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AGRICULTURAL
NEWS LETTER
THE
Vol. IV

FEDERAL

RESERVE

BANK

Dallas, Texas, February 15, 1949

OF

DALLAS
Number 2

DESTRUCTION OF SOUTHWEST RANGES THREATENED BY BRUSH
One of the most serious problems in the
range areas of the Southwest is the continued
spread of noxious brush such as mesquite,
cedar, and scrub. oak. This infestation has
reduced greatly the amount of forage on the
ranges and has lowered the quality of that
which remains. It has rendered a considerable
amount of forage unavailable to livestock and
has impeded ranchmen in the handling of
their herds and flocks. Thus, millions of acres
of once productive grassland have lost all or
part of their usefulness in supporting the
large livestock industry of this area. This
infestation spreads to ranges where the dense
grasses which once held mesquite and other
noxious brush in check have been depleted by
over-grazing. Other contributing factors in­
clude droughts, floods, fires, and hard winters.

the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
The bulletin points to mesquite and prickly
pear as two of the most common and detri­
mental of noxious plants infesting southwest­
ern ranges. In Texas alone, some 55,000,000
acres of the potential range land have growths
of mesquite, while an estimated 60,000,000
acres are infested with prickly pear. Results
of research indicate that the rapid spread of
mesquite in this part of the country is due
to its growth habits. Mesquite forms a bud
zone which lies anywhere from a few inches
to as much as a foot or more below the
ground level and which contains a number
of eyelets, much like those of the common
potato. An injury to the upper part of the
tree—such as cutting of the trunk or burn­
ing—seems to bring about a sprouting of the
eyelets, sending up a dozen or more shoots
from a single stump. Hence, it is most diffi­
cult to kill mesquite by burning after it has
reached a year or more of age.

Range experts of the United States Depart­
ment of Agriculture estimated in 1943 that
cedar and mesquite, alone, on about 51,000,000 acres of Texas range land reduced the
State’s potential meat production some 400,000,000 pounds annually. It is estimated that
if the land infested with noxious brush had
been available for full utilization in livestock
production, Texas farmers and ranchmen
during 1947 could have obtained an addi­
tional income of $37,000,000. In addition,
ranchers are faced with losses in their invest­
ments in range lands. Such reductions in
potential income and depreciation of capital
investments are also being experienced by
ranchmen in other states of the Southwest
due to deterioration of livestock ranges.

Although mesquite has been so destructive
of valuable range land, it is defended by some
ranchmen on the grounds that the beans,
which are edible by livestock, may on occa­
sion prove invaluable in feeding a herd
through a critical period, while the larger
mesquite arc frequently considered desirable
as shade trees. Somewhat the same feeling
exists for prickly pear, which may be fed
during periods of drought. These views, how­
ever, are not held by range management spe­
cialists nor by the majority of ranchmen who
have observed the deterioration of the ranges.

The problems of range deterioration result­
ing from the growth of noxious plants are set
forth clearly in a recent publication entitled
Brush Problems on Texas Ranges, prepared
by the Department of Range and Forestry at

While mesquite and prickly pear are per­
haps the two most common of the noxious
brush on Southwest ranges, there are others
which are present over large areas. Among
these is the scrub oak, which appears in such

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

forms as liveoak., Spanish oak, red oak, post
oak, blue oak, and the poisonous shinnery
oak. Oak infestation poses a unique problem
in that there is a tendency for it to be accom­
panied by an infestation of cedar as well as
a number of minor types of noxious under­
growths, which, together with the oak, may
make an area almost impenetrable. Southwest
farms and ranges are also infested with creo­
sote, tarbush, whitebrush, blackbrush, agarita,
yaupon, catclaw, hog plum, persimmon, huisache, Brazil bush, soapbush, and McCartney
rose.
Methods currently employed in the re­
moval of these and other brush from the
ranges include burning and the use of
machinery and chemicals. These methods have
been used with moderate success by numbers
of ranchers, but none of them have proved
entirely satisfactory, and further study is
needed to determine fully their effectiveness
and to develop more efficient means of brush
eradication. While fire has been used exten­
sively in destroying range brush, results indi­
cate that it may be more harmful than bene­
ficial to ranges.
A considerable quantity of brush is re­
moved through the use of machinery. One
of the earliest heavy machines used was the
bulldozer, but this machine sweeps up sur­
face growth only, leaving the roots to sprout;
and in sweeping the debris across the surface
of the range it scatters the beans of the mesquite, causing an infestation of relatively
clean areas. However, a number of improve­
ments on the bulldozer have been made in
recent years, such as the "tree dozer,” which
has been used with some success against mesquite. Other kinds of mechanical devices in
operation for brush control include various
types and sizes of brush cutters, root cutters,
root plows, power saws, and cabling devices.
All of these vary in effectiveness and, in the
main, are improvements over the simple bull­
dozer; but because they destroy the grass or
leave roots to sprout, or for other reasons,
they do not meet standards set by range con­
servationists.
Although, up to the present, mechanical
means of combating noxious brush have led

