PALO PINTO COUNTY. 523 



very base of the Carboniferous found a limestone that was almost entirely 

 made up of Fusulina cylindrica, which has never been reported in the Sub- 

 Carboniferous formation in North America. 



SOIL. 



The soils of Palo Pinto County are derived principally from the immediate 

 underlying and surrounding strata. The only exceptions to this are the broad 

 valleys along the Brazos River. The Brazos River soils are derived from the 

 country through which this river passes, from the foot of the Staked Plains 

 to their present locality. They are a red sandy loam, and are very fertile. 

 They generally lie above overflow. Some of the best crops in the country 

 are made on these lands. They are better for corn and cotton than for the 

 small grains. Another class of soil is the black sandy land found along the 

 creek bottoms. This soil is derived from the strata passed through by the 

 several creeks on their way to the river. They are generally overgrown with 

 timber and brushwood. The other kind of soil is that derived from the strata 

 immediately underlying the localities. These soils vary in color and compo- 

 sition, according to the material from which they are derived. Some of them 

 are black, some reddish, some light sandy. Some of them have a large per 

 cent of lime, while others are made principally of clay. These soils are in 

 bodies varying from a few acres to several hundreds of acres in extent. The 

 county will never be as completely enclosed with farms as some of the counties 

 to the westward, but there is enough good land in all parts of the county to 

 form good settlements. Some of the lands are too broken to be good for 

 agricultural purposes, but all the lands are covered with a fine growth of nu- 

 tritious grasses. Stock raising is carried on quite extensively in the county. 

 The grass is mostly mesquite. The protection for stock in winter is all that 

 could be desired. 



TIMBER. 



This county is almost in the center of the " Upper Cross Timbers." There 

 are no large prairies in the county. Everywhere timber is abundant. The 

 principal kinds are post oak, blackjack, elm, hackberry, pecan, red oak, and 

 cottonwood. Mesquite is also abundant. There are large cedar brakes along 

 the Brazos River, where large amounts of timber have been obtained for rail- 

 road construction and fencing. More timber has been taken out of this 

 county for fencing purposes on the great prairies of the west than from any 

 other county in the State, and still there are thousands of acres of the very 

 finest timber for this purpose awaiting a demand for its use. At the present 

 there is but one railroad that reaches this timber, and that at its southern ex- 

 tremity. The posts are loaded on the cars at about twelve cents apiece, by 

 the carload, This is about the rate paid for the best quality of posts, 



