The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1960 Page: 3 of 4
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S^TATE CAPITAL
fiiqhiiqhts
“Sidelights
t>if Vena Sanford
AND
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
AUSTIN — We may have a
muddy spring this year .... but
will there be enough water for
Texans in 2010?
This is not a fantastic ques-
tion, but one that Texas’ state
and local officials, engineers
and water planners are grap-
pling with now. Out of their
efforts come these items of news
and views:
1. Gov. Price Daniel told a
farm convention- in Austin that
Texas has made great progress
in statewide water management
in Ihe past three years. But,
he said, “much more remains
to be done.”
Water planning and develop-
ment, said the governor, is es-
sential to the state’s growth and
prosperity in the years ahead.
2. A series of three meetings
will be held during March along
the Colorado River and its tri-
butaries to discuss water needs
of those areas for the next 50
years.
Meetings will be held in con-
junction with the U. S'. Com-
mission studying Texas’ major
river basins. They will be in
Wharton March 8; Big Spring,
March 15; and Austin, March
17. Colorado River Industrie'
Development Association- (CRI-
DA) will sponsor the Austin and
Wharton meetings, and the West
Texas Chamber of Commerce
the Big Spring Meeting.
3. State Board of Water En-
gineers called for a "time out”
until March 8 on the longest-
ever water hearing. At issue in
the hearings which began Nov.
2 is whether the Trinity River
Authority and City of Houston
shall be granted permits to build
two downstream reservoirs on
the Trinity.
Water Board, apparently get-
ting short on patience, advised
opponents to get together and
solve their problems coopera-
tively. Hearing has been given
to long, bitter arguments and
frequent flare-ups among par-
ticipants.
San Jacinto River Authority
has been chief objector to grant-
ing of the permits. SJRA con-
tends that Houston will shortly
need more water for domestic
use but that Trinity water, be-
cause it contains sewage from
Dallas and Fort Worth, is not
suitable. San Jacinto officials
say Houston should work with
SJRA to meet the city’s do-
mestic water needs.
In the far-ranging testimony,
water engineers discussed the
probable water needs of Hous-
ton, Dallas and Fort Worth in
2010, and the possibility that
Texas might be subjected be-
fore 2010 to a drought worse
than that of 1950-57.
4. Texas is losing the battle
for industry because of inade-
quate water supply, the director
of UT’s Balcones Research Cen-
ter told an Austin meeting.
“Central Texas is in good
shape,” said Dr. J. Neils Thomp-
son, “but the rest of the state
is in sorry shape.’’
Texas has an average annual
rainfall of 27 inches compared
to an average of 30 inches for
•the U. S. as a whole, said Dr.
Walter Moore, also a UT en-
gineer. But he said Texas has a
special problem — an evapora-
tion rate 50 to 100 per cent
higher than for the U. S. as a
whole.
AUTO DEATHS DROP —Tex-
as had an “almost sensational”
28 per cent drop in traffic
deaths in the first seven weeks
of the year, Governor Daniel
announced.
This is the period since the
new Safe Driving Auto Insur-
ance Plan went into effect.
There were 69 fewer deaths
during the first seven weeks of
this year than during the same
period in 1959. Drop was from
243 deaths in 1959 to 174 this
year.
Board of Insurance Chairman
Penn J. Jackson said he felt
the new insurance rates, which
a|re l^igher for careless dri-
vers, were due at least a por-
tion of the credit for the im-
proved safety record.
Conclusive evidence, both the
governor and insurance board
chairman agreed, would have to
await more time and statistics.
■ INDUSTRY SEEKERS NAM-
ED — Nine men have been
named by Governor Daniel to
the new, enlax-ged Texas Indus-
trial Commission.
He also gave them as their
1960 assignment the gaining of
254 new industries for Texas—
one for each county.
Members of the old i three-
member Industrial Commission
were appointed to the new
board. They are E. B. Germany,
Dallas; Houston Harte, San An-
gelo; and Chester C. Wine, Lar-
edo.
New members are Robert F.
Haynsworth, El Paso; Ray H.
Horton, Houston; Morris Higley,
Childress; Richard H. BeTour-
neau, Longview; James A. Red-
mond, Beaumont; and A1 H.
Chesser, Austin.
FISH FOR FARMERS ^QUES-
TIONED — A House of Repre-
sentatives committee looking for
ways to save tax money quizzed
spokesmen of the Game and
Fish Commission on its fish and
quail re-stocking ‘programs.
Committee members question-
ed whether the Commission
should give out free young fish
SAN PATRICIO...
