8 BULLETIN 659, r. S. DEPARTMENT OF A.GRICTJLTUBE. 



TRANSPORTATION AND MARKETS. 



There are five steam railroads in Ellis County. (See fig. 1.) 

 These lines extend generally north and south through the count}' ; 

 one crosses in a northwest-southeasterly direction and one extends 

 east from Ennis. An electric interb urban line connecting Waco, 

 McLennon County, and Dallas, crosses the county in a general north 

 and south direction, passing through Redoak, Waxahachie, Forres- 

 ton, Italy, and Milford. This trolley line does little local business 

 except the carrying of passengers. 



The county is well covered with " pike " roads which connect 

 all the principal towns as well as inland points, thus affording 

 easy operation of farm wagons in hauling cotton. Many crossroads 

 are not yet graveled, but these are gradually being improved. The 

 ungraveled roads are practically impassable during wet seasons, so 

 that the " pikes " are a considerable asset to the farmers. These im- 

 provements have been brought about by means of the sale of bonds 

 issued for the purpose. About 20 per cent of the farm operators 

 of the region operate automobiles, which is due quite largely to the 

 fact that good roads are available for their use. 



More than half the farms studied in this survey are less than 3£ 

 miles from a market point where cotton gins are located. Practically 

 all the farms of the county are less than 5 miles from a market point. 

 Since cotton is a fairly concentrated product and is the chief source 

 of income, this distance of farms from market has comparatively 

 little influence on the price of farm land. 



Cotton is usually sold to buyers shortly after it is ginned. The 

 bales are sampled and prices are then quoted based on the market 

 price at Galveston and New Orleans. 



The local market for products other than cotton is limited, yet 

 other crops show a higher margin of profit between cost and value, 

 and this fact is suggestive of possibilities of greater profit under 

 other conditions. Cotton cultivation here as in many other regions 

 has developed because cotton is a more dependable crop under hard 

 conditions and with indifferent cultivation, because it is readily sal- 

 able and suffers comparatively little loss by exposure to weather, and 

 because its effect upon soil fertility has been little appreciated here- 

 tofore. Of course, market facilities and commercial influences re- 

 fleet this development and at the same time encourage it, so that 

 cotton farming has come to be the accepted form of industry. 



LABOR. 



The farm labor of the county is both white and colored. A large 

 part of the farm work is done by the operators and their families, 

 but the greater part of the cotton picking is done by colored la- 



