12 SLAVS ON SOUTHERN FARMS. 



More than SO per cent of the members of this colony own property 

 free of debt. The farms vary in value from $1,000 to $10,000, 

 averaging about $2,000. A large number of them bought their farms 

 while working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and Illinois, and 

 after paying for them and saving a little capital moved to Arkansas. 



The coming of the Slovaks greatly increased land values in the 

 locality, and it is stated that nearly every cent of their earnings is 

 immediately invested in improvements on the farms and in live 

 stock. Many of these families own more than 20 cows and from 5 to 

 10 horses and mules, as well as large numbers of hogs. 



This colony forms an independent group, and visiting among 

 themselves is almost the only form of enjoyment indulged in on 

 account of the isolation of the colony, although the younger people 

 occasionally hold dances. The Slovaks associate freely with the 

 Americans in the county and in the towns when they are abroad, 

 and no prejudice exi sts against them in any part of Arkansas. As a 

 race and as farmers they are highly respected. 



There are about 75 men of voting age in the colony, over 90 per 

 cent possessing full naturalization papers. They play only a minor 

 part in local elections, however, and very few of them have held 

 public office. There have been several Slovak members on the county 

 school boards, and oi c or two of them have held positions as road 

 overseers. 



The Slovaks in this part of Arkansas have greatly improved con- 

 ditions in agriculture. They have not introduced any new methods or 

 crops, but they brought with them capacity for hard work and their 

 characteristic thrift, with which they have turned the former barren 

 prairies into a productive farming region. 



BOHEMIANS ON TEXAS FARMS. 



Turning again to Texas we find the State has an estimated Bo- 

 hemian population, in addition to the Poles, of over 50,000, engaged 

 principally in agriculture and scattered through 80 counties. 



More than 60 per cent of these people own their property, and over 

 50 per cent of that number have their holdings free of debt. The 

 majority of them entered Texas without sufficient money to purchase 

 land at first, and have won their present prosperity by thrift and hard 

 work. 



The first Bohemians, together with a group of Serbs of the Luzice- 

 Serbian stem, settled in the State as early as 1835, before the days of 

 the Texan Republic, in what is now Burl son County. The first 

 permanent colony, still in existence, however, was not established 

 until about 1853, in Fayette County. Their farms to-day vary in 

 -i/o from 40 to 1,000 acres, averaging about 100 acres. They are 

 chiefly cotton growers ; but, unlike the natives, they produce enough 

 trucking stuff to supply the demands of the family and raise sufficient 

 feed to provide for their live stock. They are on the richest cotton 

 lands in the State, and their numbers are increasing annually. 



In Texas the Bohemians farm intelligently and use the most 

 improved implements and methods of cultivation. As a result, farm 

 values in the localities where they are found are steadily going up. 

 They form a group of citizens of which Texas is proud, and every 

 effort is being made to induce greater numbers of them to settle in the 

 State. 



