AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



781 



get your own time to pay for it. Almost 

 all kinds of fruit grows in the Pan Han- 

 dle — apples, peaches, blackberries, straw- 

 berries, dewberries, and nearly all kinds 

 of fruit grow well. 



This is a fine stock country, and bees 

 do well in most counties, as borsemint is 

 plentiful, and there is an abundance of 

 wild flowers, but cotton does not do well, 

 and the bees get no cotton honey like we 

 do here in the more eastern portion. 

 Timber is plentiful along the little 

 creeks, but rather scarce on the prairies. 

 Water is plentiful in most places, and 

 rather easily obtainable by digging wells 

 from 20 to 100 feet deep. Horses are 

 worth from $10 to $100, according to 

 size and disposition ; milk cows range 

 from $10 to $30 ; and labor on the farm 

 is about $15 to $20 per month. 



The land in the Pan Handle produces 

 from 10 bushels to 40 bushels of wheat 

 per acre. These Pan Handle counties 

 are settling up rapidly with a progres- 

 sive class of farmers from Kansas, Ne- 

 braska, and some from almost all 

 States. Good churches and schools are 

 scattered all over these parts, so that 

 every family has easy access to them. 

 Everything raised on the farm has a 

 ready sale, and usually at remunerative 

 prices. 



Now we will drop down to the first 

 and second tiers of counties, bordering 

 on Red river. Here we strike a rich 

 farming belt of country. It is said by 

 the farmers in these rich, black-land 

 belts that a farruer can grow three 

 times as much as he can gather. Wheat, 

 oats, corn, cotton and potatoes do 

 well, as it often transpires that 400 

 bushels of sweet potatoes are harvested 

 from a single acre, and if the land is 

 properly prepared, they grow with but 

 little work. Corn usually makes from 

 25 to 75 bushels per acre, wheat 10 to 

 30 bushels, oats 50 to 100 bushels. 



Most kinds of cereals and vegetables 

 grow luxuriantly, and through this black- 

 land belt there has never been a failure 

 of.crops since it was put into cultivation. 



Now, for the other side : As we have 

 all learned that there is no rose without 

 its thorns, I will say that in this rich 

 belt every one is a land-holder in wet 

 weather, as you cannot make a track, 

 as you pick up your tracks and carry 

 them with you, and to be a little laugh- 

 able I will tell you that I have seen our 

 folks stall right in our fields within two 

 hundred yards of the house, with four 

 mules to an empty wagon, every wheel 

 becoming so clogged with mud as to stop 

 them from turning, and you, could not 

 tell what the wagon was made of. But 



this mud is mostly during the winter 

 and early spring, and the farmers are 

 learning to do their hauling during the 

 summer and dry seasons, for when it is 

 dry here you can draw all you can get 

 on a wagon, and it is said you must only 

 load the wagon to its capacity as the 

 load is nothing to draw, as the roads are 

 like a pike in dry weather. 



The next grand objection to these rich 

 lands is the chiggers, or red-bugs. I 

 have often picked up a piece of earth as 

 large as a hen's egg, and counted more 

 than 100 red-bugs on it, and they are 

 all over the black lands this way ; some 

 people they do not hurt, and others can't 

 stand them. But if you will make up 

 your mind to take the rose and the thorn 

 together, there is no reason why any one 

 cannot make money here. 



Land in this black farming belt is now 

 pretty high, ranging from $20 to $40 

 per acre. Bees do well all through this 

 last described country, as all kinds of 

 honey-producing plants thrive and do 

 well, the land being very rich. 



Timber is plentiful, and water, too, 

 and good markets for all farm products. 

 Corn, cotton, wheat, oats, potatoes, 

 melons, rye, barley, millet, and nearly 

 all other farm products and garden veg- 

 etables do well, that are grown in the 

 United States, and find ready markets. 

 Fruits, such as peaches, pears, plums, 

 grapes, strawberries, and almost all 

 small fruits grow well except apples, 

 which only grow to do much good on 

 sandy soil. 



The people here are law-abiding citi- 

 zens, and when you come among them 

 you are treated kindly, and you usually 

 find people just such as you leave, as 

 they come here from all parts of the 

 country. Jennie Atchley. 



(To be continued.) 



The Honey-Plants of Northern Texas, 

 and How to Utilize Them. 



Read at tlie late Texas State Conventmi 

 BY DR. WM. R. HOWARD. 



In the consideration of honey-plants 

 of Northern Texas, it will be necessary 

 to draw largely from an essay on this 

 subject, written by me thirteen years 

 ago, and published In the American 

 Bee Journal. 



Honey-plants include those which are 

 visited for pollen, as well as those which 

 furnish honey ; and will be mentioned 

 here commencing with those which are 

 first to bloom, calling attention to their 



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