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12 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1917.
grazed on the native pasture, with supplementary feeding for four
or five months during the winter and spring. Under this method the
carrying capacity of the pastures is about 10 acres for a cow and calf.
Most of the ranches are equipped with silos. Sorghum and kafir
silage, kafir in bundles, and Sudan grass hay, together with a small
amount of cottonseed cake or meal, constitute the cattle feeds. According
to a recent estimate,1 the beef cattle in the county number
23,975.
Sheep raising is carried on to a small extent in the northeastern
part of the county. The native pasture is very closely grazed and is
supplemented by feeding and the use of wheat for winter pasture.
Hogs are raised on most of the longer-established farms and pork
production, as an adjunct to general farming, is rapidly increasing.
It is a special industry on several farms. Milo and corn are the
principal dry feeds, and alfalfa, wheat, rye, and barley are used for
pasturage.
In general, attention has been given to the selection of crops
and varieties best adapted to the climatic conditions without regard
to the different soil types, since it is believed that the amount and
distribution of rainfall and other climatic conditions, rather than
the differences in soils, are the controlling factors in yield. The
sorghums have been selected as the most dependable crops and
considerable attention has been given to determining the varities best
suited to local conditions. Farming in this region is so new that the
adaptation of the different soil types to special varieties of the staple
crops has not been worked out. The differences in soils, so far as they
affect the agriculture, have been taken into account mainly in their
relation to tillage requirements. It is generally recognized that
wheat and other small grains are best suited to the heavier soils or
"tight land," on account of the tendency of the sandy soils to drift
during the winter and spring months and that melons and peanuts
give better results on the sandy soils as do also orchard fruits and
small fruits.
In tillage especial attention is given to those practices which assist
in the absorption of moisture, such as deep plowing and maintaining
an effective soil mulch. All the farmers realize the necessity of working
up a thin, dry, lumpy surface mulch, formed by deep plowing
and subsequent shallow tillage. This is probably most essential on
the heavier soils, as the sandy soils naturally absorb more moisture
and suffer less loss from evaporation, so that the chief value of frequent
shallow cultivation here is in keeping down weeds.
Plowing generally begins about the 1st of January and continues
until the 1st of May. A large majority of the farmers prefer listSurvey
made by the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, June, 1916,