Farmers use horses, oxen, or mules around here. There are three variations of horses. The American horse, big and strong, best suited as a team but most expensive, from forty to one hundred dollars. Then the Mexican, a small, fast and very ausdanarides (?) horse, twenty-five to fifty dollars, like the cosack horse mostly used as a saddle horse. And finally, the mustang of all different variations. Mostly used as a saddle horse also twenty to one hundred dollars. Mostly they use ox teams up to ten in one team, but they are slow workers and do much less than a horse. Mules are very good for plowing and easy to satisfy in feeding, twenty to thirty dollars is the price for a good one. Plowing is not a hard task here in comparison to our German meadows. Grass is not too thick and kept down by burning.
A cow with a calf will cost you between eight and fifteen dollars. Nobody is looking after them in wintertime, therefore the farmers hardly have milk and butter. In spring is the round up. They are driven together and the calves are fenced in. The cows now mostly stay within reach. Twice a day we let the calves out and afterwards we milk the cow clean.
Hogs are easy to keep. They find their food outside, nuts, acorns, and grass is all they use. Shortly before butchering time they are mostly fed with corn. But you have to be careful what you buy. Some don't eat grass and hardly gain in weight. It depends on the location of the farm, too. We bought a hog with four little ones. Paid four dollars.
Poultry of all kinds (one chicken - two bits) chickens, turkeys, guineas, ducks, geese, etc. are easy to keep. However, you have to build a chicken house on account of snakes, foxes, wolves, cats, racoons, which do quite some damage. Even owls you have to watch for. But the flock is mostly staying around the house and they got used to our feeding bell calling them whenever they get fed. We raised forty baby chicks from twelve hens within three months.
Wild animals like panther, bear, alligators, snakes, tarantels, and scorpions are not so dangerous as you find them in a book. We feel quite safe here. The sting of a scorpion is not more painful than stung by a bee. I know it from experience. Snakes are plentiful around here. Some are real dangerous but a cane is always a good weapon. Butterflies like we have in Germany (Admiral, Segelfalter, Trasurmantel and goldfalter). Mosquitos of a steel color like their kin in Germany. They are quite a mass around here. Further little tiny insects, called redbugs, just as big as a need head. They irritate the skin after digging themselves into it. They sure can give you an itch.
Fish and turtles are plenty here. I do not know the names except what I have caught so far. Catfish up to ten lbs., buffalofish (5 or 6 lb. ) flounders (1 lb.). They are easily caught with a pole using birdmeat as bait. Your device, Herman, to catch crabs is known and we used it, too. Nevertheless, we thank you anyhow for your help in trying to add another dish to our meals. I know four different kind of turtles here. One you will find along the coast, one and one half feet in diameter, the second one on land and easy to pick up in the grasslands. You mostly step on it. The other two in rivers and creeks. One has a hard shell, the other one a soft leatherlike shell. The first and the last kind make a delicious meal.
Talking about minerals, Texas has quite a good supply in building stones. Close to Austin you will find clean chalk and loam, close to Houston good material for bricks. The soil is good and bad; it depends on the location, like in Germany. One will find large areas of good as well as bad land. The river bottoms are superior in quality and heavily wooded. But they are flooded easy and not healthy at all. A black, largely mixed with sand, and therefore light soil is to be found in many parts as for example between the Colorado River and the Brazos River. This ground is wooded with postoaks without any underbrush, which offers grazing for animals at the same time. The soil is fertile but also easily used up and the terrain is usually very torn; and therefore, it is practically impossible to have a level field. Soon the heavy rains wash away the fresh dug soil and form gouges.
I went recently to the territories in East Texas. If you have a map, this was my last route; Nasheville on the Brazos River, Boonville, Crockett, Fort Houston, Douglas, Nauceydeckes, San Augustine, Shelbyville, and Hamilton on the Sabine River, and back to San Antonio. The fir and pinetree soil consist just like over there; out of almost white sand, which can be found on some stretches along the Neches and Sabine Rivers. The western lands are dry and sandy with a small number of people living there due to the scarcity of water. Partially, in East Texas and also around Houston, the soil is very clayey and water can not penetrate it very well. Although some farmers have shown that the soil becomes more fertile and also much looser if it is plowed often enough.
One can buy land at all quantities, anywhere from ten to one hundred thousand acres. Outside of the settlements an acre sells for 25 cts. Inside, one has to pay approximately two dollars per acre. Close to a town the prices run up to five or six dollars per acre. In German towns acreage is comparatively high priced, because newcomers seem to like to settle among Germans and therefore the demand is greater, as for example in New Braunfels. I would advise Germans, especially those who are poor, to settle close to market, because it will really help them if they are able to sell eggs, butter, vegetables, poultry, etc.
As far as the Germans are concerned there are some very nice families over here. The educated German is not quite happy among Americans. The common laborer likes it the best. He only sees his daily wages and does not have any other interest. Blacksmiths and coach and wagon makers are in good business.
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Not tonight dear, I just got the new version of my genealogy program!
