THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 27 



The Matagorda Rioe and Irrigation Company, home capital. 

 Expanded from 600 acres in 1900 to 10,000 acres in 1901. 



Dr. G. W. Collier, W. H. Turner and T. J. Hookes, of Beau- 

 mont, 6,000 acres. 



R. W. Warren & Son, East Texas, 2,000 acres. 



Le Tulle & Vaughan, home capital, 2,000 acres. 



Sig Brown, Louisiana, 1,280 acres. 



Bay Prairie Rice Company, Houston and LaGrange capital, 

 23,000 acres. 



Several home people are sinking wells, a test well having a 

 depth of 102 feet struck a sheet of water-bearing sand through 

 which the pipe dropped eighty feet and the water rose to within 

 four feet of the surface. 



Now that the people of the Texas coast country are going to 

 profit by the experience of the people of Southwestern Louisiana, 

 the future of the Texas coast country looks bright. I believe that 

 rice and sugar mixed with stock farming will do a great deal for 

 the further settlement and development of the coast country dur- 

 ing the next five years, provided those who own the vacant lands 

 do not ask too much for them, and provided warehouses, rice and 

 sugar mills are erected to care for and manufacture the crops by 

 the business and monied men. 



The counties of Colorado and Matagorda and Wharton are 

 among the best in the State, provided the lands are used for the 

 purposes to which they are best adapted. But let us bear in mind 

 that only a very small percentage of the lands in these counties 

 are yet occupied or cultivated by actual settlers. It is safe to say 

 that at least 65 per cent of the lands in Wharton and Matagorda 

 Counties are yet vacant, and in Colorado County probablv 4 P er 

 cent of the land is yet undeveloped. 



Speaking of Wharton County, permit me to say that in the 

 vicinity of El Campo there is quite a thrifty settlement of North- 

 ern people. The success of such communities as that at El 

 Campo means much for the business men and railroads of the 

 Texas coast country, whereas, if they should fail, it will not only 

 be a disappointment to the settlers, but also to all others inter- 

 ested in the development of this part of the State. There _ is room 

 for at least 200,000 people between Houston and Victoria along 

 the line of the Southern Pacific and New York, Texas and Mex- 

 ican railways. This being the case, I can see no good excuse for 

 our large land owners raising the prices of their lands as they 

 have done in the past on the strength of securing a few settlers. 



Yours truly, 



JOHN HOWARD, 

 Immigration Agent Southern Pacific Ry. 



