The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-06-16
ONION QUEEN MAKES $50. 900
This Huge Profit Is Gain for Only One
Season Reaped by Texas Woman
on 1875 Acres,

LAREDO, Tex, June 12.-Mrs. Ed
warts c. DOdd of Laredo is entitled to
distinction as a farmer She made a
profit this season of a little more than
$50, 900 off of 1876 acres of land. Ber-
muda onions were her sales crop She
is known among her friends here as
the "onion queen
Mrs. Dodd does not mind the jests of
her friends so long as she is successful
in growing Bermuda onions. Her crop
this year was not extraordinary. Most
of the other onion growers in the La
redo section did as well. but none of
them had in as much acreage individ-
ually as she had. This fact brought
her profits up to figure that is aston
ishing to the ordinary farmer, who is
content with a profit of SIS to $40
per acre upon his land The average
net yield which Mrs. Dodd obtained
upon her 1876 acres was about $500 per
acre. The gross revenue from the farm
was about 1925 per acre. Growing
onions is expensive, and it cost an
average of about 1925 per acre to
plant, cultivate, harvest and market
the crop.
Mrs. Dodd is not "book farmer"
She directs the multitudinous affairs
of her place in person. She has capa-
BILE men who look after the details and
every part of the business receives her
closest supervision. Her farm en-
braces 600 acres, but of this she has
as yet only 200 acres under irrigation.
She has increased the acreage under
cultivation gradually each year as her
revenues would permit. 1t is planned
that much more than 200 acres of the
tract shall be placed under irrigation
by the time of next seasons onion
planting.
Develops Farm Left to Her.
Mrs. Dodd found herself thrown
upon her own resources a few years
ago by the death of her husband,
Capt. II. w. Dodd. The land which
she has converted into a productive
onion farm and a comfortable home in
the town were all the property that
was left her. She decided that the
land must be made to bring in a rev.
enue in order to pay for itself and sup
port her. No tract of land in the La
redo section is more advantageously
situated. 1t has a frontage on the
Rio Grande, the international boun
Diary stream, and runs back to the
limits of the town.
When Mrs. Dodd took personal
charge of the property the success of
growing Bermuda onions had been
proved. A small part of the land
was already under irrigation, the wa
ter supply being obtained from the
river by means of steam pump After
careful study of the situation, Mrs.
Dodd decided to clear and make avail
able additional land for cultivation
and try her hand at raising onions on
large scale. She enlarged the irri-
gable tract to seventy acres, all of
which she planted in Bermuda on
| ions. That was three years ago. Con-
ditions were favorable and, despite the
many difficulties that had to be over
come, she marketed the onion crop
upon the seventy acres at a net profit
of $4,000.
| The seasons work had taught her
many things in connection with farm
| ing, particularly with reference to that
particular crop. She found that the
steam pumping plant was inadequate
| to the needs of the farm and further
more, that it was situated so low upon
| the bank of the river as to run the
risk of being washed away by an over
flow. For such a calamity to happen
in the midst of a crop growing season
might mean the loss of most of the
onions.
Decides to Replace Old Plant.
Some of the onion growers in the
valley of the Rio Grande were at that
time receiving the power for operating
their pumps from an electric trans
mission line which had been built
down the river from the central cleo
trio power plant in Laredo. After ma
ture consideration of the matter Mrs
Dodd decided to replace the old steam
pumping plant with an electric sta
ton. She went over her farm care
fully and determined that the water