Farming on the Texas Staked Plain

                           THE STAKED PLAIN OF WEST TEXAS.
         
                           Intensive Farming on the Texas
                              Staked Plain, and How to
                                    Make it Pay.
         
                          BT F. E. ROESLER, DALLAS, TEXAS.
         
         
           Intensive farming means, emphatic~ly,
         that every acre that is to be farmed shall be
         thoroughly cultivated; that nothing shall be
         allowed to go to waste; that no labor
         shall be done in vain, and that the farmer
         shall not neglect the day of small things.  It
         means further, that the shortcomings of
         nature shall be supplied by human agency
         as far as practicable, and that the risk of
         cr0!) failure, through drouth or excessive
         rain fall, shall be reduced to its sm~lest limit.
         If the soil he too poor, it should be fertilized
         by manure or otherwise; if it is too wet, it
         should be drained, and if it is too dry it
         should be irrigated.  To accomplish the
         above, it is self-evident ~at no one should
         cultivate more land than he can thoroughly
         work.
           The Staked Plain and Western Texas
         generally produce a good average of all crops
         grown in ihe United States, and under
         pecuharly favorable conditions enormous
         yields are occasionally obtained.  Of wheat,
         the average yield is from 12 to 25 bushels
         the maximum yield, 40 to 55 bushels.  Of
         oats, the maximum yield is TOO to 120 bush-
         els per acre, but the average yield is from 5o
         to 6o bushels.  Of corn, the average yield
         is from 20 to 25 bushels, hut the maximum
         yield 6o to 90 bushels; of Irish and sweet
         potatoes, ioo to 250 bushels per acre, are
         considered a fair average crop, but 350
         bushels have been occasionally raised.  Cot-
         ton ordinarily runs from one-fourth to three-
         fourths bales per acre, but occasionally some
         farmer will obtain two bales.
           A year seldom passes by but that a few
         individuals, in some locality exceptionally
         well favored with timely rains and other
         favorable conditions, raise a maximum crop.
         During the years t886 and 1887 the yield
         of nearly all staples was much below the
         average, and in some localities failed entirely.
           The reasoning of the intensive farmer is
         that if a certain tract of land will produce a
         certain quantity of grain, in a good season,
         and the yield can be increased by more
         thorough c~tivation and fertilization, then
         the proper thing to do is to fertilize that
         tract of land; and further, if a maximum
         crop can be raised because of a timely rain-
         fall, then a like crop should be grown when
         the rainfall is not timely, and that the water
         necessary to produce such a crop should be
         supplied by the far~er. The intensive farmer
         proposes that every acre cultivated shall pay
         in full for the labor expended upon it, and

         the crops to be grown shall be selected with
         reference to the price they will bring in the
         market.  To illustrate the value of
         
                                FERTILIZING THE SOIL
         
         the following quotations from the Marshall
         (Tex.) Messenger is herewith presented:
          Within the past decade many farmers iri Georgia
         and other States east of the Mississippi rher have
         reduced the screage, and by more thorough culti-
         vation and liberal fertilizing have wonderfully in-
         creased the yield.  In fact, the cultivation of
         small tracts has reached such perfection that ten
         acres of land are considered ample to mainlain an
         average family.
          We copy from the Atlanta Constitution the re-
         cult of the contest of four farmers in Georgia, in
         raising cotton.  We give names and pustoffice ad-
         dress of the farmers and the respective amount
         raised and the amount of fertilizers used by each
         one, and the number of acres cultivated and the
         amount of lint Cotton raised on five acres. during
         the year i~86.
          Names.   P.O.   its. fertiUzer. The. ~otton.
         J. C. Sims  . . Hoganville . .2,000. .10,897
        R. G. Ray  . . Palmetto  . . 2,6co . .10,809
           C. Pryn - . - Palmetto  - .3,200. .10,793
         Geo.W. Truitt - Legrange -  6,550. - 8,831
         
