PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



CLIMATE AND SOIL OF SOUTHWESTERN 

 TEXAS. 



BY JAMES C. ATKINS. 



SOUTHWEST Texas may be defined as follows : 

 Commencing at Matagorda, a town on the coast 

 about 100 miles southwest of Galveston, and follow- 

 ing the coast line to the mouth of the Rio Grande, 

 thence up the river to Eagle Pass and back in a 

 straight line to the place of beginning, making a 

 somewhat irregular triangle. 



For the last thirty or thirty-five years this part of 

 Texas has been in the hands of ranchmen, whose im- 

 mense ranges have been kept for the use of their 

 herds alone, to the absolute exclusion of the farmer 

 and gardener. A large portion of these lands is 

 now being put on the market at reasonable figures, 

 and before long I hope to see this the finest country 

 in the United States, blossoming like a rose and 

 filled with people. 



I say ihe finest country, for what place is there in 

 the United States that can compete with us in cli- 

 mate, or in the earliness with which we can place our 

 vegetables on the market? 



We live in a country which lies on the verge of the 

 temperate and tropical worlds. The chill of the 

 winter wind and the fierceness of the torrid heat are 

 not known here. The prolonged spring, the summer, 

 tempered with the ever-pleasant and all-pervading 

 cooling breeze, the genial, bright and sunny fall and 

 uniformly mild and gentle winter, constitute a cli- 

 mate of constant enjoyment worthy of the highest 

 appreciation. From the similarity of climate to that 

 of southern Europe this country might be called the 

 New Mediterranean. Especially is this the case at 

 this point, Portland, which is situated on Corpus 

 Christi bay, on bluffs forty feet above the level of the 

 sea and about midway between Galveston on the 

 north and Brownsville on the south. At both of the 

 above named places the extremes of temperature 

 are greater than at this point. At Portland the uniform 

 summer temperature is, day after day, 84 to 86 degrees, 

 rarely going above this, and then only to 90 or 92 de- 

 grees. Even this is hardly felt as long as we have 

 the delightful gulf breeze. In winter our days are a 

 succession of pleasant temperature of from 40 to 60 

 degrees, interspersed now and then by a norther, or 

 north wind, when the temperature will fall slightly 

 below 40 degrees, but rarely getting tow enough for a 

 frost. 



86 



We have three varieties of soil here: The white 

 sand, composed of decomposed shell; a quick soil if 

 it has plenty of water, but without strength to stand 

 continued cropping without the addition of artificial 

 fertilizers. This land is only found in the immediate 

 vicinity of the coast, and consequently is very liable 

 to drift unless protected by wind-breaks in the shape 

 of trees. 



Brown sand : This forms our staple market, gar- 

 den and fruit land. It is a fine, rich loam and well 

 able to stand continued cropping, and producing veg- 

 etables and fruits, such as grapes, peaches, plums, 

 dates, oranges, lemons, bananas, etc., from three to 

 four weeks earlier than California. No great quan- 

 tity of these fruits has been as yet raised here, as 

 the country has only been open to settlement within 

 the past few years. Enough have, however, been 

 planted to prove the above assertion. 



In this county (San Patricio) there are two bearing 

 vineyards, containing about 40 acres of wine grapes, 

 from which is made some of the finest wine I have 

 ever tasted in the United States. This wine will be 

 better matured in three months' 1 time here than in 

 three years' time in California. 



As far as I can ascertain, the first carload of water- 

 melons shipped in the United States this year was 

 shipped from La Fruita,- in this county, to Kansas 

 City, and Portland had the honor of placing the first 

 car in Dallas on the 5th of June. I have just heard 

 from Chicago that the first of the Georgia crop 

 is not expected before July 15th. Over a month's 

 difference. Our other vegetables are equally as 

 early. 



The Black or Hog Wallow land: This is similar 

 in some respects to the North Texas black waxy or 

 gumbo land, but has more sand in it, making it a 

 great deal easier to work. It is a very rich soil, well 

 adapted for cotton and corn, and capable of produc- 

 ing large crops for an indefinite number of years 

 without fertilizing. This land holds the moisture 

 very well and may prove to be very good for fruit. 

 As is the case in all new countries, the sandy land is 

 the first to be developed and experimented with, so 

 in this case all fruits and vegetables have been 

 planted in the sandy lands and the black land has 

 only been allowed, to produce cotton and corn. 

 However, I know of a few grape vines that have 

 been planted in it and are doing well, being heavily 

 loaded with fruit this year. 



