The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 7

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1204

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Humble. Shallow gas blow-outs in 1902 had at- tracted attention to what was known as Echols Ridge, east of Humble, 18 miles north of Houston. Some oil and gas between 1.100 and 1,230 feet fol- wed in tests in 1903 and 1904, but on January 2, 1905, Beatty No. 2 was brought in at 1,136 feet, frilled by J. E. Webb, Guy M. Mennis and Chas. Jackson, flowing 8,000 barrels. The development was fast after that. In 1915 the Texas Company opened up the deep territory known as the Stevenson tract, discovering the pay between 2,800 and 3,200 tret.

In 1907 Houston people commenced prospecting at Goose Creek on San Jacinto Bay, opposite Mor- can's Point. The first well got enough production !! wern 1,000 and 1,100 feet to supply fuel for a trond test. The pool was an erratic proposition until August, 1916, when one of the old holes on the Churchill Oil Company's lease was deepened to

around 2,200 feet and it started flowing 5,000 barrels. There was an immediate rush for acreage by all the large operating companies who had released acreage held by them in previous years. Deep drilling seemed to be the slogan, and wells were drilled to 3,400 feet where a prolific sand was found. The pool is still one of the most active in the Coastal region.

West Columbia. West Columbia, three miles west of the Brazos River in Brazoria County, is one of the latest pools to be operated. Exploration work in the West Columbia district had been going on for some 17 years, with more or less unsatisfactory results until last December, when the Humble Oil & Re- fining Company and the Texas Company brought in big wells on what is known as the Hogg and Arnold tracts. Prior to the bringing in of paying wells in December, 1918, Gov. Hogg, et al., discovered a little production which proved that the oil was in that territory. The bringing in of this field is due chiefly to the perseverance and vast expenditures of the Texas Company and also the Humble Oil & Re- fining Company.

Hull. The first well in the Hull district came in during September, 1918, on the east side of the dome-being the Republic Production Company's well. The Gulf, Texas, Sun companies and smaller companies and individuals are now operating there in addition to the Republic Production Company- a J. S. Cullinan interests.

Development work is still being carried on by the Gulf, Sun and Texas companies in the Barber's Hill, Chambers County district. Messrs. Hindman & Benckenstein are also operating in this territory. About 200 barrels daily production represents the reward in return for the efforts of the companies and individuals to develop a new field of importance.

Considerable development is now taking place at Blue Ridge, Fort Bend County, due to the bringing in of a small well by the Gulf Company. There was a wild rush for leases a short time ago when it was learned that the West Production Company had a well about completed, but to date they have failed to bring it in.

Keen interest is now being shown in the section known as Hardscrabble Mound, Jackson County, due to the development being prosecuted by the Texas Company, et al. Many of the old experienced operators believe this prospective territory will soon develop into one of the largest fields in the Gulf Coast.

The manner by which the producer marketed his oil differed for years from the method in other pro- ducing sections of the country. From the days of Spindle Top down to the advent of the war with Germany, Coastal operators sold their crude to the pipe lines by contract, agreeing to sell all his output for a stipulated period-usually one year-at a designated figure. By this method the producer knew just what he was going to get for his crude. In 1917 the contract method was discarded and the credit balance method substituted. Under this system the oil is run into the lines and the pro- ducer is given a receipt, which can be converted into cash upon presentation at the offices of the line. During the period of the war the credit balance quotation was fixed at $1.80 per barrel by the oil division of the fuel administration. When the armistice was signed, the quotation gradually de- clined to $1.00 per barrel-where it is now.

THE CITY, AND BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURE By JAMES Z. GEORGE, M. AM. SOC., C. E.