          These Statistics are endorsed by the best men
         in Georgia and are published in the leading paper
         in the State-the  Atlanta  Constitution.  We
         notice the far~er who raised the largest crop
         used the smallest amount of fertilizer-only one ion
         to five acres. The highest priced fertilizer in the mar.
         ket is $45 per ton-that is, just $i I per acre. There
         were over two hundred contestants, all of whom
         made splendid crops, ranging all the way from two
         to five bales per acre.  More than five years ago,
         when these farmers commenced to see what
         amount of cotton could be produced on one acre,
         one of them stated that five bales, of 450 pounds
         each, could be produced, but the idea was ridi-
         culed as altogether beyond the possible.  In the
         year t885 the best five acres only produced at the
         rate of two and one-third bales, and the result of
         i886 was nearly five bales.  What will be the re-
         sult of the contest in 1887, is yet to he seen.  The
         Atlanta Constitution says that the result of the
         two hundred contestants demonstrates that two
         hales of cotton can and should be raised on every
         acre in cotton if properly fertilized and cultivated.
         Why, then, we ask, should farmers in Eastern
         Texas cultivate land that it will take from three
         to five acres to produce one bale of cotton? We
         can prove by a plain, practical illustration, that a
         bale of cotton raised on laod thst it takes five
         acres to produce a bale, costs at least $65, and a
         bale of cotton raised on land that produces two
         hales per acre costs not more than $18, every cost
         being taken into the calculation,
          For the premium in corn there were more than
         three hundred contestants in the different States,
         
         24             THE STAKED PLAIN OF WEST TEXAS.
         
         but the largest nurnher in Georgia.  The average
         of the three hundred was 102 bushels of shefled
         corn per acre.  The number of acres in the contest
         was five for each contestant.  The highest nomber
         of tIoshels per acre, and the one capturing the
         premium, was 164.
          Among the contestants was one mali who. with
         one hor.~e, planted and cottiv~ted land that pro.
         ducell twenty.one hales of cotton.
         
           That intensive farming pays is shown by
         the following comparison of yield, cost and
         profit per acre, On 10 acres, cultivated in
         the old-fashioned way, and on To acres cul-
         tivated intensively  to acres of cotton in an
         average season, l)y ordinary cultivation, in
         Texas, yield about 3:~ bales of 500 pounds
         or i666 pounds, which, selling at 10 cents
         ier pound, make a total of $i66.6o.  Gin-
         ning, haling, and hauling may be put down
         at $3.75 per hale, or $ (2.50 for the whole
         cr01).  Picking can generally he done for 75
         cents per 100 pounds of seed cotton, at $12
         per hale, (Ir $42 for the crop.  Presuming
         that the cultivation is done by the farmer
         himself, or his family, the cost ot cultivation
         is not included.  The money value of the
         Jo-acre crop is $i66.6o; the expense ot
         hauling, picking, ginning and baling, $54.50,
         which leaves a halance Of$12. 10 to pay for
         labor of etiltivation and seed. The net yield
         per acre is $i 1.21.
           By the intensive inethod the crop should
         yield as follows :  10 acres of cotton at 2
         bales per acre,  yield 20 hales or 10,000
         potinds, which sold at 10 cents per pound,
         bring $i,ooo; 20 hales ginned, hagged and
         haled cost $3.75 each, or $75 for the entire
         crop.  The cost of picking seed cotton will
         be the same per bale, or $240 for the 2C
         bales.  Two tons of fertilizers at $45 will
         cost $90.  i~he expenses of the crop, not
         conilting cultivation, amount to $405, leav.
         mg a balance of $5~5 net, for the crop, or
         $59.50 per acre.  Allowing that more labor
         must he expended on the second crop, and
         taking it for granted that this expense ic
         e(l(lal to the net yield per acre of the first
         crop, $1 1.21, there would still remain $48. 2(;
         clear profit.
           The average yield of corn in Texas is
         about 25 bushels per acre.  Ten acres, with
         ordinary civilization, will yield 250 bushels,
         worth 50 cents per bushel-$t25.  By in-
         tensive farming, the yield of corn should be
         brought up to 75 and 120 bushels per acre,
         or 750 to 1,200 bushels for the jo acres.
         Selling at the same price, the yield will be
         $365 to $6oo, while the fertilizers would
         only cost $90.  The first crop will bring
         $12.50 per acre, while the second, after de
         ducting cost of fertilizer, will bring $26.50
         to $5'.  The same rule holds good with
         other staple crops.