%
Farm and
Ranch
...THROUGH THE
WINDSHIELD
JACK JONES
1,
*
'Only the Best.. isfittobeTIDE1
Now. *. TIDE Makes That “Best” Available To Growers Of The #
Mathis, Taft and Odem Areas Through Our < 1
NEW BRANCH PLANT
TIDE of MATHIS
1 Mile East of Mathis on Highway
Phone KI7-2269
KYLER ALLISON J
Mathis Branch Manager
Now available to Mathis, Odem and Taft area growers is the same fine
TIDE GREEN LIQUID FERTILIZERS which successful Rio Grande Valley
growers have used season after season, year after year, to get the EXTRA
YIELD, EXTRA QUALITY that mean EXTRA FARM PROFITS.
TIDE of MATHIS
Is NOW Ready
to Deliver
Tide Green Liquid Fertilizers
... in time for side-dressing on COTTON, ONIONS, GRAIN
9 So Easy to Apply -
Labor Saving
TIDE DELIVERS its fertilizers WHERE
and WHEN you want them. TIDE has
the necessary DELIVERY EQUIPMENT;
plus STAND TANKS and APPLICATORS
for field use. All you do is place your
order; TIDE delivers; then you lift the
end of a hose to fill your applicator. No
bags to handle. No storage problem.
# Tide Gives Proof
Of Quality
TIDE GREEN LIQUID FERTILIZERS
are all governed by TIDE’S program of
CERTIFIED QUALITY CONTROL —
continuous sampling and analysis by
Pan American Laboratories, checking
freshness, potency, formulation. You
have PROOF that you get all or more
than the label specifies.
liiiiiiiiiiliii
' * ji
\ m
Pictured above is one of the new TIDE APPLICATORS with positive
displacement pump which can be set to automatically regulate the gal-
lonage of fertilizer desired by the grower.
9 Plant Foods Immediately Available
To Crop
Because they are already in solution, plant foods in TIDE GREEN LIQUID
FERTILIZERS are completely and immediately available to your crops— plant
response is quick. For this reason applications can be timed as needed.
# Custom Formulated for Crop Needs
TIDE 'GREEN LIQUID FERTILIZERS are custom formulated to meet the
needs of various types of soils, specific crops. Formulations now available
through the Mathis plant include:
32-0-0 —-15-10-0 (15) — 10-20-0 (10) — 8-16-8
Main Office
800 N. Closner
Edinburg, Texas
Ph. DU 3-2767
Mathis Branch
1 Mile East
Highway 9
Ph. KI 7-2269
In Late March
TIDE of Mathis
Will Be Ready To
Deliver It’s Complete
Line Of
® Insecticides
® Weed Killers
@ Defoliants
• Ferry-Morse
Seeds
In Addition To Its
® Fertilizers
Let us take a look at. Agri-
culture and it’s value to the
State of Texas and more part-
icularly let’s look at what the
economic value of Agriculture
is to San Patricio County.
“A generation ago a man who
failed in business could always
go into farming. Today a man
must be successful in business
before he can afford to go into
j farming. Farming today requires
an investment of $15,000 per
worker as compared to about
$6,500 for industry in general.
On many farms in San Patricio
County the investment per work-
er runs over $70,000.
Now there is a mistaken con-
ception that most farmers are
well fixed and driving about in
Cadillacs. It might be interest-
ing to take a quick look at the
size of farms in San Patricio
County and see how many can
afford a Cadillac. Also before
presenting a few statistics it
might be well to note that 250
acres is generally considered to
be the absolute minumum acre-
age for, a person to farm in
this county''and make a respect-
able income, that is, a net of
$3,000 to 5,000 dollars. True, you
can farm less land, but things
are going to be .awfully tight.
(Actually on Jan. 1, 1959 farm
mortage debt stood at the high-
est in history, 11.3 billion dol-
lars)
Now let us look at the statis-
tics. In San Patricio county
there are approximately 3200
farming units, under different
ownership. In some cases, more
than one of these farm units
are farmed by one farm opera-
tor, and when the list of 1200
units is classified by farm oper-
ators, the total numbers of oper-
ators drops to 753. (Ranching
units are not used here)
For the purpose of these sta-
tistics we will use 753 units for
presenting the size of farms. Of
this 753 farm units 379 of them
are below 280 acres in size. So
approximately one-half of the
farming population in San Pa-
tricio is having an extremely
hard time financially and some
educated guesses say that a
large part of this group will
either drop out of farming and
the farm will be gobbled up
by larger farms. (Which is the
trend)
Another 150 farms have a size
of- 280 acres to 400 acres. This'
is a nice farm unit and an
efficient farmer in this range
should survive. Now this leaves
224 farms above 400 acres. There
are 150 farms with acreage of
400 to 800 acres. Between 800
.and 1000 acres we find 60 farms.