Vice President and General Manager, Texas Chamber of Commerce

I T is fortunate indeed that nature implants in many red-blooded men and women a love for the country and the freedom of the open spaces, otherwise it is pos- sible that we urban dwellers might, in time, go right cold and hungry, as there would be no dairyman to milk the cows and no farmer to grow the food we require and the raiment we are want to wear. This call of the red gods is so strong that many men and women remain on the farm despite its present drawbacks and the insistent beckoning of urban life. But, I am sorry to say, there are also many farmers and farm laborers who await only the opportunity to quit and "move to town." Hence present day farming may aptly be divided into two classes: voluntary and in- voluntary. Even casual observation will bring the regretful conclusion that the voluntary farmers are rapidly approaching a minority, and farm morale is low despite high prices of farm products and im- provements in farming methods.

Why is it that towns and cities are being filled to overflowing with boys and girls who leave the farm and come to work in the city? Why, with the insistent demand on the farm, does the brawny farm laborer come to town to become a factory worker? Why did not the soldier who came from the farm return to the farm when demobilized ? Why is there no real back-to-the-farm movement in answer to the ever increasing demand for products of the soil ? It may be we have been too busy watching the unrest

of industrial and transportation labor which, in its behavior, is more spectacular and makes better head- lines. But the exodus from the farm, unattended by demonstrations or strikes or fiery speeches, is, never- theless, taking place at an alarming rate and its very lack of demonstration likens it to the move- ment in our rear of an enemy seeking to cut off the line to the base of supplies. The causes of this condition and its possible remedy are of grave im- portance not only to the farm owner, but to the city man, merchant, doctor, banker, lawyer and laborer-every one who desires to live and progress along normal lines. Industry cannot live without the products of the farm and the farm absorbs the products of the industrial center; the two are inter- dependent and their co-operative development is necessary to produce a well rounded and progressive community.

Conditions to be Remedied

Note, briefly, outstanding conditions to be reme- died before farming can be put on the basis which its importance warrants us in hoping and working for. Let us begin with the foundation-value of lands. The statement can be made without hesita- tion that land can never be worth less, generally speaking, than it is now. It is estimated that there will be 200,000,000 people in the United States in the next thirty years which but increases every day the demand for farm products. Then can land ever become less valuable? Why, then, should a farmer sell his farm, and why should a tenant hesitate to buy one? Tenantry is another outstanding condi- tion that needs a solution. It has been said that men will fight for their homes but that does not envelop the boarding house, and a rented farm is about on a par with the boarding house. The tenant suffers as well under such a system as

Corn and Beans, Two Staple Products that are Raised in Abundance on Texas Farms

- هذايكاديت نك كي طبعه :

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

does the farm. Continuity of purpose, responsibility and permanency of citizenship is what communities need and it can develop only with farm ownership.

An economic drawback to the small farmer both in operating and owning a farm has been lack of credit facilities. The high interest rates or the an- tiquated "furnishing" system may make large land owners and merchants rich, but not prosperous and contented farmers. A farmer, small or large, re- quires credit the same as a manufacturer and there

Ready for the Market. Fruits and Vegetables of all Kinds do well on Texas Sandy Loam

should be no more feeling of charity or possible loss on either side than there is in the industrial world. Short term credit for planting and harvesting crops is fairly well cared for as is also money on long and favorable terms by the Federal Farm Bank for buy- ing a farm. But, suppose the farmer wants to im- prove his farm; wants a better grade of live stock or a comfortable home, or a silo, or modern, efficient and labor-saving machinery that he may increase his production ? Where can he turn ? He cannot hope to pay for all this in one year as he would his seed and labor, hence the necessity for a "middle- term" credit of from two to five years for the farmer which has not yet been established. The ap- plication of modern machinery to industry has in- creased the product of labor enormously, resulting in greater production and lower prices to the con- sumer. Proper lay-out of farm buildings for con- venience and economy is unknown, practically, though the smallest factories give much study and planning to this subject. It is common to see farm machinery left to the weather from the gathering of a crop to the planting of another, which results in replacement of equipment probably every three years. This waste alone adds many millions of dollars a year to the cost of production, all of which the urban consumer must pay or the farmer lose.

