The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958 Page: 117
591 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Texas Cotton Acreage Control Law of 1931-1932 117
Texas. The law provided that no one could plant cotton in 1932
and 1933 to exceed 30 per cent of the area he had in cultivation
in the immediately preceding year. The law further required that
cotton could not be planted two years in succession on the same
land after 1933. The reason for the passage of this cotton acreage
curtailment law, as stated in the law, was the necessity of compel-
ling soil conservation, the preservation and development of the
soil and its fertility. The Legislature declared that the most
valuable natural resource of the state was its soil, and that the
continuous use of land for the planting of cotton and other soil-
exhausting plants caused (1) serious deterioration of the land and
the fertility thereof; (2) disastrous erosion of the land and the
loss of fertile soil; (3) the spread over wide areas of root rot and
other soil or plant diseases; (4) the propagation of boll weevil,
cotton flea, and other harmful insects, whose elimination or con-
trol was made difficult; and (5) deterioration of the quality and
quantity of cotton and other plants.8
The Legislature declared, furthermore, that the deterioration
in the quality and a reduction in the quantity per acre of the
cotton and other crops raised in Texas had resulted in a lack of
ability on the part of a large percentage of the farmers to meet
the obligations due on their homes and had prevented them
from paying their taxes. The Legislature stated that, in order to
alleviate these evils and to prevent their further increase, the
growing of cotton was to be regulated.4 The penalty for the
violation of the law was from $25 to $ioo for each acre of cotton
planted or cultivated in violation of this act." The attorney-
general, the state commissioner of agriculture, the county judges,
the county and district attorneys, and the inspectors of the state
department of agriculture were to assist in the enforcement of
the act." The law went into effect immediately after its passage,7
as the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three
separate days was suspended.8
8House Bill Number 7, Forty-second Legislature of Texas, Second Called Session,
1931.
4lbid., Section i.
sIbid., Section 6.
Ibid., Sections 7 and 8.
7Ibid., Section 14.
sDallas Morning News, January 2o, 1932.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958, periodical, 1958; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101164/m1/137/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.