490 



ritory larger than the State of Pennsylvania — the people are almost ex- 

 clusively engaged in stock-raising. There is a little cultivation aloug 

 the margin of the Eio Grande, but it is very limited. In the whole val- 

 ley there are not one hundred bales of cotton grown. The principal 

 crops consist of corn, beans, melons, and a few vegetables. This is 

 the dry region of Texas, and there will never be any agriculture 

 until the waters of the E,io Graude are used for irrigation. This section 

 consists of widely extended plains or prairies, with scarcity of water, 

 but with good grass,- and the plains are covered with cattle, horses, 

 sheep, and goats. One gentleman in Nueces County, Mr. ^Mifflin Ken- 

 nedy, has under fence 140,000 acres, and brands from 12,000 to 15,000 

 calves annually. Another, Captain King, has under fence about 00,000 

 acres and as much outside pasture, and he also brands annuallj^ 15,000 

 calves. Another stock-raiser, Mr. Clark, sold one of his brands and the 

 stock with it, a few days since, for $24:,000 specie. These are the largest 

 stock-raisers, but there are hundreds who count their herds by the 

 thousands. 



FROM DECEMBER RETURNS. 



Agricultural prospects. — York, Me. : The opportunity for con- 

 tinuous farm labor has seldom been exceeded. Quantity and quality of 

 butter produced are 20 per cent, better than last year, and the growth 

 of young cattle in the same proportion. Farmers have bought as 

 many goods and have paid as promptly as in past years. The middle- 

 men have fallen off one-half. The results of the year show a greater 

 balance in favor of our farmers than any year of the last six. 



Cumherland, Me.: Crops all above average; no lack of food for man 

 or beast at reasonable prices. 



HancockyMe.: One of our hardest seasons. Farmers are going into 

 winter quarters with meagerly supplied larders. Throughout the long 

 winter before us those who best solve the bread problem will be ac- 

 counted our best brain farmers. 



Montgomery, Md.: Good farming pays better during dry weather than 

 any other time. 



Eoicard, Md. : People much depressed by small production and low 

 prices. 



Floyd, Ya. : Fall season very favorable ; but little stock feeding yet. 



Orange, Va. : The distressing want of money is a- bar to all enterprise 

 or improvement. 



Prince William, Va. : A lean year with farmers. 



Greenrille,Va. : Some English and Scotch farmers have settled in the 

 county and have commenced operations in a very different manner from 

 the southern planters. The raising of turnips is a specialty with them, 

 in which they have very good success. 



Frince George, Va. : Low price of wheat and western competition since 

 the opening of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, has caused a decline 

 of wheat acreage. We raise about 1,000 bales of cotton per annum. 



Camden, X C. : Farmers are in good heart and greatly encoaraged ; 

 more manure made and more inquiry in regard to cultivated grasses. 

 Our farmers do good work, but are deficient in farm-machinery. They 

 accomplish too little for the labor employed. 



Greenville, 8. C. : Cotton, guano, and ruin are the three principal 

 articles in this county. The land has been in corn one hundred years. 

 It is difficult to make a crop or a report. The ship is sinking. 



Sarris, Ga. : Labor lower and more easily obtained. 