Another disappointment to the farmer, especially the small one, is after a hard period of cultivation and harvest to find no market or an indifferent one for his products. Most aid extended the farmer heretofore has been principally to increase produc- tion, but the question of getting a fair return for these products is of equal, if not greater, interest. Increased production and no ready and fair-price market discourages and breaks many a good farmer and makes him a city dweller. Another drawback is scarcity of farm labor, whether the farmer's sons or the hired help, due to the lack of conveniences and recognition which help demands. Add to these hindrances the lack of rural school facilities and the lack of rural social life and we about have the sum total of the more serious handicaps surrounding the

farmer today and which tends to a crisis which noth- ing but concerted and wise action on the part of all business men will avert. Let us now consider the question as who should initiate and be responsible for the program of betterment.

The City's Interest.

While the farmer is, of course, directly benefited by any improvement in farming conditions, I am fully convinced that the town or city is really, broad- ly speaking, the greatest beneficiary of a well de- veloped farming community surrounding it. Pro- duction is production and a million dollars paid a community for its agricultural products is paid in the same kind of money that would be received for manufactured products. The purchasing power of the small farm and the family, including its equipment, is greater per capita than that of the industrial worker. This fact should not be overlooked by the business men of the town, even though it be a more materialistic view- point. More important than buying-power, is the ability of the industrial community to properly feed itself. I know of at least one city in this state that in 1916 got over 95 per cent of its butter and egg supply from outside per cent of its butter and egg supply from outside its own county and a great part of that supply from outside the state of Texas. Is this a fact that would be of advantage if known to the "captain of indus- try" looking for a location for his plant in that city ? The very foundation of urban industrial de- velopment is abundant food stuffs and this can only be accomplished through a highly productive country surrounding the industrial center. Thus we find, as Mr. Quick of the Federal Land Bank points out, "The mighty fabric of city, town and village life is built on too small a foundation of crops, fields, herbs and gardens." There is such a thing as overdevelop- ment from purely a manufacturing standpoint, and in that case it is not so much the foundation that is endangered as the superstructure. Says Mr. Quick.

Loading Farm Produce on a Railroad Siding for Shipmen to Northern Markets

"Yet such decay must come unless the agriculture of the United States is placed on a better basis. Great manufacturing and trading cities cannot persist when agriculture languishes." From these facts it seems that the far-seeing business man must take a part in building up not only his town with its cor- porate limits, but must include the entire rural sec- tion surrounding and tributary within one great com- munity. The dividing line between town and coun- try should be wiped out and the word "community"

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

substituted to include all industry and agriculture. And now for the general

Work of Rural Development

Work of rural development to be undertaken by a community may be grouped in three grand divisions: First, production; second, Conservation and Third, distribution. What are the factors that make best for the promotion of these ends? First, because uppermost in the farmer's mind and which pleases him most, and which will secure his cooperation, is the provision of a ready and standardized market for every thing he produces. If a farmer is am- bitious enough to increase his production, he should be rewarded with a ready market at fair prices. He has a right to demand this service of the business men of his market place in return for his agricul- tucal products which the city needs. The idea of the-farmer's-loaded-wagon must be adopted by the city; the farmer must never come to town without a wagon loaded with his products to sell and he must never go home without his wagon loaded with better equipment for his farm, his family, etc. It is not economically possible to have one without the other and the urban business man might as well recognize the fact as now. A market for local consumption is not enough-but efficient lines of distribution to other centers needing farm products must be estab- lished to take care of surplus that can not be used locally. Efforts have been made toward standard- ization, classing and proper packing of farm pro- ducts. Warehouses, creameries, packing house plants, canning plants, etc., for storing farm pro- ducts that they will not have to be dumped imme- diately on the market must be provided.

The importance of provision for preserving the products is especially emphasized in the districts which raise principally fruit and vegetable products. The East Texas fruit and vegetable industry can be greatly increased by adequate facilities for taking care of this product. One of the most important products in this section are tomatoes. The tomato is a perishable fruit and in order to insure the value of the crop, it must be quickly cared for after the crop is gathered. Adequate facilities for canning and marketing will do much toward insuring the producer profit.