           The soils of the Staked Plain of Texas are
         as rich as any in the State, and generally
         produce above the average, crops of superior
         sm~l grain and other staples.  Many of the
         soils will xieed no fertilizing for years to
         come, and with timely rains produce a max-
         imtim yield.
           I~he annual rainfall in Texas varies from
         16 to  50 inches,  the country along the
         Sabine river, on the Louisiana line, and near
         the coast, -getting the most, and El Paso
         county, on the Rio Grande and adjoining
         Mexico and New Mexico, about 900 miles
         west of the Sabine river, getting the least.
         In Wcstern Texas, west of the Brazos and
         east of the Pecos river, the average annual
         precipitation is from 21 to 36 inches. about
         the same as that of ~ issouri, Kansas, Ken-
         tucky and Iowa.   Generally it fills in
         proper scason to mature all farm crops, the
         heaviest fall being from April to the begin
         ning of October.  A total failure of cro~~s
         was not known in Western Texas until the
         year i8S6, when it was practically complete
         in a ntimber of counties-the  crops in the
         remainder of the State being below the
         average.  On the irrigated lands in El Paso,
         Reeves, Pecos, Presidio and the Rio Grande
         border counties  and in New Mexico and
         Arizona, the yield was larger than ever he-
         fore and immensely profitable.  The writer
         holds that
         
                              IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
         
         wherever they can be practically applied,
         are just as profitable and ilecessary in the
         States of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana or Ohio as
         they are in the arid regions of California,
         Arizona or New Mexico.  Whenever the
         rainfall is belated or insufficient to mature
         the standing crop in the ficld, the farmer
         should supply the want as fur as practicable.
         Severe drouths are common to all parts of
         the United States, and no part thereof has as
         yet escaped loss from this cause.  There is
         always a critical moment, when the precipita-
         tion or the absence of rain will decide the
         fate of the crop.  The joint neighborhood
         prayer-meeting will not avert the coming
         disaster, but a liberal water stipply from the
         irrigator's ditch certainly will.
           In the Rio Grande Valley, in New Mexico,
         C~ifornia and Old Mexico, where irrigation
         is practiced, without fertilizing artificially,
         the yield per acre of all common crops is
         double that of the Middle and Western
         
