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  Harper: 
  A 
  week 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  

  

  soil, 
  IS 
  rather 
  surprising. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  interesting 
  to 
  note 
  that 
  there 
  

   are 
  more 
  vines 
  than 
  shrubs 
  in 
  the 
  list, 
  and 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  herbs 
  but 
  

   the 
  first-named 
  (and 
  that 
  is 
  an 
  epiphyte) 
  are 
  weeds. 
  The 
  scarcity 
  

   of 
  native 
  herbs 
  in 
  a 
  list 
  made 
  up 
  from 
  car-window 
  notes 
  in 
  a 
  

   densely 
  wooded 
  region 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  surprising, 
  but 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  

  

  m 
  

  

  I 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  hours, 
  and 
  walked 
  eight 
  or 
  ten 
  miles. 
  

   Several 
  other 
  herbs 
  were 
  seen 
  only 
  once 
  or 
  twice 
  and 
  therefore 
  

   not 
  listed 
  above, 
  but 
  practically 
  all 
  of 
  those 
  were 
  weeds 
  too. 
  

  

  The 
  economic 
  features 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  deserve 
  a 
  passing 
  mention. 
  

   It 
  covers 
  about 
  half 
  of 
  Brazoria 
  County, 
  and 
  the 
  census 
  statistics 
  

   for 
  that 
  county 
  therefore 
  give 
  an 
  approximation 
  of 
  conditions 
  in 
  

   the 
  alluvial 
  region. 
  Less 
  than 
  lO 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  

   county 
  was 
  cultivated 
  in 
  1910, 
  and 
  there 
  were 
  nearly 
  as 
  many 
  

   negro 
  as 
  white 
  farmers. 
  (Negroes 
  are 
  probably 
  in 
  the 
  majority 
  

   in 
  the 
  alluvial 
  region.) 
  The 
  average 
  white 
  farmer 
  in 
  the 
  county 
  

   had 
  240 
  acres, 
  of 
  which 
  57 
  were 
  improved, 
  and 
  buildings 
  worth 
  

   $917; 
  while 
  the 
  negro 
  farmer 
  got 
  along 
  with 
  41 
  acres, 
  25 
  of 
  them 
  

   improved, 
  and 
  buildings 
  worth 
  $165, 
  The 
  large 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  

   men's 
  farms 
  and 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  buildings 
  on 
  them 
  (surpassing 
  

   any 
  other 
  region 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  in 
  both 
  respects) 
  probably 
  

   indicate 
  that 
  many 
  if 
  not 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  sugar 
  plantations. 
  

   For 
  according 
  to 
  Loughridge 
  this 
  region 
  was 
  called 
  the 
  *' 
  sugar- 
  

   bowl** 
  of 
  Texas, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  being 
  the 
  chief 
  sugar-producing 
  

   area 
  of 
  the 
  state.* 
  The 
  average 
  white 
  farmer 
  in 
  the 
  county 
  had 
  

   only 
  about 
  2 
  acres 
  In 
  cotton 
  and 
  8 
  in 
  corn, 
  while 
  his 
  negtp 
  neighbor 
  

   had 
  nearly 
  7 
  acres 
  in 
  cotton 
  and 
  8^ 
  in 
  corn. 
  The 
  yield 
  of 
  cotton 
  

   in 
  1909 
  was 
  very 
  low, 
  only 
  about 
  a 
  tenth 
  of 
  a 
  bale 
  per 
  acre. 
  

  

  Conclusion 
  

  

  A 
  week's 
  sojourn 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas, 
  supplemented 
  by 
  examina- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  literature 
  afterward, 
  brought 
  out 
  some 
  very 
  pronounced 
  

   contrasts 
  between 
  different 
  portions,, 
  and 
  considerable 
  difference 
  

   between 
  the 
  area 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  and 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  coastal 
  plain 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  latitude 
  several 
  hundred 
  miles 
  farther 
  east, 
  say 
  in 
  Ala- 
  

   bama 
  and 
  Georgia, 
  where 
  temperature 
  conditions 
  are 
  substantially 
  

   the 
  same 
  and 
  the 
  annual 
  precipitation 
  not 
  much 
  greater. 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  1880 
  the 
  only 
  Jexas 
  counties 
  that 
  had 
  more 
  than 
  300 
  acres 
  of 
  sugar-cane 
  

   were 
  Brazoria, 
  with 
  3358, 
  and 
  Fort 
  Bend, 
  with 
  1738. 
  In 
  1910 
  Fort 
  Bend 
  had 
  6775 
  

   acres, 
  Wharton 
  4714, 
  and 
  Brazoria 
  2037. 
  (These 
  thr^e 
  counties 
  are 
  all 
  contiguous.) 
  

  

  