The peach crop may be mentioned as another example of a very highly valuable, yet perishable product. Adequate transportation facilities with sufficient available warehousing, packing and ship- ping, and also canning facilities, will do much toward insuring the profit in this important industry.

The watermelon industry is also in need of better methods of handling the product. Large quantities of watermelons are often spoiled for want of trans- portation and marketing facilities. With the adaptation of the proper system of taking care of this product, a much greater profit from the yield each year may be received.

Ambitious communities must have more vision and take advantage of opportunities to become perman- ently greater. They must put the same thought and mass effort into developing rural territory about them as they do on purely city work, remembering the overdeveloping industrial center will be the first to suffer from the failure of agricultural production and rural development in its territory.

A system of co-operation by which the gathering of the product and either canning or transporting for the market and the distribution at the market- ing places, all may co-ordinate higher returns to the producer and greater prosperity thereby will be assured.

Then there is the Rural Development Fund, which is needed, a revolving fund of some kind, or lending aid to small farmers, which should be subscribed by the business men of the city and county, adminis- tered by a strong committee, and which should earn enough that a fair rate of interest can be paid the subscribers. Such a fund has been provided by the city of Houston for farmers of its community, for the buying of fine dairy cattle, silos, tractors, equip- ment, etc., on three to five year terms. Another vital factor in the solution of the problem is the part the farmer's and girls may have in the program when the old folks are "sot in their ways." The Ex- tension Department of the U. S. Deparement of Agri- culture, A. & M. College, help here. Besides Corn Clubs, Pig Clubs, for boys, there are Canning and Poultry Clubs for the girls. In the summer of 1917, 140 pure bred Duroc Jersey sows were purchased and turned over to 140 boys. To pay for this sow, each boy agreed to return two sow pigs six months old, when this was done, the original sow belonged to the boy. One boy, in eighteen months made $432.00, including the value of the mother sow, at a total cost of $49.00, a clear profit of $383.00 on a zero investment.

Community centers, the location of the churches, a club for social functions and other things people demand for their pleasure and convenience must be provided to care for rural social life problems. One city in my knowledge arranged that its business men meet regularly at set periods with the country people at their school houses, at which time a free movie was given, from the best films of best producers, and about one-fourth of the time was spent in edu- cational matters, such as a short talk on dairying, or a photograph of a fine cow or hog or a well built barn or farm residence from another part of the country.

The one-family farm owned by the farmer must come before the permanent answed to the present shortage of farm labor and supply of farm products can come. Every community should make its great- est efforts towards encouragement in the ownership of small farms. The Federal Land Bank is doing a great work in this realm, but, unfortunately, many have brought the defeat of good measures for the country and thereby for the hole of the nation by fearing that such assistance and cooperation smacks too greatly of socialism. But let us remember that many things are too big and too important to leave to individual initiative and effort, and can be accomp- lished only by the mass effort of the people. Urban centers must assist in the work of securing good roads and good schools not simply to the limit of its own cooperation, but to the uttermost part of its community from which it draws its living. No city, town or village can afford to leave off industrial de- velopment at the corporate limits-it must include the rural district as well. Out of 250 Chambers of Commerce, large and small in this state, so far as I can learn, only fifteen are making rural develop- ment a major activity, and yet agriculture is the line of least resistance in Texas.

AGRICULTURE OF TEXAS By CLARENCE OUSLEY

Ex-Asst. U. S. Secretary of Agriculture

T' HE growing belief in

diversification is the "silver lining to the cloud" discovered by observ- of Texas agricultural conditions during the last

year. Contemplating the future, they predict more and more diversification, a growth of the small stock farming industry and increasing pros- perity therefrom. Especially in the "black land sections" of North Texas has this ten- dency become uppermost, and in Dallas County, Ellis Coun- ty, Collin and other counties where land prices are high- est, the small stock farmers are becoming numerous and the interest in pure- bred and registered stock of all kinds is growing.

While individual farmers in Texas are suffering as a result of decline in prices the agricultural in- dustry of the state, as a whole, is nearer than it has ever been to a basis of stability and prosperity.

