B. P. I. -688. 



SUGGEST1:1) CROPPING SVSTI-MS 1-OK THE BLACK 



LANDS OF TEXAS 



INTRODUCTION. 



The black-liuul region of Texas is one of the most productive and 

 best developed agricultural sections of the Southwest, yet it pre- 

 sents some of the most difficult problems to be found in tiiis country. 

 The older portions have passed through a period of exploitive farm- 

 ing, during which cotton and grain were grown to the exclusion of 

 crops which might have exerted a beneficial effect upon the soil. As 

 in all rich, new sections, no effort was put forth to maintain fertihty, 

 because it was thought that the productiveness of the black heavy 

 soils was practically inexhaustible. Eventually a marked dechne 

 was noted in the yields of all crops, and as land values rose ^ — owing 

 to the increase in population — the conditions became such that only 

 the most sldllfully operated farms could be made to pay reasonable 

 wages for labor performed and interest on the investment in land and 

 equipment. 



The main problem, therefore, and the one deserving immediate 

 attention, is that of improving the soils and maintaining the farms 

 in a high state of productiveness. This is made difficult by the 

 prevalence of the disease known as root-rot (Ozonium oinniverum), 

 which attacks and materiall}^ injures crops, especially cotton and the 

 legumes. 



Cotton, the cliief source of income, is damaged by this fungus to 

 the extent of several milhons of dollars annually. 



The legumes have been grown onlv to a very limited extent, as 

 there was not the same incentive during this period of exploitation 

 to cultivate them against the attacks of the root-rot that there was 

 in the case of cotton. Consequently, a system of farming developed 

 on most farms in whicli legumes had no part. On tlie few farms 

 where legumes are found, cowpeas and alfalfa are the most common. 

 Cowpeas, however, are nearly always badly damaged by root-rot, 

 wliile alfalfa is usually attacked the second or third year,- making 



' During the last 40 yoars thp price of l)la(k land has gradually risen from a few dollars to from $50 to $200 

 per acre, depending upon its desirability for farming purposes and its location. 



2 Oa the uplands southwest of Williamson County it is doubtful whether alfalfa should be included at 

 all on account of the severe effects of root-rot; but on the alluvial bottom lands it is grown with profit. 

 Its cultivation west of San Antonio depends largely on irrigation, a subject not discussed in this buUetin- 



[Cir. 84] 3 



