TEXAS (ante) may be divided into four sections, eastern, central or middle, west ern, and northern Texas. The first embraces the territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers and is the great lumber region of the state. The soil of the uplands of ;this portion has a light, loamy texture on a basis of red or yellow clay; in the valleys it ie generally a deep vegetable mold or alluvium, very rich and productive. The second division lies between the Trinity and Colorado rivers and contains a large portion of the wheat lands of the state and extensive prairies. The western part includes a vast ter ritory from the Colorado to the Rio Grand?, river, about four-fifths of which is prairie land and used extensively for stock raising. The northern division contains the four counties s. of Red river, is about equally divided between prairie and forest, and has a yellow, loamy, sandy soil. The principal geological formations are the alluvial, ter tiary, cretaceous, and carboniferous. The alluvial extends along the gulf coast; back of this is the tertiary, having its widest expansion in the east; next, in the n.w. is the cretaceous, extending w. on Red river and s. to San Antonio. The carboniferous for mation extends through the counties w. of Cooke county to the "staked plain," stretch ing s. from Red river to and beyond the upper Colorado. Copper is the most abundant metallic product, and a belt of the are extends from the Red river and the counties of Clay, Archer, etc., across to the Rio Grande through Pecos and Presidio counties. Iron, lead, silver, and bismuth are also known to exist in the interior of the state. The large coal-field, mentioned above, is an outlying spur of the great Missouri coal-field, and yields a bituminous coal having 52 per cent of fixed carbon. A smaller coal-field in Brown, Coleman, Comanche, and Hamilton. counties is anthracite or semi-anthracite of good quality. In the n.w. salt springs and salt lakes are numerous, and along the gulf shore, especially south-westward, there are extensive and productive salt lagoons. Potter's and fire clays, marble, roofing-slate, grindstones, soapstones, feldspar, alum, antimony, arsenic, mineral oils and pigments, marls and other fertilizers, are found in great quan tities here and there. The soil, of which they are three or four varieties, is in general very fertile. The stiff, black soil of the river bottoms is fittest for sugar and cotton, though the latter grows well on the prairies and uplands; the finer black or chocolate colored soil of the prairie lands yields abundant crops of corn and the cereals,and the lighter copper colored soil of the uplands is well adapted for the grasses and fruits; while the fine silt of the islands produces the best sea-island cotton known. The soil of the desert tracts of the n.w. is sandy and charged with carbonate of soda and other alkalies,which when irrigated produces moderate quantities of grasses and herbage. The principal forest trees, of some of which several species occur, are the oak, elm, maple, hickory, pecan, sycamore, magnolia, willow pine, cypress, mulberry, cedar, sweet gum, ash, walnut, palmetto, cottonwood, and mezquite. The n. and n.w. has a temperate cli mate, and the gulf coast a semi-tropical. -In the northern parts of the state wheat, barley, oats, corn, and cotton are the staple products, while sweet and Irish potatoes and other vegetables common in temperate climates are raised to considerable extent. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, and strawberries are also cultivated. Along the gulf the orange, lemon, olive, fig, and other semi-tropical fruits thrive. Sugar-cane is raised in this region in profitable quantities, and also rice. Tobacco is cultivated to
some extent both at the n. and south.
The most populous portions of the state are the eastern and central parts. In 1870 there were few inhabitants w. of the 100th meridian, except along the Rio Grande. Of the total population 756,168 persons were natives and 62,411 of foreign birth. The most of the foreigners were natives of Germany, England, or France. At that time 237,126 persons, 10 years old and upward were engaged in occupations, of which 166,753 were employed in agriculture, 40,882 in professional pursuits, 13,612 in trade and trans portatzon, and 15,879 in manufactures and mining. By the last census, 1880, the total pop. is 1,592,574, showing a gain during the past 10 years of over 700,000. Those born in the United States number 1,478,058; in foreign countries. 114,516; those that are white, 1,197,499, the colored, 394,001. Within the past five or six years the state has been growing in popularity with emigrants, and has multiplied in prosperity in many ways. The only definite statistics at present obtainable, however, further than given, are those of 1870. The crops for that year were 66.173 bushels of spring wheat, 348,919 of winter wheat, 20,554,538 of Indian corn, 762,663 of oats, 44,351 of barley, 28,521 of rye, 44 of buckwheat, 42,654 of peas and beans, 208,383 of Irish potatoes, 2,188,041 of sweet potatoes, 7 of clover seed, 497 of grass seed, 2 of flax seed, 63,844 lbs. of rice, 59,706 of tobacco, 1,251,328 of wool, 3,712,747 of butter, 34,342 of cheese, 51 of hops, 25 of flax, 13,255 of wax, 273,169 of honey, 6,216 gallons of wine, 5,032 of maple molasses, 174,509 of sorghum molasses, 246,062 of cane molasses, 2,020 hogsheads of cane sugar, 5 tons of hemp, 18,982 of hay, and 350,628 bales of cotton. Of the manu factured products at that date the most important was lumber,there being 102 saw-mills, producing annually material valued at $1,736,482. Next in importance and value were the packing establishments of beef and other meats, in fifteen of which packed meats, condensed meat essences, meat biscuits, etc. were put up to the value of $1,052,156. Among the other manufactories were 4 cotton-mills that produced goods annually valued at $375,000; 138 saddlery and harness establishments; 71 tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware factories; 115 carriage and wagon shops; 533 flouring and grist mills; and 12 establishments for the manufacture of agricultural implements. Altogether the capital invested amounted to about.$5,284,110; the wages paid, $1,787,835; the value of raw material $6,273,193; and the value of goods produced, $11,517,302. The abundance of raw material, the water-power of the w. central region, and the high price of manu factured goods have stimulated these industries a great deal, and manufacturing since 1870 has made much progress. A large part of the state's trade is with Mexico, and the chief item of export is cotton. • The ports of entry are Brownsville, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Indianola, and Galveston. For the year ending in June, 1875, the imports amounted to $3,050,239; the exports of domestic products, $17,193,118; the exports of foreign products, $1,631,064. The principal railroads are the Houston and Texas Cen tral, extending from Houston to Red river, 340 m.; the International, from Hearne to Longview, 174 tn. ; the Houston and Great Northern, from Houston to Palestine, 152 m.; the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio, from Harrisburg to Columbus, 84 m. ; the Texas Pacific, from Longview to Shreveport, La., 66 in.; and the Gulf, Houston and Henderson, from Galveston to Houston, 50 miles. The national banks in 1875 numbered 10, and the state banks 20.