66 THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 



wheat, 56,647 bushels of sweet potatoes, 5,777 bushels of Irish po- 

 tatoes, 2,513 tons of millet, 6,723 tons of hay, besides the other 

 crops. The total value of these products at present prices is $7,- 

 093,444.75. The county's area is 969 square miles and the popu- 

 lation in 1890 31,174, one-fifth of which was urban. This crop 

 was produced on less than two-fifths of the county's area. 



Without consuming the space to itemize, the value of the 

 products of this county exceeds by nearly $500,000 the entire cot- 

 ton, corn, wheat, oats, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, hay, rice, 

 sugar, molasses and sorghum crop of the State of Florida, to pro- 

 duce which required an expenditure for fertilizers of $857,327. 

 This group of counties produced 657,989 bales of the 1,471,279- 

 bale crop of 1890, and more than 49 per cent of the 3,i54,ooo-bale 

 crop of 1894. 



Several things must be noted among the changes in the rate 

 of progress made by these several factors in our growth. The 

 wealth of the State, according to the Comptroller's report, has in- 

 creased during this last decade only 16.87 P 61 " cent - Population 

 has increased twice as rapidly as either, and the value and quan- 

 tity of agricultural products has increased over 100 per cent. This 

 is, of course, the gross income of the farm, and would indicate 

 that the results have not added to the wealth of the State as would 

 naturally be expected. This is doubtless due, in the main, to the 

 low prices which have ranged for cotton from 1894 to 1900. If 

 the price of this product can be kept approximately near the rul- 

 ing prices of 1900, the increase in the taxable wealth of the State 

 maybe expected to increase proportionately. With the large in- 

 crease in other products, which will doubtless continue, the gen- 

 eral addition to the wealth of the State is assured from this 

 source. With a tonnage of something like 100 per cent greater 

 than in 1890, an increase in passenger traffic commensurate with 

 the increase in population and the improved financial conditions 

 of the people, the outlook for the profitable operation of railroads 

 is better than at any previous stage of our history. The railroad 

 is the boldest pioneer among all the factors in our industrial de- 

 velopment, hence we may reasonably expect a large addition to 

 railway mileage in the near future. 



While agriculture is rushing ahead at such gigantic strides, 

 the probability of <a relapse in its profitable pursuit should, if pos- 

 sible, be anticipated and prevented. 



It may not be hazarding too much to predict that by the time 

 1910 rolls around Texas will be producing more than half of all 

 the cotton in the United States, and enough wheat, corn, rice, 

 beef, mutton and pork to sustain 12,000,000 people. These by no 

 means represent all the food products of the State, and^a slight 

 digression will be made to illustrate. The sweet potato is one of 

 the staple products of the South. It is probably the most prolific, 

 the most certain and the most easily cultivated of all our products. 

 Its value as a food product in the North is indicated by the fact 

 that the State of New Jersey annually produces about 2,250,000 



