36 



gested that all persons who have ponds, streams, or fountains of water 

 should procure at least a few black bass, which is a hardy breeder, rank- 

 ing second to the brook trout, and by some considered superior. This 

 fish is well adapted to the waters of the State, requires but little care 

 besides feeding, and protects its young, which the trout does not. 



Bexar County, Texas. — The vice-president of the Agricultural, 

 Stock-raising and Industrial Association of Western Texas, W. G. Kings- 

 bury, furnishes the Department with some interesting particulars in 

 regard to Bexar County, of which San Antonio is the principal town. 



Prior to 18o9-'60 it was generally believed that i)eaches were the only 

 kind of fruit that would do well and pay as a marketable product. 

 During the war very little was done in the direction of planting- 

 orchards. The few that were planted are now coming to maturity, and 

 exceed the most sanguine hopes of all parties. The peaches are of a 

 superior flavor, and the crop almost a certain one, there having been 

 but two failures in the last twenty years, in both cases caused by late 

 frosts. Last year peaches sold in the San Antonio market at 25 cents 

 a bushel. Apples, pears, apricots, nectarines, and plums, as far as tried, 

 are succeeding well. Peaches, plums, cherries and grapes grow wild 

 throughout Western Texas. 



Bexar County is about equally divided into ])rairie and timber lands, 

 and is well watered by numerous springs, creeks, and one beautiful river 

 flowing from large springs, four miles above the city of San Antonio, 

 down through the center of the county. The surface is undulating, and 

 the soil from two feet in depth on the hills to twelve feet in the valleys. 

 The forest growth consists chiefl}' of post oak, live oak, hackberry, elm, 

 cotton-wood, pecan, cedar, juniper, and cypress. The air is so pure that 

 fresh meat w ill not spoil if exposed to a free circulation. The lauds are 

 rich and productive, averaging, this season, one bale, of 500 pounds, of 

 cotton to the acre. With the present market facilities, stock-raising 

 is considered the most remunerative employment. Stock cattle (an av- 

 erage of all ages) are worth from $2 50 to $3 50 per head. Lands are 

 worth from 50 cents to $2 00 iier acre, unimx)roved, although they are 

 rapidly advancing in price. 



