Texas Almanac, 1945-1946 Page: 180
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TEXAS ALMANAC.-1945-1946.
troduction of more adaptable varieties, con-
trol of diseases and soil and water conserva-
tion.
FARM CHEMURGY
Texas' abundant resources hold unusual
promise in the new field of chemurgy-indus-
trial use of products from the farm, forest
and mine The word chemurgy was coined
from chemistry" and the Greek word,
ergon," meaning work or energy. Farm
chemurgy means putting chemistry to work
for the farm. The farm chemurgic move-
ment-formed to find new industrial uses
and outlets for farm products, including
wastes-began at a conference in Dearborn,
Mich., in May, 1935. Coiner of the word was
Dr. William J. Hale, research chemist with
Dow Chemical Company, and its foremost
southwestern advocate has been Victor H.
Schoffelmayer, agricultural and science ed-
itor of The Dallas Morning News.
Outstanding chemurgic achievement in
Texas so far is the Southland Paper Mills,
Inc., near Lufkin, in the heart of the East
Texas pines, where loblolly and shortleaf
pines are converted into pulp to make news-
print for southwestern newspapers. This
plant opened Jan. 17, 1940, and represented
an original investment of $6,500,000
But there have been progress and research
in other commodities that promise new out-
lets for Texas crops and will probably bring
new industries to this state Probable de-
velopments include vegetable oils from cot-
ton seed, tung. castor bean, perilla, flax.,
safflower; cellulose from cotton and cattails
and timber, plastics from the lignin of wood
and the protein of the soybean, ethyl alcohol
from pines, sweet potatoes, grain sorghums,
sugar cane and sugar beets, activated carbon
from sawdust and pecan shells, rubber from
guayule and possibly from the milkweed and
other native plants, insecticides from the
castor plant, edible dehydrated sweet pota-
toes, stock feed from cull yams and various
chemicals from the waste liquors of this
crop, camphor, pine oil and acetone from
pine stumps, cedar oils and wax from the
mountain cedar which grows in abundance
in West Central Texas.
Due to give considerable impetus to the
chemurgic movement in Texas is the Insti-
tute of Technology and Plant Industry, set
up at Southern Methodist University in Dal-
las in 1944, which will experiment on crops
adaptable to Texas and industrial uses for
these crops. Results of its research will be
available to interested industries. The in-
stitute is under direction of Dr. C. L. Lun-
dell, botanist To further its work is a 110-
acre experimental farm north of Dallas, near
Renner.
TEXAS CROP VALUES
Total values of Texas field crops have shown a
consistent gain during the war Greater efforts
by individual farmers, increased demands and
higher prices, higher yields in many instances
and an increase in harvested acreage have been
responsible. In spite of losses of manpower, har-
vested acreage in 1944 was 29,179,000, more than
2,000,000 over the prewar average. Table below.,
from the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, shows total crop values in the state since
1919; totals do not include AAA benefit pay-
ments which began in 1933 and continued through
1944, and 1944 figures are preliminary (For
these payments in recent years see footnote under
table, Texas Cash Farm Income )
Year- Value Year- Value.
1919......$1,071527,000 1932 .... $233,136,000
1920...... 711,175,000 1933...... 352,339,000
1921...... 424,776,000 1934 ..... 330,127,000
1922...... 698,572,000 1935...... 364,137,000
1923...... 1,064,775,000 1936...... 398,854,000
1924...... 905,801,000 1937...... 451,261,000
1925...... 595,607,000 1938...... 299,394,000
1926...... 631,584,000 1939 ..... 318,629,000
1927...... 729,676,000 1940...... 399,860,000
1928...... 759,676,000 1941...... 523,067,000
1929...... 585,422,000 1942 .... 665,239,000
1930...... 411,755,500 1943...... 839,072,000
1931...... 306,872,000 1944...... 920,374,000TEXAS CASH FARM INCOME
Total cash farm income also has shown a grad-
ual rise during the war. Texas once led the na-
tion in farm income, but in recent years has
trailed Iowa and California. Data below on
Texas farm income are from the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
Livestock Crop *Total
Income Income Income
Year- ($1,000). ($1,000). ($1,000).
1939 .............$233,210 $230,207 $574,172
1940 ................ 239,827 262,824 589,140
1941 .............303,331 403,144 770,122
1942 ................ 466,214 469,001 995,461
1943 ............. 578,994 584,926 1,218,231
1944 (est)........ 639,000 654,000 1,293,000
*Total income includes benefit payments which
were as follows- $110,755,000 in 1939, $86,489,-
000 in 1940, $63,647,000 in 1941, $60,246,000 in
1942 and $54,311,000 in 1943 Income does not
include value of home consumption. The - 1943
figures are preliminary; 1944 figures are estimates.
FARMS, FARM SIZES, POPULATION
The Texas State Extension Service estimated
in the summer of 1944 that the Texas farm popu-
lation was 1.740,000 Showing how the war has
caused a drift away from the farm, the official
census figure for 1940 was 2,149,187. In 1930
the figure was 2,342,553
Of the 2,149,187 in 1940, a total of 1.125,362
were males, and 1,023,825 females Of the males,
329,907 were under 14 years of age, 727,121
between 14 and 64 and 68,334 over 65. Of the
group 25 years of age and over, the median year
of school completed was 7 5 and only 4 6 had
some college education About 42 8 per cent had
completed only to eight years of schooling
SThe last census (1940) showed 418,002 farms
in Texas, compared with 501,017 in 1935 and
495,489 in 1930 Of the total in 1940, 272.820
reported cotton, 279,592 reported corn, 75,941
reported grain sorghums, 39,416 oats, 26,387
winter wheat, 87,500 Irish potatoes, 57,668 sweet
potatoes and 84,237 all hay, exclusive of sor-
ghums.
Average acreage per farm in 1940 was 329 4,
compared with 274 6 in 1935. Table below gives
the wide range of farms, from garden to ranchSize Number
Range- Farms
Under 3 acres 4,416
3 to 9 a . 24,951
10 to 19 a 26,686
20 to 49 a 70,513
50 to 99 a 89.574
100 to 139 a 52,580
140 to 174 a 37,992
175 to 170 a 3,570
180 to 219 a 21,928
220 to 259 a 13,672Number
Size Range- Farms
260 to 379 a...... 27,613
380 to 499 a...... 11,123
500 to 699 a...... 11,562
700 to 999 a .... 6,721
1,000 to 4,999 a... 11,741
5,000 to 9,999 a... 1,716
10,000 a. and over. 1,644
Total..........418,002Cash Farm Income by States
Texas ranked third in cash farm income
among states in 1943. Its total being ex-
ceeded by Iowa and California. Texas' income
of $1.218,231,000 was divided- Crops, $584,-
926.000, livestock and livestock products,
$578,994,000; government payments, $54,311,-
000.
The table below is from the Department
f Agriculture. Figures are prelim nary.
(All figures in thousands, add 000.)
Total Cash
From From Crops, Income.
Livestock Livestock Including
and and Govt
State- Products. Liv Prods Payments
Maine $45,663 $117,711 $121,588
New Hampshire 32,411 40,608 41,048
Vermont ...... 63,190 74,903 76,179
Mass 89,638 143,618 144,510
Rh Island 11,318 16,090 16,225
Connecticut 68,451 106,017 106,783
New York .... 410,881 596,654 604,192
New Jersey ... 103.088 191,066 192,710
Pennsylvania .. 373,120 493,829 504,301
N Atlantic . 1,197,760 1,780,496 1,807,536
(Continued on Next Page)180
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Texas Almanac, 1945-1946, book, 1945; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117166/m1/182/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.