Record of Production: Production during the last year has been very large and the effect of this large addition to the wealth of the state can not long be observed by the smoked glasses of pessimism. There is inspiration in figures like these for a normal year: Cotton, 4,200,000 bales; corn, 169,000,000 bushels; wheat, 31,665,000 bushels; oats, 42,336,000 bushels; sweet potatoes, 9,000,000 bushels; rice, 9,212,000 bushels; hay, 1,239,000 tons; grain sorghum, 60,000,- 000 bushels; wool, 17,600,000 pounds; apples, 489,000 bushels; syrup, 650,000 gallons; peanuts, 4,900,000 bushels; broom corn, 8,000 tons; barley, 469,000 bushels; hogs, 2,102,000 heads; beef cattle, $200,- 000,000 value; dairy cattle, $90,000,000 value.

While prices are low the actual wealth produced is here and can not fail to circulate through all the intricate and complex channels of trade and thus nourish and enrich all the people.

A very bright spot on the silver lining of the cloud is the large feed crop produced the . past year. In former years when something happened to put the price -- of cotton down Texas farmers faced the next year with empty barns and had to borrow large sums of money to buy feed to make the next year's crop. k There is an abundance feed on Texas farms at this time and borrow- ings for operations will be relatively very small.

There has been more intelligent diversification of crops in Texas this. year than ever before. The all-cotton farmer is hard to find where he was a majority a few years ago. Many so- called "patch crops," such as sweet potatoes, peanuts and tomatoes have become dependable cash crops.

Live Stock Improves: There is more and better live stock on Texas farms now than the most hopeful advocate

of live stock believed possible a few years ago. This is particularly true in the rich black land counties. A few years ago the land owners in these sections believed that the high price of land com- pelled them to plant only cotton. Now they have found that only by combining live stock with feed crops and cotton can they earn a return upon the high valuation of their land. The experience of older states is being duplicated in Texas, and we are finding the best quality of live stock in the regions of highest land values.

Recently large numbers of pure-bred hogs and dairy cows were brought into the state, and during the same period niany local centers of pure-bred live stock production began to supply other sections of the state with breeding stock.

Marketing Studies: Notable progress has been made during the year by farmers in perfecting co- operative marketing associations patterned closely after the successful California co-operative organi- zations. The first of these to be formed is the Lower Rio Grande Valley Marketing Association, which will handle about $6,500,000 worth of early vegetables and fruits. The Texas Tomato Growers' Exchange now organized will control more than 60 per cent of car-lot tomato shipments from the state of a value approximately $1,000,000.

The outstanding event in the field of co-operative marketing is the launching by the farm bureau of a co-operative selling agency to control not less than 1,000,000 bales of cotton per year. This understand- ing is the outgrowth of a study of the cotton market- ing problem by a large group of farmers and busi- ness men, and it differs from all previous efforts in that it is based upon legal contracts of growers to deliver their cotton to the association, and in a plan of financing which, it is claimed, will command the approval of large banking interests.

When all the things enumerated above are taken into consideration, I feel warranted in saying that notwithstanding the difficulties of the price situa- tion Texas agriculture is today nearer the basis of permanent stability and prosperity than it has ever been.

An Orchard Scene in East Texas

THE TEXAS COTTON INDUSTRY By M. H. WOLFE

C OTTON is the outstand- ing industry of Texas. There something fascinating about the produc- tion and disposition of a large cotton crop, such as Texas often produces. The crop never fails in Texas. Some years the yield is small- er than in other years, but cotton is a natural growth in the Texas soil and climate and will produce whether it has a chance or not. It is in- teresting to study the pro- duction and the money value of a cotton crop. For in- stance, in 1914 Texas farm- ers planted 11,931,000 acres in cotton and produced 4,959,112 bales which sold for an average price of 7.22 cents. Realizing in money approximately $165,770,000, which in 1918 the acreage was 11,235,000 which produced only 2,580,000 bales but sold for an average price of 28.02 cents, realizing about $363,780,000.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 7

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau Number of Pages: 1204

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1204