The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 190
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
possibly be of any service to them in the selection of their place
of settlement for the future. Already a long time before that I
had discovered the short-comings of this district, in which I live,-
phenomena which a person can learn only by practical experience.
The land hereabout I have found, on the whole, to be too poor in
soil-quality. The water is of a very inferior quality. The land
hereabout has this main defect that the surface soil ("Jordlaget"),
which contains a good amount of clay, is too little mixed with
sand, so that, as soon as the spring-rains have terminated, the
soil at once is baked hard by the summer-heat ("Sommervarmen"),
and, if rains are not occurring frequently, the soil will bring forth
a quite mediocre crop ("en maadelig Avling"). I have seen good
examples of this during especially the two last years, when very
small crops obtained and, consequently, the grain at high prices.
Most of the crop consists of wheat, which, on account of that it
becomes ripe rather early-in the latter part of May and the
first part of June-will be rather certain-however, if one's fields
are not located in the bottomland prairies ("Bundlandsprerierne")
but on land at higher levels ("paa Hiiilandetd"), then one cannot
realize more than half an ordinary crop ("halv Afgride")--from
ten to twelve bushels per acre. In the western part of this county,
which borders on East-Fork of the Trinity River basin ("Ost-
Fork af Trinity"), the soil is of a very different nature. All of
the surface-soil, to a considerable depth, is as black as pitch tar,
with a bluish cutable ("Skjmr"), but minus the least trace of
sand. It is very difficult to break-a task which necessitates from
four to five pairs of oxen; but the soil is rich and fertile and seems
to be inexhaustible ("aldrig at kunne udarmes"). The same
kind of soil is to be found in the neighboring counties of Dallas,
Navarra, Elles, and Kollin, all of which are watered by the
branches of the Trinity River-namely, East-Fork, Elm-Fork,
and West-Fork. These counties are resting on a layer of white
rock, which can be easily cut ("aldeles bladt at skjwre"); all
rivers and streams are flowing ("flyde") through this layer of
stone. The general characteristic ("Hovedtrekket") of this part
of the country is that of large and wide prairies with a scanty
supply of timber along the water courses.
My principle objections against this entire rich expanse of land,
where every inch is fertile, are the lack of timber and the con-
glutinate character of the soil ("Jordens Klmbrighed") after a
rain,--when the soil is practically the same as melted pitch tar
("smelted Beeg") and cannot be removed from the soles of our
shoes ("Fodsaalerne") except with the help of a knife. To be
sure, this adhesive quality of the soil disappears after about two
days of sunshine, after which the plowed fields become loose and
tender ("lls og mbr") and contains a considerable amount of
electricity when a person walks on them-very much like a sponge;190
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/204/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.