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SOIL SURVEY OF DICKENS COUNTY, TEXAS 485
station (Substation No. 7) at Spur the yields for six years on Miles
clay loam were about three-fifths bale per acre for Mebane cotton,
which is the principal variety grown in the county.
The Mebane cotton seems to be very well suited in general to the
semiarid conditions of the region. The length of the -staple is about
1 inch. Other varieties of longer staple, such as the Lone Star,
Acala and Durango, which have a staple of about 1w to 1Y8 inches
in length, also are being grown with success. These longer staple
cottons yield well but not so well on the average as the Mebane.
The county is free from boll-weevil infestation. Bollworms have
been destructive in places one or two years in rainy seasons. The
county seems well suited to the production of cotton.
Next to cotton the grain sorghums are the most important crops
in the county. They are grown on every farm. In 1919 they occupied
11,854 acres, yielding 315,934 bushels of grain. Originally
kafir was the principal grain sorghum, but at present milo is grown
almost entirely. Some feterita also is sown and the acreage devoted
to the new grain sorghum, Spur feterita, is being extended, as it
gives better yields of grain and the fodder is better than in case of
the other sorghums so far tried. Much of the grain is harvested by
heading in the field, the stalks being left to be pastured. The dwarf
yellow is the variety of milo most extensively grown. The average
yield of milo for the county is probably around 30 bushels per acre.
Sorgo is grown on nearly every farm as a forage crop. It makes
a splendid roughage, whether grown as a row crop or seeded in drills
and cut for hay. It is all fed on the farms. It yields well and
withstands dry seasons to a considerable extent. Ordinary yields
range from 3 to 6 tons per acre. At the experiment station, near
Spur, a yield as high as 11 tons per acre of cured sorgo has been
obtained. According to the census, 16,576 acres were devoted to
coarse fodder in Dickens County in 1919, yielding 19,541 tons.
Doubtless the greater part of this was sorgo. The Sumac or Redtop
variety is grown mostly. Plate IX, figure 1, shows a field of cowpeas
with sorgo in the background.
Corn is not grown as extensively as the grain sorghums, though
many farmers plant small fields. It was grown on 3,518 acres in
1919, yielding 66,949 bushels. It is fed to the farm stock. Corn is
a somewhat uncertain crop, as dry weather often lowers the yield.
The yield ranges from nothing in a poor season to 20 bushels per
acre in fairly good seasons, with slightly higher yields on some of
the better soils.
Wheat is grown to some extent in the northwestern and southeastern
sections of the county. In 1919 the area in wheat was 1,775
acres, and the production 29,845 bushels. Oats occupied in that year
651 acres and yielded 23,477 bushels. In seasons when moisture
conditions are favorable high yields of these grains are obtained,
but in seasons following a dry fall and winter the yields are very
low. Turkey wheat is the leading variety and the Red Rustproof
is the most popular variety of oats. When the fall season is dry
little wheat or oats is sown.
Some peanuts are grown on the sandy soils of the county. Ordinarily
they yield around 20 to 30 bushels of nuts and 1 ton of hay.
The peanuts are sold to oil mills outside the county.