The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-02-20

$3S. 96, and the total value of the crop
$4S, 1885, 12. The increase in acreage
is general, but more marked in sec
tions heretofore devoted almost exclu-
sively to stockraising and considered
unsuited to agricultural, and especially
to the growth of cotton, the South
western part of the state and the
Panhandle country being the largest
contributors. This is indicative Of
the westward march of the husband
man, who will eventually subdue every
acre of the vast domain stretching out
to the Mexican border which may be
susceptible of cultivation.
The average value of each acre in
cotton, including the seed, was SIG 20.
Sugar cane, sorghum cane. sweet po-
tatoes, Irish potatoes, and hay each
exceed this sum in value per acre, but,
with the possible exception of sugar
cane, they can not be classed as sure
money crops. Cotton can be con-
verted into money at any time and at
any place, however remote from mar
ket, at its market value in the princi-
pal markets of the world, less the cost
of transportation. This fact more
than any other accounts for the
steady increase in the acreage devoted
to cotton culture, notwithstanding the
opinion which obtains among many
farmers that it is an improbable crop.
Ihe increase in acreage was 3.7S per
cent, and the total yield increased
1914 over the crop of 1887. The net
increase in the yield was therefore 6.96
per cent, which is due to favorable sea-
sons, and the diminution of damage
to the crop by the caterpillar and boil
worm, as compared to the previous
year.
Mr.. w. B. Snow, assistant statisti-
clan of the National Department of
Agriculture, made the report of this
department, on the cotton crop of
1887, the basis of an article on the
damage to the crop from worms, in
which occurs the following: Gao
cording to this return, the total num-
Der of bales gathered was l,125, 499,
while, had there been a total exemp-
ton from insect damage, the farmers
of Texas, according to this authority,
would have gathered a crop of ,422,-
94S bales. This would make the
aggregate loss from worms equal to
297 ,499 bales. The value per bale OF
the crop which was made at the place
of production, averaged slightly over
$40. Presuming that an increase of
less than half a million bales in the
aggregate crop would have made but
little difference in price, the actual
money loss to the farmers of Texas in
one year from cotton worms alone, was
Sill 1897 900.
at is not claimed that these figures
are absolutely accurate, but they are
undoubtedly approximately correct,
and will give some idea of the enor-
nous tribute levied upon American
agriculture by injurious insects"
As a rule, the climate and other
conditions, except fertility of soil,
affecting cotton production through
out the cotton producing region are
about the same, so that the above OBJ
servations ale of general application.
The damage to cotton from the
caterpillar is matter now practically
within control. By the use of Paris
green, or London purple, the worms
can be destroyed as soon as they ap-
pear, at a cost of time and money
quite inconsiderable compared to the
value of the cotton saved. By far,
the greater injury results from boil
worm, which, so far, has not been de-
stroyed or diminished in numbers by
any device resorted to for that pur-
pose. During the past season, lighted
lamps in the cotton fields were tried
extensively, the theory being that the
miller laying the egg that produces
the worm would be attracted thither
and destroyed.
WHEAT.
AS will be seen by reference to the
report of the wheat crop by counties
there was q considerable decrease in
the acreage in 1883. Investigation
developed the fact that this was due
to an abandonment of farms in 1887 in
the western counties of the state,
where the drouth was so severe. The
principal additions to the area devoted
to wheat growing had been made in
that section. The three dry years
eliminating in the drouth of 1887 not
only destroyed the crops, but caused
large numbers of settlers to move to
other localities in search of employ
ment. The majority of them returned,
but not until after the season for
planting wheat for the crop of 1888
had passed. In addition to this the
people who remained on their farms
did not plant the usual acreage in
wheat on account of the failures of the
preceding years of drouth. 1t is wor-
thy of notice in this connection that
the report of the national department
of agriculture for 1883 shows a consid-
cradle decrease in the acreage in
wheat, which is attributed to the con-
slant decline in price brought about
by overproduction. This, however,
does not affect production in the state,
where the supply does not equal the