TEXAS, OUR LARGEST STATE 



1343 



ing is the principal industry, but irriga- 

 tion is successful in many of the valleys 

 and numerous settlements are developing 

 gradually. 



A IvAND OF GENIAI, WARMTH 



An area so large as Texas naturally 

 has considerable variety of climate. It 

 ranges from semi-tropical in the far south 

 to that of the southern part of the tem- 

 perate zone in the semi-arid regions of 

 the mountains and high plains in the 

 western and northwestern part of the 

 State. In the eastern section north of 

 the Gulf there is a district of considerable 

 extent with notably high rainfall, ex- 

 ceeding 55 inches a year. 



Excepting in the highest lands, the 

 winters are mild, save for the keen breath 

 of an occasional "norther," and near the 

 coast the heat of midsummer is pleas- 

 antly tempered by breezes from the Gulf. 

 Snow rarely extends south of Austin. 



On the whole, the claim that Texas has 

 an ideal climate is fairly well justified. 

 Some midsummer days in the far south 

 are rather trying, and in every winter 

 short spells of cold weather reach far 

 across the State and linger awhile on the 

 high plains of the Panhandle. Some of- 

 ficial figures from representative stations 

 in the larger divisions of the State are as 

 follows (see also map, page 1355) : 



stations. 



Eleva- 

 tion, 

 feet. 



Temperatures 



Pre- 

 cipita- 



Jan. 



July. 



Mean 

 annual 



tion, 

 inches. 



Brownsville 



Galveston 



San Antonio.... 

 Fort Worth 



30 

 40 



650 



700 



3,654 



3.370 



60.8 



52.7 

 5I-I 

 46.1 

 36.6 

 44.1 



83.0 

 83.0 

 82.4 

 825 



75-3 

 80.5 



727 

 69.4 

 67.9 

 64.8 



55-9 

 62.9 



26.9 

 46.3 

 28.0 



33-3 



21.9 



9.2 



El Paso 





Brownsville is in the extreme southern 

 extremity of Texas, very nearly as far 

 south as the southern termination of 

 Florida. This accounts for the high 

 mean annual temperature and the small 

 difference between January and July av- 

 erages. It is, however, so far west as to 

 be out of the zone of heavy rainfall. 

 Galveston, farther north up the coast, 

 has more typical Gulf Coast climate, with 



mild winters and summer heat greatly 

 moderated by nearly continuous Gulf 

 breezes. San Antonio, in the central part 

 of southern Texas, is representative of a 

 wide area of the inland country. Fort 

 Worth is in the central part of north 

 Texas, Amarillo is on the high plateau 

 of the Staked Plains in the ''Panhandle," 

 and El Paso is at the western end of the 

 State, in the great interior arid belt. 



HOW the: POPUI.ATION IS GROWING 



The present population of Texas is a 

 little over 4,000,000, which is close to 

 15 persons to the square mile. This num- 

 ber is not great, considering the size of 

 Texas ; for if all the people in this coun- 

 try were moved into the State, the popu- 

 lation would be less crowded than it is in 

 Massachusetts, a State which now has a 

 materially smaller population than Texas. 

 The increase has been gradual, passing 

 the million mark in 1872, 2,000,000 in 

 1886 or 1887, and 3,000,000 in 1900. The 

 rate of increase of population of Texas 

 in the decade 1900 to 1910 was materially 

 greater than that of the United States 

 and of all States having greater popula- 

 tion than 3,000,000. 



About 71 per cent of the population 

 are native white Americans ; 98 per cent 

 of the population speak English; the re- 

 maining 2 per cent are Spanish speaking, 

 being largely Mexicans. There are 19 

 per cent of negroes in the population, but 

 the percentage of white is slowly gaining 

 on this by means of a greater net increase. 



There are 107,110 more males than 

 females, according to last census. The 

 death-rate is 11 per 1,000 a year, and, as 

 the births average 343 a day, their ratio 

 to deaths is nearly three to one. 



Immigration is about equal to the net 

 increase by births. Many of the immi- 

 grants are from other portions of the 

 United States, and a fair proportion of 

 them bring funds to invest in farms. It 

 is estirnated that $700,000 a day comes to 

 Texas in investments in farms, factories, 

 railroads, and other industries. 



the: SOURCK 01^ ONE-FI^TH 01^ THE) 



wori.d'3 cotton 



Texas Is preeminently an agricultural 

 State, for nearly all of its area is arable, 

 the soils are rich, and the mild climate 



