Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-01
LONGHORN TEXAS
YIELDS TO PLOW
TRUCK GROWING ENLARGES
UPON ACREAGE
CITRUS AND ONION CULTURE
NETS FORTUNES
Visitor in Southwestern Part of State
Finds Agriculture in Flourish
ing Condition-Sees
Opportunities

The Quick Growers Colony associa-
tion, with local offices at 341 South
Hill street, announces that travel to
South Texas continues with marked
regularity. One recent visitor to that
region, especially to the great Ber-
muda onion ranches at Cotulla, is Z.
A. McNabb, former secretary of the
Oklahoma board of agriculture.
My trip proper began at the beau
tiful and historic city of San Antonio
and extended to the gulf on the south
and to the little city of Cotulla on the
west" writes Mr.. MeNabb.
This was my nrst visit SO far
south and there were many interest,"
ing and pleasant surprises. l had ale
ways associated that whole region
with long-horn cattle and their usual
accompaniments and had always con-
fined the truck-growing industry to
a narrow belt along the coast.
In that respect iabored under
false impress ion, for the cattle ranch
and the longhorn are becoming scarce
articles and general farming in al
branches, together with fruit growing
and commercial gardenns L. prar-
ticed on an extensive scale.
What pleased me ost, however,
was the advanced stage of expert"
ments in citrus fruit growing. For
more than 100 IN les northwest from
the coast, | found orange tres s that
have been bearing heavy crops OF
fruit for fifteen or more years. on IA
state demonstration farm which 1
visited, | saw a 6-year-old orange,
lemon and pomelo (grape truiD trees
which have borne three full crops OF
fruit ana at the time / was there were
loaded with a very heavy crop that
was almost ready to pick. There
trees were planted twer ty feet apart
making 10 TO the acre, and / was as
sured by the mana GER OF the farm
that the present crop would return an
average of not less than s45 tree,
and that some trees of the lot would
return as much as $50; $4950 an acre
would therefore be an average.
Concerning Citrus Culture
There is a young citrus ore hard
on this farm. some 800 trees in 1t, set
a year ago last s2ing, which nave as
many as % perfect fruits to the tree. L
saw a grove of 100 olive trees 10 years
old, which have produced three full
crops, and were certainly perfect speci-
mems of trees. l was told they had
never sned their foliage since setting.
Figs. California grapes, kunquats, To-
quats and other tender fruits were
there in abundance.
This section has recently attract
ed the attention of California citrus
fruit growers and la ge orchards are
being planted as fast as the proper
stock can be produced or grown They
use the hardy Japanese orange (Cit-
rus trifoliata) roots for the purpose of
adding hardihood.
Two or three crops of figs arr
grown yearly. Northern enterprise put
into the growing of this valuable arti-
Gle of food would result in handsome
returns, as the possibilities for b tn
growth and sale are unlimited. The
fine hotels of the north would. gladly
contract for large quantities OF pre-
contract for large quautlt'-a .'. l,ie-
serving process and plant are con-
paratiVely inexpensive and could easily
be handled in a community of small
growers
Cotton. of course Is the leading
farm crop, and the yield is about a
bale per acre. The hollis open up to
the tap of the plants and the weevil
is giving but little trouble.
Corn is a secondary crop and is
treated very much lik, it was at one
time in the wheat-growing districts Of
Oklahoma. With good corn growing
practices injected into the work there.
the yield could easily be doubled.
Visits Bermuda Ranch
"I visited a Bermuda onion ranch
at Cotulla, where one man was de-
voting 157 acres to that crop alone. He
was a former railroad clerk, working in
an office in Milwaukee for SIS month.
He knew little or nothing about truck
Ing but has succeeded in amassing a
comfortable little fortune in the three
years he has been there. The yield Is
about 500 bushels an acre, and the
price realized is from 81 to $1.50 a
bushel.
what a grand opportunity exists in
that country for the man who engages
in the dairy business! That is Tor the
sale of butter fat. Vegetation is green
the year through and forage crops grow
with almost no effort on the part of the
farmer Sorghum and ribbon cane are
planted in the early spring and from
three to five crops are cut from one
planting in a year. and Texas imports
millions of dollars worth of dairy prod
ucts annually"