22 TEXAS STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICI?LTURE. 



Washington 8.84 



Wise 2.22 



Wharton 10.40 



Williamson 2.43 



Wood 2.70 



Young 56 



It will be observed that the most valuable lands of that time were 

 those of Wharton, Washington and Fort Bend, in South Texas, and 

 that next, omitting Travis, the seat of government, was Harrison in, 

 East Texas, while the averages of Smith and Rusk, also in East Texas, 

 were far above the average of the other counties. At that time the 

 average price of lands in Williamson, Ellis and Dallas was less than 

 the average of Rusk, Smith and Harrison. The above figures are pro- 

 foundly interesting in view of the fact that a further investigation and 

 comparison of the value of land in those counties will reveal a change 

 in values in the short space of fifty-five years that is wonderful to con- 

 template, and which cannot be explained except on economical ground?. 



The average price of land today in Dallas, Ellis and Williamson is 

 at least $100 per acre, while the average price in Washington, Fort 

 Bend and Wharton, in South Texas, and the average price in Harrison, 

 Rusk and Smith, in East Texas, remained at a standstill for thirty 

 years, or nearly so. Long after land was selling for $100 per acre in 

 Dallas, Ellis and Williamson, it was selling for five, ten and fifteen in 

 Harrison, Smith and Rusk. The tragedy of 1861-5 tells the tale and 

 unveils the mystery. At the time of which I am writing" Rusk county 

 owned 3850 slaves; Smith, 2913, and Harrison, 7203. Dallas owned 

 502; Ellis, 638, and Williamson, 813. The aggregate white popula- 

 tion of Harrison, Rusk and Smith was 26,079, while the aggregate 

 white population of Dallas, Ellis and Williamson was 11,354. 



While our civilization was of the hardy character which belongs to 

 the wilderness, yet, when the negro was emancipated, the white man, 

 brave and undaunted in war, skillful and ingenius in times of peace, 

 was not inclined to wrestle with forests when millions of untouched 

 prairie lands could be had for a trifle, and upon which herds of cattle 

 and sheep would solve the problem of a living without labor to the 

 owner. Hence the prairies were settled, the population of the West 

 increased and thrived and waxed strong. The transition from a stock 

 to a farming country came naturally, and lands that were thought to be 

 worthless except for grazing purposes have advanced rapidly until they 

 are now the most costly lands in Texas. 



But the tide is beginning to change. It has been demonstrated that 

 East Texas is the ideal stock farming country of the Southwest. Owing 

 to the almost innumerable kinds of grasses and clovers which flourish 

 here, supplemented by an inexhaustible supply of water, together with 

 a salubrious climate for man and beast, this East Texas country will 

 unquestionably, in the course of time, become a world-renowned stock 

 country. There is no domestic animal which does not reach a most 

 satisfactory development here, and Jersey cattle, hogs, sheep and goats 

 are n 71 excelled in this portion of the State. 



