Texas Almanac, 1941-1942 Page: 217
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LIVESTOCK-RAISING INDUSTRIES.
The decade, 1930 to 1940, which brought
a 50 per cent decrease in the Texas
cotton acreage witnessed rapid develop-
ment of the livestock industries. The
number of cattle increased from 5,583,471
in 1930 to 6,281,537 in 1940. For the same
period sheep increased from 5,319,248 to
8,447,809; hogs increased from 1,048,074
to 1,513,912. There was also a small in-
crease in the number of poultry. The Bu-
reau of the Census did not include the
number of goats in its initial announce-
ment, but the estimates of the U S. De-
partment of Agriculture show that there
was an increase from 2,965,000 in 1930 to
4,032,000 in 1940. Production of wool and
mohair showed corresponding increases
There was also a large expansion of the
dairying industry, and an increase of
feeding for finishing cattle for market in
Texas.
Texas was the first ranking state, ac-
cording to the census of 1940, in total
number of cattle, and number of beef
cattle, but fifth ranking state in dairy
cattle. Texas was by far the first ranking
state in number of sheep and Angora
goats, also in number of mules, but
ranked behind Iowa in number of horses.
Iowa was a little ahead of Texas in both
number of chickens on farms in 1940 and
number of eggs produced, the census
showed, but Texas ranged first in num-
ber of turkeys on farms and number
raised. Iowa has outranked Texas by a
narrow margin in recent years in the
total income from livestock products.
Texas' First Industry.
The industry of the white man in
Texas began with livestock raising. Rec-
ords of the old missions at San Antonio
list the cattle, sheep, goats and horses as
the principal economic assets. There were
several thousand head, even prior to
1750. It was from this small nucleus that
the longhorn cow, the mustang horse and
the original strains of Spanish sheep and
goats spread throughout South and
Southwest Texas and eventually north-
ward through middle western and north-
ern Texas. The effects of early Spanish
effort have been greater in the livestock
industries than in any other part of
Texas economic and general cultural de-
velopment.
Although Texas has 35,000,000 or 40,-
000,000 acres of land well adapted to
cultivation, the greater part of the 137,-
683,372 acres in Texas farms is better
adapted to livestock raising than to crop
growing. Since the recent decline in
foreign markets for cotton has forced a
50 per cent reduction in cotton acreage,
a large part of the former cotton land
has logically gone into feed crops. If the
present trend continues, Texas in a few
years will be predominantly a livestock-
raising state.
Cotton and Cattle.
The sheer force of Texas' resources for
livestock raising has been the principal
reason for the expansion of these indus-
tries in the past. The experience and
217training of most of the people who came
to Texas-largely from the Old South-
caused them to turn to crop-growing
rather than livestock raising Although
the grassy plains of South, South est and
West Texas were teeming with cattle-
free range and free cattle to be had for
the taking-most of the early migrants
sought out the fertile acres and settled
down to cotton grow ing. Prior to the
War Between the States man\ of them
brought their slaves-an added incentive
for growing cotton rather than taking up
cattle raising. The lack of transportation,
making necessary the long drixe up the
trails to the Noith and the exposure of
the frontier to Indian attack also con-
tributed to the more rapid de\ elopment
of the crop-grow ing industries It is true
that many former cotton farmers saw the
opportunity and pushed westward to the
plains to become cattle raises, but it is
interesting also that many of the early
cattle barons weie Northerners. Scots-
men and Englishmen.
The coming of the railroads relieved
the cattle raising business of the need of
the long drives, but at the same time
gave the cotton farmer access to the
Gulf ports and aided crop growing rela-
tively more than livestock raising. From
1878, when Texas produced its first
million-bale crop of cotton, it ma\ be said
that cattle raising, and the livestock in-
dustries generall, retreated before crop
grow ing. The cotton grow er mox ed nx est-
ward across the Middle West and North
Texas prairies and across the Great
Plains, and southward onto the fertile
acres around Corpus Christi and in the
Rio Grande Vallex At the peak of the
movement, during and for a fexx tears
after the World WVar, the man lith the
plow and the hoe had taken possession
of all Texas except the more remote
sections of the High Plains, the strip of
breaks below the Cap Rock, the arid
regions of the Trans-Pecos, the broken
country of the Edhards Plateau and the
Brush Country of the Rio Grande border-
land.
While the recent economic stagnation
and current international difficulties
peculiarly obstruct the Texas cotton-
growing industry and invite livestock ex-
ansion, there are many positive reasons
or future development of livestock
raising, even assuming that cotton-grow-
ing comes back. The better adaptability
of the greater part of the Texas farm
acreage to livestock than crop growing
is mentioned above. This adaptability
has been increased by recent stock farm-
ing methods that increase the production
of livestock products by supplementing
range feeds with those grown on aban-
doned cotton acreage.
Another factor is the realization that
the mild climate of Texas lowers cost of
production of meats, and dairy and poul-
try products. In the beginning, the warm
climate had its one great handicap in the
cattle tick infestation, but this has been
practically eliminated. With cheaper
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Texas Almanac, 1941-1942, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117164/m1/219/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.