TEXAS : ITS SUGAR LANDS, SOIL, &.C. 



521 



TEXAS : ITS SUGAR LANDS, SOIL, &c. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE ORATION OF JUDGE ROST, DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION OF LOUISIANA, 



Hay, 1845, and first published in the Farmers' Library and Month. Jour, of Agkicultttre. 



To John S. Skinner, Esq. 



Editor of the Farmers' Library. 

 This interesting discourse republished in the 

 N. O. Bulletin, of the 27th of October last, is well 

 worth the perusal of Sugar planters and of per- 

 sons disposed to go into the culture of Sugar- 

 Cane in Texas. It contains much valuable in- 

 formation and generally to be relied on, be- 

 ing sustained for the most part by " facts, careful 

 observations, and practical results." But the 

 learned Judge has fallen into a grave error in 

 stating that Sugar-Cane will not rattoon on Gal- 

 veston Bay ; and he quotes Mr. J. C. Marsh as 

 authority for this statement. Now .so far is this 

 from being correct, there is at this time growing 

 on the immediate margin of Galveston Bay, on 

 Col. Morgan's plantation, Sugar-Cane which has 

 rattooned i\\e fourth year. The third year of its 

 rattooning, a number of stalks were taken to 

 Galveston and exhibited in Shaw's Hotel, where 

 they were seen by hundreds of persons, which 

 had matured for seven feet. And the two pre- 

 ceding years the Cane had matured to an equal 

 bight. In 1830, '31, and '32, Judge Williams cul- 

 tivated Cane successfully on the Trinity, 20 

 miles from Galveston Bay, and the rattoons of 

 the third year were equal to the gi-owth of the 

 first year ; and the Sugar made by Judge Wil- 

 liams was equal to any ever imported from 

 Louisiana. On the Caney, 40 miles from Gal- 

 veston Bay.Mr. Duncan, Mr. Sweeny, and others, 

 are now cultivating the Cane on a large scale, 

 and with great profit. It will be an easy matter 

 to ascertain from these gentleman whether Cane 

 will rattoon in this neighborhood or not. Mr. 

 McMillan, near Houston, 20 miles from Galves- 

 ton Bay (its neighborhood) has Cane which ma- 

 tured last year, and the present, which is the fifth 

 of its rattooning, seven feet high. It is a well-as- 

 certained fact that the Sugar-Cane grown on the 

 prairies near Galveston Bay furnishes more sac- 

 charine matter than that grown on the bottom 

 larids, though it does not attain to so great an ele- 

 vation as the latter. Yet some that was grown 

 on the plantation of Col. Morgan already alluded 

 to. ^vas pronounced by a gentleman from the 

 West Indies, equal to any Cane he had ever 

 seen growing th ere. Col. M.'s was the ribbon 

 Cane and the third year of its rattooning. The 

 (no;') 



Cane of Mr. Sweeny's plantation on the Bernard 

 has rattooned, I am informed, the sixth year 

 The Sugar made by Mr. Duncan, who likewise 

 plants on the Bernard, was considered in Galves- 

 ton equal to any ever imported from New-Or- 

 leans. I might cite facts indefinitely to prove 

 the incorrections of Judge Host's statement con- 

 cerning the Sugar lands of Texas generally and 

 of Galveston Bay in particular. Mr. J. C. Marsh, 

 tlierefore, if indeed such a person ever " planted 

 in the neighborhood of Galveston Bay," has led 

 the learned Judge into an error of fact. No 

 planter of this name has been known or heard 

 of in this vicinity bj' any of the inhabitants living 

 here for the last fifteen years. I have, however, 

 heard that a gentleman of this name is planting 

 in Attakapas, Louisiana. But it is quite imma- 

 terial who is the author of the erroneous state- 

 ment; my object is only to set forth the facts. 



The Orange flourishes in high perfection in 

 Galveston Bay. I lately visited New Washington 

 and found the orange trees in Col.M.'s grove load- 

 ed with large fruit of delicious flavor. This grove 

 stands on an elevated bluff exposed to the north 

 wind, without the smallest protection, yet it was 

 uninjured during the recent severe weather, 

 which was the coldest that has occnrrejl in this 

 section since the winter of 1837-38. It surely 

 will not be contended by the learned Judge 

 Rost that the climate is too vigorous to allow the 

 cultivation of the Cane. 



Galveston Bay is a broad, irregular sheet of 

 water extending from the Gulf some 30 or 40 

 miles into the interior of the country. Into the 

 head of the Bay, on its north-east and north-west 

 corners, the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers re- 

 spectively di.scharge their waters. On the mar- 

 gin of these rivers are rich alluvial bottoms va- 

 rj'ing in breadth and aboundingin Cane and the 

 various trees of the growthofthe.se latitudes, and 

 furni.shing most ample supplies of wood for tim- 

 ber and fuel. I may mention as a fi.xed point 

 that New Washington, situated at the mouth of 

 the San Jacinto, is nearly in latitude 29° 30'. 

 The country bordering Galveston Bay and for a 

 distance more than 30 miles into the interior, is 

 of diluvial fonnation. The soil is from one to 

 three or four feet deep, and reposes on a subsoil 

 of clay containing considerable quantities of 



