﻿Harper: 
  A 
  week 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  313 
  

  

  No 
  doubt 
  observations 
  made 
  along 
  other 
  routes, 
  at 
  other 
  

   seasons, 
  and 
  after 
  more 
  experience 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  

   would 
  greatly 
  extend 
  this 
  list 
  and 
  change 
  the 
  sequence 
  consider- 
  

   ably. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  probably 
  safe 
  to 
  say 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  that 
  the 
  families 
  

   most 
  largely 
  represented 
  are 
  Compositae, 
  Leguminosae, 
  Euphor- 
  

   biaceae 
  and 
  Gramineae 
  (using 
  these 
  names 
  in 
  the 
  older 
  and 
  broader 
  

   sense), 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  of 
  native 
  species 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  

   found 
  is 
  well 
  over 
  lOO. 
  The 
  general 
  aspect 
  of 
  the 
  vegetation 
  is 
  

   much 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  some 
  Illinois 
  prairies, 
  but 
  the 
  flora 
  is 
  of 
  course 
  

   very 
  different, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  difference 
  in 
  climate. 
  There 
  

   is 
  naturally 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  Grand 
  Prairie 
  of 
  

   Arkansas,* 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  economic 
  features 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  interest, 
  

   besides 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  farm 
  land 
  which 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  given. 
  In 
  

   1910 
  the 
  foreign 
  white 
  farmers 
  (19 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  total) 
  outnum- 
  

   bered 
  the 
  negro 
  farmers 
  (15 
  per 
  cent). 
  The 
  average 
  white 
  farmer 
  

   had 
  205 
  acres 
  of 
  land, 
  of 
  which 
  71 
  were 
  Improved, 
  including 
  2.7 
  

   acres 
  of 
  cotton 
  and 
  7.9 
  of 
  corn; 
  and 
  his 
  buildings 
  were 
  worth 
  I842. 
  

   The 
  yield 
  of 
  corn 
  was 
  22.2 
  bushels 
  per 
  acre, 
  which 
  Is 
  higher 
  than 
  

   in 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  regions 
  previously 
  described, 
  and 
  seems 
  to 
  indicate 
  

   that 
  prairie 
  soils 
  are 
  best 
  for 
  corn. 
  (The 
  black 
  prairie 
  ranked 
  

  

  next 
  in 
  this 
  respect.) 
  

  

  The 
  average 
  negro 
  farmer 
  had 
  70 
  acres 
  with 
  28 
  improved, 
  of 
  

   which 
  3.3 
  were 
  in 
  cotton 
  and 
  5.7 
  in 
  corn. 
  His 
  buildings 
  were 
  

   worth 
  $256 
  (a 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  black 
  prairie), 
  and 
  his 
  corn 
  

   crop 
  was 
  16.4 
  bushels 
  per 
  acre. 
  

  

  The 
  Brazos 
  alluvial 
  region.— 
  AW 
  the 
  streams 
  traversing 
  the 
  coast 
  

   prairie 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  bordered 
  by 
  strips 
  of 
  woodland, 
  but 
  along 
  the 
  

   Brazos 
  and 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  near-by 
  rivers 
  near 
  their 
  mouths 
  the 
  wooded 
  

   area 
  Is 
  large 
  enough 
  to 
  be 
  treated 
  as 
  a 
  separate 
  region, 
  as 
  shown 
  

   on 
  the 
  map. 
  Its 
  boundaries 
  are 
  pretty 
  well 
  defined, 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  

   at 
  least, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  cover 
  about 
  900 
  square 
  rjilles, 
  mostly 
  in 
  

   Brazoria 
  County. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  Loughridge 
  In 
  his 
  

  

  t 
  

  

  J 
  

  

  X 
  

  

  The 
  latter 
  covers 
  all 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  except 
  the 
  

  

  ♦ 
  See 
  Plant 
  World 
  17: 
  40^44- 
  iPMI 
  20: 
  s^'^^* 
  ^9^7- 
  

  

  t 
  Tenth 
  Census 
  U. 
  S. 
  5 
  : 
  702-704. 
  i884. 
  This 
  includes 
  two 
  soil 
  analy 
  

  

  X 
  Field 
  Operations 
  U. 
  S. 
  Bur, 
  Soils 
  igjo: 
  859-929- 
  P^- 
  ^"^- 
  

  

  