22 BULLETIN 665, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



LABOR. 



The laborers of the section are almost altogether Mexican. 

 Scarcely any negroes are encountered (1915). This labor is em- 

 ployed by the day, by the week, or by contract. Ordinarily laborers 

 are secured at from $0.75 to $1 per day without rations, and the rate 

 is practically the same by the week. In some instances laborers and 

 their families are provided with houses (jacals) on the farms, and 

 the labor is utilized as needed. This practice tends to secure sta- 

 bility and also increases the efficiency of the labor. 



Practice has established that the employment of Mexican labor by 

 contract is the cheapest and generally the most efficient. For such 

 work as clearing land, transplanting and harvesting truck crops, 

 etc., contract labor is commonly utilized. This method is particu- 

 larly satisfactory since men, women, and children of the Mexican 

 families perform labor of this character. 



Mexican labor is comparatively inefficient, owing partly to lack of 

 intelligence and lack of knowledge of good methods. While the 

 average cost of hired labor is about $0.80 per day the cost of super- 

 vision as shown by records from 59 farms is $0.75 per day, so that the 

 actual cost to the farmer is approximately $1.50 per day. A large 

 percentage of the Mexican laborers can not speak English. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



The lower Rio Grande Valley is provided with only one railroad 

 to outside markets. The St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico lines (part 

 of the St. Louis & San Francisco system) connect Brownsville with 

 Houston, a distance of 372 miles (see fig. 1). By means of the San 

 Antonio & Aransas Pass lines connection is made at Sinton, Tex., 

 for San Antonio. 



The St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway operates a branch 

 line from Harlingen west to Mercedes, Mission, San Fordyce, and 

 other points. Since the shipment of perishable produce has reached 

 a considerable magnitude some difficulty has been encountered in the 

 past in securing cars for freight transportation. 



A local line, the San Benito & Rio Grande, known as the " Spider- 

 web " (see fig. 1) operates northeast and southwest from San Benito. 

 A branch line of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway con- 

 nects San Juan with Edinburg, the county seat of Hidalgo County. 

 Another line extends north from Mission to Monte Christo. 



The Rio Grande Railway, one of the oldest railroads in Texas, con- 

 nects Brownsville with Point Isobel and Brazos Santiago Pass. 

 Before the construction of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Rail- 

 way to Brownsville, this line furnished the principal means of trans- 

 portation. Formerly small freight and passenger boats from Gulf 

 seaports entered Laguna Madre through Brazo Santiago Pass to 



