THE HOUSTON BLACK CLAY. 11 



animal husbandry upon the Houston black clay than has yet been 

 attempted outside of a few restricted localities. The type is an admir- 

 able corn soil. It is well suited to the growing of alfalfa, the sorghums, 

 Johnson grass, and millet, while even cowpeas and other legumes thrive 

 upon it. As a result, under the favorable climatic conditions existing 

 over the greater part of the area occupied by this soil the production 

 of beef animals, not upon the wild-hay pasture, but upon carefully 

 tended crops should be profitable. Some attempts have been made 

 at hog raising upon an extensive scale. These have usually been 

 decidedly successful. In the majority of instances a few hogs are 

 kept on plantations or farms. However, an opportunity exists for 

 the extension of this form of animal industry for the consumption of 

 the corn and alfalfa which may be raised upon the farm. Exclusive 

 hog f arming may or may not be profitable under different conditions, 

 but in connection with the production of the alfalfa crop and with 

 corn to supplement the acreage devoted to it, hog raising should 

 constitute a very profitable side line. 



Wherever the demand for dairy products is sufficient to warrant 

 it, corn and alfalfa, millet, sorghum and Johnson grass, may all be 

 used to good advantage in feeding dairy cattle. 



Thus there is an admirable opportunity on the Houston black 

 clay for a much greater diversification of the present agricultural 

 occupation and for the more profitable use of the many extensively 

 farmed areas of the type. 



FARM EQUIPMENT. 



The farm equipment upon the Houston black clay varies consider- 

 ably upon the different areas where it has been encountered. In the 

 more western areas which have only been occupied for a short period 

 of time, the farm buildings and equipment are sometimes primitive. 

 On the other hand, the greater part of the Black and Grand Prairie 

 country has been occupied agriculturally for periods ranging from 

 35 to 50 years. Here the farm buildings are well constructed, well 

 planned for the purposes of the plantation or the farm, and the equip- 

 ment of fences, work stock, and tools is of a high character. There 

 are many variations in the equipment, depending upon the taste and 

 the ability of the owner of the individual property. In general the 

 farmhouse, the shed for the work stock, the windmill, and the feed- 

 ing yard are the normal improvements to be found upon the farms 

 occupying this type. 



In the majority of cases the work stock employed in the tillage of 

 the Houston black clay consists of medium to heavy weight mules, 

 used in the 2 and 4 mule hitch. The use of this heavier stock and of 

 the larger number of farm animals is imperative upon this type, 

 owing to its waxy, plastic nature, and to the difficulty experienced 