the way in practical field application, range
specialists are now looking to chemistry for
a solution to this problem. A number of
chemical agents have been found which oper­
ate with some degree of efficiency as noxious
brush eradication and control measures. Chief
among these is kerosene, both pure and mixed
with various fuel oils such as motor (crank
case) oil or Diesel oil, which has been used
for eradicating mesquite, post oak, blackjack
oak, and other noxious plants. Other chem­
icals used on smaller scale or in experimental
work only include ammonium sulfamate (sold
under the trade name "ammate” ) ; sodium
chlorate, zinc chloride, and other chlorides
and chlorates; sodium arsenite and other arse­
nic compounds; and 2, 4-D and 2, 4, 5-T.
The Experiment Station bulletin states that
the campaign to control and eradicate range
brush has only begun. While federal, state,
and local agencies are working to free the
range lands of noxious brush and to restore
the ranges to their earlier productive capaci­
ties, the infestation of ranges is spreading and
additional lands are being lost each year.
More extensive use of some of the present
methods of brush eradication would help to
retard the loss of range lands, but there is
great need for an expansion in the research
work now being carried on in order to de­
velop more satisfactory methods for remov­
ing noxious brush from ranges. The infor­
mation thus obtained, together with other
proved facts and principles, must be incor­
porated into an effective program of range
conservation and improvement if the produc­
tivity of the ranges of the Southwest is to be
restored. Without a well-planned and prop­
erly executed research program and a care­
fully correlated educational program based on
experiment findings, say the writers of the
bulletin, the multi-million dollar livestock in­
dustry of the Southwest appears doomed to
slow deterioration.

FARM MANAGEMENT
Hubam Clover Seed Crop Benefits Cotton
A hubam clover seed crop that was pro­
duced in 1947 paid dividends in 1948 to a
cotton farmer in Ellis County, Texas, through

AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER
increased cotton yields per acre, according to
the Texas A. & M. College Extension Service.
Weights were kept on four rows of cotton
following hubam clover and on four other
rows in the same field of cotton following
cotton. Both plots were planted and culti­
vated the same way. The records show that
the cotton following hubam clover yielded
at the rate of 750 pounds of seed cotton per
acre, whereas the cotton following cotton
yielded only 540 pounds per acre, a differ­
ence of 210 pounds.
In order to examine more closely the effects
of the clover, the cottonseed were taken to a
laboratory and analyzed. The analyses showed
that seed grown on the hubam land contained
19.9 percent oil and graded 110.5, compared
with 18.9 percent oil content and a grade of
104.5 for seed produced on land following
cotton.
-------Fumigants Protect Seed Com
The effects of insect injury may be con­
siderably more serious on seed corn than on
corn to be used for feed, according to the
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine,
because the germ of the seed, with its high
food value, is particularly attractive to in­
sects.
The cadello, almond moth, Indian meal
moth, and the flat grain beetle are some of
the insects particularly destructive to seed
corn, because they make their first attack on
the germ. Research and practical tests show
that a three-to-one mixture of ethylene di­
chloride and carbon tetrachloride is the safest
fumigant to use in protecting seed corn from
in se ct dam age. E n to m o lo g ists also have
worked out fumigation schedules and dosages
for other fumigants, such as hydrocyanic gas,
methyl bromide, and chloropicrin. All fumi­
gants are highly toxic to man, and it is neces­
sary to apply them according to instructions
on their containers.
Protect Stock from Small Metal Objects,
Veterinarian Urges
From time to time dairymen should check
on foreign objects around the dairy cow’s

