now THEY LIVE IN TEXAS. 25 



rolling prairies, especially those of Washington County, on either 

 side of Brenham, its capital. These have been twenty to thirty 

 years planted to Corn or Cotton, never manured, and cultivated so 

 shallowly that every rain sweeps off thousands of tons of their soil 

 to be borne into the Gulf by the Brassos or squandered upon its 

 intervales. Yet these prairies still sustain and mature bounteous 

 harvests ; and no wonder, since their black mold ranges from two 

 to five feet in depth. Mellow, dry, breezy, healthful, I do not see 

 how these lands could be made more inviting. 



The level prairies are of good quality, though not equal in the 

 ' average to those just spoken of. They may average a foot of daik 

 mold, generally overlying clay. They are mainly left in a state of 

 nature, and devoted to the rearing of cattle, which are sold at three 

 or four years old for ^10 to $20 per head to drovers or packers. 

 Tens of thousands in good condition have been slaughtered' for their 

 hides and tallow — the flesh, after yielding all its tallow, being fed to 

 swine. This, I 'trust, is ended; it certainly will be when the first 

 I'ailroad shall have connected the valley of the lower Colorado with 

 that of the Missouri or the Ohio. As yet, the State is full of 

 cattle, and will be for a few years longer ; but they must ultimately 

 give place to tillage. Whenever lands devoid of stnmp or stone, 

 equal to those of the Connecticut valley, and within four days by 

 rail of New York, shall be worth $5 j^er acre, these prairies will be 

 gradually inclosed, broken up by the Steam Plow, surface-drained 

 by gigantic machines, and cultivated for Corn, Cotton, Wheat, or 

 some choice Grass ; and then Cattle will gradually disappear, or be 

 reared in some more civilized fashion. At present, they simply 

 hold the ground till Cultivation shall be ready to claim it. 



III. Whether it be a recommendation or not, I jiidge that it has 

 required less eifort to live in Texas than in any other State of the 

 ^ Union. The common saying, " It costs no more to rear a cow 

 here than a hen at the North," is literally true. The cow was 

 never fed, never sheltered, no matter how cold or stormy the 

 weather ; and you might have ten thousand head of cattle ranging 

 the prairies and openings without owning an acre of land on earth. 

 Many a man has thus grown rich without effort and almost without 

 thought. 



Rich, but to little present pui'pose. His home was a rude cabin, 

 with little or no glass in its windows, and nothing but dirt on its 

 floors. His children grew up unschooled and rude-mannered. His 