                        THE STAKED PLAIN OF WEST TEXAS.  25
         
         States.  Irrigated lands, cultivated after the
         most primitive methods, produce from 75 to
         ion bushels of corn; 30 to 70 bushels of
         wheat; 50 to 75 bushels of oats; 40 to 50
         bushds of barley ; 30 to 45 bushels of rye
         75 to 200 bushels of sweet potatoes; 500 to
         8oo bushels of mangel-wurael, weighing from
         30 to 40 pounds each; beets, 175 to 400
         bushels, etc.  Cotton, hemp, flax, tobacco,
         sorghum, fruits and vegetables arc grown in
         quantities that would surprise any farmer of
         the Eastern States.
           The rainfall of Southern California does
         not exceed 12 inches, but the State is never-
         theless considered a superior  agric~tural
         region.  The rainfall of the Texas Stakcd
         Plain is three times as great, and ordinarily
         fine crops are grown wi~out irrz~a/ion which
         is impossible in Southern California.  Water
         from underground sources is just as easily
         obtained on the Staked Plain as in Califor-
         nia, and the natural soils are in every re-
         spect superior in (Tuality to those of the
         latter State, and the climatic conditions are
         equally favorable in both cotintries.  Lands
         in California, that can be cultivated, range in
         price from $ioo to $i,ooo per acre.   TIer-
         ter lands in every respect, equally capable of
         irrigation, can be had on the Texas Staked
         Plain for $2 to $5 per acre, and that. on ten
         to forty years credit terms.  One~tenth of
         the quantity of water needed to irrigate a
         tract of land in California will be sufficient
         for all demands of a similar tract in Western
         Texas, for the reason that the annual rain
         fall alone on the Staked Plain is ~ufficient
         generally to grow a crop, and the amount
         supplied by irrigation is applied only when
         the fate of a crop is dependent upon a de-
         layed rainfall.  The various methods ol
         irrigation employed iii California are de
         scribed at length in the foregoing report
         made by Mr. It. K. Brant.
           The writer understands perfectly well that
         a i6o-acre farm can not be irrigated from a
         common barnyard well, and does not pro.
         pose that an~ one farmer shall attempt to irri-
         gate such an acreage.  There is, however,
         nothing in his way to irrigate successfully 5,
         10 or 20 acres, and on this irrigated land to
         plant such crops as will bring the highest
         possible market prices.  He can still raise
         his corn, wheat, hay and other forage on
         unirrigated land, but two or three years
         experience will teach him that there is more
         money in the cultivation of his ten or twenty
         acres under irrigation, be the same in Texas
         or Louisiana, than there is in five times' that
         mtich unirrigated land.
          A MODEL FARM ON T}iE STAKED PLAIN
         
         Should be arranged about as follows, and
         consist of r6o to 640 acres of land, which
         the State will sell to an actual settler at $2

         per acre, on forty years credit terms, with
         5 per cent interest.  Railway and private
         lands will range in price from $2.00 to $5.00
         per acre and can generally he had on cash,
         five year or ten year credit teries.  Of this
         land 8o acres should be fenced off for the
         farm, 6o acres to be cultivated without irri-
         gation-say 15 acres in sorghum  20 acres
         in Johnson grass, 5 or In acres in cotton, to
         acres in corn or wheat  20 acres set aside
         for irrigation, house, barn ~tc  the remain-
         der of the 8o acres to be sown in oats, millet,
         broom corn, castor beans  etc   Uhe live
         stock of the farm should (0051st of 40 head
         ofmilch cattle and good l)urham Jersey or
         Holstein btills ; some 300 he id of sheep of
         the best grade, 25 hogs 25 horses, brood
         mares stallions and jacks ~nd the usual
         ~umber of chickens, turkcys  etc.  The
         unirrigated part of the farm should produce
         forage in abundance for ~l the live stock,
         and a considerable quantity to sell, in addi-
         tion to the regular field crops.
           The irrigated twenty acres will have to be
         supplied yvith two or more good wells, which
         shoud each have a basin of to to i5 feet
         diameter in the water-bearing strata.  Wells
         ofthis description may cost from $200 to
         $500 each.  The lifting machinery may con-
         sist of horse-power or powerful windmills.
         At convenient points there should be wood-
         en tanks I2Xi2 feet and 6 feet deep.  The
         fence around the 10 or 20-acre tract should
         be rabbit proof, and the planting inside,
         after cutting off a lot for the house and barn,
         should consist of 5 or 6 acres in fruit trees,
         such as peaches, apricots, almonds, pears,
         prunes, wild goose plums, etc. ; five acres
         more should be planted in grapes-such as
         the T)elaware, Mission,  Raisin and other
         table grapes.  The remainder of the irriga.
         ted land should be planted say as follows:
         One acre in El Paso onions, which ought to
         net the grower from $300 to $400 per acre;
         an acre of sugar corn, shipped to El Paso,
         Fort Worth,  Dallas or Waco, should net
         $ too clear, after paying all expenses.  Cab-
         bage is never worth less than 3 cents per
         pound, wholesale, in Dallas, and sells readily
         for 5 to 10 ceOts in any of the Western
         towns.  Sauer-kraut is never worth less than
         $8 per barrel and an~acre under irrigatiola
         should not yield less than 40 barrels.  Cu
         -cumbers grow rank in any season on the

