194 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS. 



RAINFALL. 



After the question of soils that of the rainfall is, to the agriculturist, the 

 one of most importance. No matter how good the soils of a country may 

 be, if the rainfall is too small, or comes at the~ wrong time of the year, it 

 would be impossible to raise crops without irrigation. 



There is an idea extant that this belt of country is within the arid district, 

 but such is not the case; the eastern boundary of that district is west of the 

 western part of the Permian formation. I will be prepared to give full sta- 

 tistics of the rainfall and temperature of this part of the State in a later re- 

 port. It is enough to say now that there have been but few seasons in the 

 last twenty years when there was not enough rain to mature the crops, espe- 

 cially the wheat crop. It will be shown by these statistics that the rains 

 come as a general rule in those months when most needed by the farmers for 

 agricultural purposes. The proper cultivation of the soil so as to utilize the 

 rain when it does come is a matter of very great importance in a country 

 where there is not a surplus of rain. If the farmer does not attend to the 

 cultivation or breaking up of his land until after the spring rains, he is likely 

 to need rain and not get it at a time when it is most needed for maturing his 

 crops ; but if he will break up his land in the fall or winter, and break it 

 deep, and be ready to plant at the proper time, whether the rain has come or 

 not, when the rain does come his crop will grow, and all the subsequent rain 

 will be used in its growth and maturity. Such crops will have to be planted 

 as will mature the earliest in the spring, unless they will stand the drouth of 

 summer and then mature with the fall rains. 



Wheat can be raised with profit, and will be the surest crop, as it is the 

 earliest to mature. Oats will also be a good crop, yet is likely to be short 

 straw. Sorghum is always a good crop, and when sown for hay gives an 

 abundant yield. 



BUILDING MATERIAL. 



Sandstones and limestones suitable for building purposes are found in the 

 Permian in great abundance. There is not a county explored that has not or 

 could not have a number of good quarries. The sandstones of the "Wichita 

 Beds have been used extensively at Wichita Falls and Henrietta. The lime- 

 stones are very abundant in the Clear Fork Beds, and have been used in sev- 

 eral of the towns situated in that part of the district. The quality of the 

 limestones is very suitable for building purposes. The towns of San Angelo, 

 Ballinger, and Seymour are largely built of this kind of stone, where stone is 

 used. Many private residence throughout the country are built of this stone, 



