   pasture, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  the 
  latitude 
  of 
  Austin. 
  In 
  1909-1910 
  the 
  

   average 
  farm 
  in 
  that 
  region 
  had 
  about 
  32 
  acres 
  of 
  cotton 
  and 
  15 
  

   of 
  corn 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  64.5 
  "improved," 
  and 
  the 
  yield 
  of 
  both 
  

   was 
  above 
  the 
  state 
  average., 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  my 
  last 
  visit 
  the 
  

   precipitation 
  had 
  been 
  below 
  normal 
  for 
  several 
  months 
  over 
  

   most 
  of 
  Texas, 
  and 
  the 
  corn-stalks 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  fields, 
  from 
  

   which 
  the 
  '*fodder" 
  had 
  been 
  "pulled" 
  some 
  time 
  before, 
  were 
  

   bleached 
  to 
  a 
  pale 
  straw 
  color, 
  contrasting 
  strongly 
  with 
  the 
  

   black 
  soil; 
  while 
  the 
  cotton 
  in 
  neighboring 
  fields, 
  though 
  short 
  of 
  

   stature, 
  was 
  full 
  of 
  healthy 
  dark 
  green 
  leaves: 
  and 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  remem- 
  

   ber 
  ever 
  seeing 
  paler 
  corn 
  or 
  greener 
  cotton 
  plants. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  region 
  I 
  was 
  impressed 
  with 
  the 
  neat 
  and 
  prosperous 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  the 
  farm-houses, 
  which 
  appeared 
  almost 
  equal 
  to 
  

   those 
  of 
  Illinois. 
  On 
  digging 
  out 
  statistics 
  later 
  from 
  census 
  reports 
  

   I 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  average 
  value 
  of 
  farm 
  buildings 
  in 
  1910 
  In 
  15 
  

   black 
  prairie 
  counties 
  of 
  Texas 
  was 
  only 
  $592 
  ($641 
  for 
  whites 
  

  

  m 
  

  

  * 
  If 
  we 
  hacl 
  figures 
  for 
  Anglo-Saxons 
  alone 
  the 
  building 
  valuer 
  for 
  that 
  race 
  would 
  

   be 
  higher 
  than 
  those 
  given 
  above, 
  for 
  the 
  white 
  population 
  of 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  Texas 
  

   includes 
  oiiifp 
  a 
  ntiml^^r 
  nf 
  \r*^.vi"r^nQ 
  rnnt 
  wnaratpfl 
  in 
  the 
  census 
  unless 
  thev 
  happened 
  

  

  