60S 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Cotton Growing by 

 Irrigation 



BY W. D. HORNADAY. 



Cotton growers throughout the South have had their in- 

 terest aroused by the reports that have come from the lower 

 valley of the Rio Grande in Texas of wonderful results 

 accomplished there by growing cotton by means of irrigation. 

 It is claimed that what is being done in that region in grow- 

 ing cotton can be practiced successfully in other parts of 

 Texas, and probably other southern states. The average yield 

 of cotton per acre under ordinary methods of farming, when 

 the rainfall is depended upon to supply the moisture for the 

 growing plants, is less than one-half bale. 



In the lower valley of the Rio Grande this season, where 

 irrigation was practiced in growing the crop, as high as two 

 bales per acre is being obtained by farmers. T. P. Cheney, 

 who has a farm 2J4 miles south of the town of Donna, has 

 picked eighty bales off of sixty acres up to September 10, 

 and it is conservatively estimated that before the crop season 

 closed he will have gathered sixty more bales from the same 

 ground, making an even two bales per acre. The revenue 



its appearance to solve the problem of its eradication, or, at 

 least, to so minimize its destructiveness as to make it no 

 longer a hindrance to the production of a bountiful crop each 

 season. 



Owing to the fear of the weevil pest and the lack of 

 knowledge on the part of the planters of that region of how 

 to cope with it by cultural methods in growing cotton, but 

 little attention was paid to growing that staple upon these 

 rich lands until about three years ago when about twelve 

 hundred acres were planted in cotton in the valley. The 

 yield proved so much greater than was expected that other 

 planters entered the industry and there was grown this sea- 

 son about twelve thousand acres of cotton in the territory 

 around Mercedes, Harlington, San Benito, Donna, McAllen, 

 Mission and other towns situated in the lower valley of the 

 international boundary stream. 



It was upon a farm near Mercedes that the first bale 

 of this year's cotton crop in the United States was raised. 

 This fact served to attract the attention of many planters 

 in other parts of Texas and the South. It lead to an in- 

 vestigation on the part of many of these men with the result 

 that the cotton acreage in the valley will be increased many 

 thousands of acres next season. One community of cotton 

 planters in Alabama sent a representative to the Rio Grande 

 valley section recently to investigate the reports that had 

 reached them of enormous yields of cotton. This man verified 

 the reports and expressed himself as astonished at the won- 



from the 120 bales will be approximately $9,000, not counting 

 the seed which will sell for enough money to pay all the 

 expenses of the crop, including its planting, cultivation, picking 

 and marketing, according to Mr. Cheney's estimate. 



This is only one illustration of what is being done in that 

 region in growing cotton. It is not unusual for one bale 

 of the staple to be grown per acre by the valley farmers. 

 When the harvest of cotton is over the same land is planted in 

 winter vegetables or other kind of crops, and they are gath- 

 ered and out of the way before the next cotton planting sea- 

 son arrives. 



One of the most important features of this new era of 

 cotton production that has been inaugurated in the Rio Grande 

 valley during the last three years is that it has resulted in 

 such a reduction of the boll weevil pest that those insects 

 are no longer considered a serious menace to the crop. It 

 was in the lower Rio Grande valley that the weevils first 

 made their appearance in the United States. They crossed 

 over from Mexico about ten years ago and rapidly spread 

 northward and eastward until they covered practically all of 

 the cotton growing area of Texas and the South. The pest 

 has caused many millions of dollars of losses to cotton plant- 

 ers since it began its invasion of this country. It has been 

 left to the cotton growers of the region where it first made 



Delegates to the Eighteenth National Irrigation C( 



derful results that are being accomplished in the industry 

 there. He said that his favorable report would cause many 

 planters of Alabama to move to that section. 



A number of new settlers from Northern states who 

 have never had any previous experience in growing cotton 

 have met with remarkable success this year. Roy Randolph, 

 a young college graduate, located near Harlington several 

 months ago, planted seventy-five acres in cotton. Despite his 

 lack of experience in that kind of farming he made his land 

 yield him an average of one bale per acre. He has sold sixty- 

 eight bales for $5,143, exclusive of the seed which is valued at 

 $10 to $12 per bale. His revenue from the whole crop of the 

 seventy-five acres, including seed, will be about $6,400. His 

 expenses of growing and marketing the crop are estimated at 

 about $25 per bale, leaving him a net profit of approximately 

 $4,525. This handsome sum was made in seven months and 

 he still has five months out of the twelve in which to grow 

 a second crop of some other kind upon the same land. 



It is claimed by cotton growers that labor is more abun- 

 dant and cheaper in the lower Rio Grande valley than in 

 any other section of the country. Mexico supplies an in- 

 exhaustible available supply of men, women and children 

 during the p : cking season. 



(Continued on page 630.) 