3

feed trough and on stall ledges as well as
other handy places, states Dr. C. H. McElroy,
Oklahoma A. & M. College veterinarian.
Cows have been known to swallow horse­
shoe nails, pocket watches, pocket knives,
bailing wire, rings, rusty nails, sections of
barbed wire, and other objects dangerous to
the animal’s health, the veterinarian says. He
cautions that all such objects should be out
of reach of the farm livestock.
Foreign objects in the cow’s first stomach
or paunch sometimes pierce the animal’s stom­
ach wall, but more often such objects pass on
to the second stomach. From there the object
may penetrate the surrounding tissues and
work its way toward the liver or heart. In
many cases, the foreign object may damage the
heart severely or even work its way into the
heart and cause death.
After an animal has swallowed such an ob­
ject there is little that can be done unless the
diagnosis is such that an experienced veteri­
narian can remove the object by surgery. This
is not always feasible and will not be suc­
cessful at all unless a highly trained veteri­
narian does the work.
Cabbage Looper Control Measures
Recommendations for control of the cab­
bage looper are contained in the current issue
of Texas Farming and Citriculture. The cab­
bage looper attacks not only cabbage, but also
cauliflower, broccoli, English peas, lettuce,
turnips, spinach, and other crops. This pest
can be brought under control with a 5 per­
cent D D T dust applied at 20 pounds per acre
with ground machines or 30 pounds per acre
with airplane dusters. As the loopers are on
the underside of the leaves, the plants must
be covered completely with the dust in order
to obtain good results.
Angleton Bluestem Grass Withstands
Drought
Angleton bluestem, an imported relative of
the native bluestem prairie grasses, is becom­
ing popular as a pasture and hay grass in cen­
tral and southern Texas because of its resist­
ance to drought, reports the Texas Extension
Service. However, there has been a shortage

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

of seed, and farmers wanting to grow angleton bluestem usually have found it necessary
to plant sprigs of the grass.
The Angleton Experiment Station reports
that this type of grass has a four-year aver­
age yield of eight tons per acre. It grows in
tufts of tall, leafy stems and spreads by run­
ners 6- to 10-feet long. Experimental plots at
College Station analyzed 8.7 percent protein.
Robert R. Lancaster, extension pasture spe­
cialist of Texas A. & M. College, reports that
a farmer near Port Lavaca has 28 acres of
this grass which, after the intense heat and
drought of last summer, yielded two and onehalf tons of hay per acre early last Septem­
ber. Another crop harvested in November
yielded two tons of good hay to the acre.
Reports from throughout south Texas indi­
cate that farmers are showing increasing in­
terest in this grass and that it may be very
useful in meeting the drought problem.

in another test with Sudan grass, from 76
hours to 30 hours.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Meetings
The Wichita Falls Area Baby Beef Show
will be held at the 4-H Club Calf Barn,
Wichita Falls, on February 23-25.
The 1949 Amarillo Fat Stock Show will
take place March 1-4.
The San Angelo Fat Stock Show and Rodeo
will be held March 3-6.
The Sand Hills Hereford Show is sched­
uled for March 9-12 at the Show Barns in
Odessa, Texas.
The A nnual Meeting of Texas Flying
Farmers will convene at Texas A. & I. Col­
lege, Kingsville, March 17-19.

Publications

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOP­
MENTS
Hay Improved by Crushing
When slow-curing hay crops such as sudan
grass, Johnson grass, and soybeans have to re­
main in the field several days to cure, the
quality is reduced because most of the color
is lost, the carotene content is lowered, and
the leaves begin to shatter. An attempt to
meet this problem has been made in experi­
ments with hay crushing which have been
under way for a number of years at the Mis­
sissippi Agricultural Experiment Station. A
machine has been developed which crushes
the stems of the hay as it is cut, permitting
the moisture to escape and thereby reducing
the time required for field-cure. The machine
is an attachment to the regular tractor mower
and enables the farmer to mow and crush the
hay in one process without materially slow­
ing down the operation. Stems and leaves of
the plants dry at a fairly uniform rate, re­
sulting in a cured hay of better color, caro­
tene content, and quality and a much higher
percentage of leaves. In a test with Johnson
grass the mower-crusher reduced the drying
and curing time from 53 hours to 29 hours;

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Col­
lege Station, Texas:
D rying Rice in Sacks, Progress R eport
1138, by J. W. Sorenson, Jr., William
C. Davis, and J. P. Hollingsworth.
Peach Varieties for the" West Cross Tim ­
bers, Progress Report 1143, by Tom E.
Denman.
Fertilizer Requirements for Rice of the
Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas, 1947-48,
Progress Report 1144, by R. H. Wyche,
R. L. Cheaney, and W. F. Turner.
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station,
Stillwater, Oklahoma:
A Forest Industries Survey of Oklahoma,
Bulletin No. B-325, by Ed. R. Linn.
Fertilizer Recommendations for Oklahoma
Crops, Bulletin No. B-326, by H. J.
Harper and others.
Irrigation for Oklahoma, Circular No. C131, by H. B. Cordner and others.
Copies of these publications may be se­
cured by request to their respective pub­
lishers.