         26             THE STAKED PLAIN OF WEST TEXAS.
         
         Staked Plain, and should be pickled, and
         are then worth from $6 to $9 per barrel, and
         a carload per acre is easily raised.  ~~oma-
         toes are never worth less than $r per bushel
         and often sell readily for $2 and $3.  Irish
         and sweet potatoes are always in demand
         and find a ready market at $1.50 to $2 per
         bushel, and under irrrigation from ISo to
         300 bushels per acre may be grown.  Pea-
         nuts and castor beans readily bring from 5oc.
         to $r per bushel.  Broom corn is worth from
         $50 to $i~o per ton and « ton is usually
         grown per acre  Peaches and grapes after
         the third year should net at least $too per
         acre.  Beans, peas. etc., find a ready mar-
         ket at all times, and for garden vegetables
         there is a healthy demand all year round.
         flay from the prairies is worth $ro to$12 per
         ton, from sorghum or Johnson grass $t~
         to $20, common field corn 65c. to $1.25,
         and oats 50c. to 75c. mfllet $io to $i~ pet
         ton.  In proper seasons melons, muskmel
         ons, pumpkins, egg plants and squashes are
         in great demand and bring high prices.  Sor
         ghum syrup is in demand at 5oc. to ~5c. per
         gallon.  Good vinegar for pickling can be
         made from the juice of sorghum and water-
         melons.
           The growing of fruits and vegetables of
         nearly all descriptions has reached such mag-
         nitude and perfection in the counties trav-
         ersed by the Iron Mountain Railway in
         Arkansas and Southern Missouri that regular
         daily fruit trains run from Texarkana to St.
         Louis, Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City and
         Denver during the season.  The shipments
         are daily made as ordered by the commission
         houses and consist in the main of peaches,
         strawberries, blackberries, plums, early pota-
         toes, peas, beans, melons, etc., and the net
         money yield per acre runs from $200 to $300
         per acre.  Within the past five years the
         canning and evaporating of fruits and vege2
         tables has become an important industry in
         the State.
           The great majority of the inhabitants of
         Western Texas and particularly of the Great
         Staked Plain are engaged in the raising of
         cattle, sheep and horses.  Jn the mountain-
         ous part of Texas are a number of mining
         camps and in New Mexico mining and cattle
         raising are the principal pursuits, and beyond
         this is Arizona similarly situated.  Good
         trading towns are numerous, but farms are
         not, and hence the highest prices are readily
         paid for all sorts of farm produce.  In the
         large towns of Central Texas, ~ike Fort
         Worth, Dallas, Waco and many other places,
         first-class prices are paid for fresh vegetables,
         potatoes, onions, fruits-fresh, canned er
         evaporated.  The mode of reaching the dif
         ferent markets is to ship daily to the commis-
         sion merchant the exact quantity desired,
         and never anything that is not of the first

         quality.  Fresh vegetables from Odessa can
         be delivered within i5 hours in Dallas, or
         within 8 hours in El Paso, Texas.
           If a farmer goes to the trouble (for the
         expense is small) of irrigating land, he
         should manure it and work it thoroughly in
         order to get from the soil everything it will
         produce.  Careless or shiftless farming will
         not pay, but an irrigated farm of ten acres
         well cultivated and fertilized, if need be,
         will easily support a family in comfort.
           Nbw we wish to har'e it distincily understood
         that all standard crops of Texas can be grozt~
         on the Staked Plain without irrigation, tha,,,
         such have been grown successindy for a number
         

Updated: August 05, 1998