So that leaves 16 farms with
over 1000 acres. The largest
farm (excluding ranches) is 7500
acres. So broken down you find
very few who can buy the mink
coat for the Mrs. Now if you
own land, and a little oil or
gas strike comes along, it can
make your farming look mighty
good.
So the vast majority of far-
mers in San Pat. are like shop
keepers and the wage earner;
barely getting by.
Now back to where we start-
ed; what does Agriculture pour
into the economy of San Pat-
ricio County? The Grain sor-
ghum crop brings in 6 to 7 mil-
lion each year. Cotton, not the
largest in 8 to 10 million each
year, Cattle, Dairy, Poultry, &
Vegetable run another 2 to 4
million each year. Running a
quick total gives a raw product
industry of 16 to 21 million dol-
lars yearly, some counties would
trade their Court Houses for an
Agriculture industry like that.
Besides the raw products, lets
see what agriculture has creat-
ed in San Pat. We have 14
grain elevators with a capacity
of over 5,000 cars, vegetable
shipping sheds, a compress, a
wholesale seed supply business,
implement dealers, fertilizer, &
fuel supply; all creating jobs.
Agriculture is big business in
San Patricio and before you
throw the farmer and the farm
program to the wolves look over
your shoulder and see if some
of that farm money isn’t slip-
ping into your side pocket.
Thursday, March 3, 1960, Odem, Texas — TIMES — Page 1
Fertilizer Sales Up
For Fall Of 1959
COLLEGE STATION — Total
tonnage of fertilizers sold dur-
ing the fall of 1959 (July 1, to
December 1,) was 4.8 percent
over that sold during the same
period in 1958 and 20 percent
over the total sold in the fall
of 1955. Sales of mixed goods
in 1959 were practically the
same as they were iq 1958, but
sales of materials were 8.0 per-
cent higher, is the report of Dr.
J, F. Fudge, state chemist. Mix-
ed goods accounted for 35.9 per-
cent of the total in 1959, as
compared with 39.5 percent in
1958.
Tonnage of primary compon-
ents nitrogen, available phos-
phoric acid and potash —was
2.8 percent higher than in 1958.
A large part of this gain was
due to the increase in sales of
16-20-0, urea and nitrogen solu-
tions, although the average com-
position of mixed goods was
higher than ever before, Fudge
said. Sales of 10-20-10 account-
ed for 77 percent of the total
for the 1-2-1 ratio and 55 per-
cent of all mixed goods. Sales
of the 1-2-1 ratio accounted for;
71 percent of the mixed goods
sold in East Texas, the principal
user. The average composition
of mixed goods sold in East
Texas and in the entire state
was almost a 10-20-10.
Sales of materials were 8.0
percent higher than a year ago
with the increase due largely
to a 40 percent increase in sales
of 16-20-0 with some increases
in sales of urea and nitrogen
solutions. Sales- of anhydrous
ammonia were down 8 percent
and of ammonium nitrate, 10 *
percent, the chemist reported.
Total tonnage of anhydrous am-
monia used in the six-month
period was six times as great
as in 1954. Anhydrous ammonia
accounted for. 27 percent of the
tonnage of all matervds, 66 per-
cent of the total materials ni-
trogen and 57 percent - of all
nitrogen sold. Tonnage of or-
dinary superphosphate sold con-
tinued to decline and was only
about one-fourth as high as in
1954, Fudge added.
SS0IL CONSERVATIONS
DISTRICT NEWS
= OUR SOIL * OUR STRENGTH =
W. H. ITaylor, a cooperator
with the San Patricio Soil Con-
servation District, has increas-
ed the yields on his farm by
using a complete coordinated
soil and water conservation plan.
First he provided a safe dis-
posal system for the water from
his farm by establishing a gras-
sed waterway. Then he con-
structed terraces and contour
farmed to hold erosion to a
minimum and conserve mois-
ture. When this was completed
he went to work on building up
the productivity of the soil by
the use of cover crops, high
residues, fertilizer and crop ro-
tations. Mr. Taylor stated these
practices helped him produce
twice the average grain yield in
his area in 1959.
In 1958 Taylor had some land
in the soil bank. Summer peas
were planted on this land with
150 pounds of 0-20-0 applied to
the peas. In 1959, this land was
planted to combine grain sor-
ghum and produced 3438 pounds
raised in the state hatcheries.
They go to farmers a,nd others
to stock tanks.
A Commission official said the
little fish cost the state about
1.5 cents each to raise.
Legislators also considered at
length the Commission’s quail
hatching operation near Tyler.
Quail, it was brought out, cost
about 69 cents each to raise,
are sold to landowners for game
re-stocking at 50 cents apiece.
POLIO OUTBREAKS FORE-
SEEN *— State Health Depart-
ment predicts a rise in the num-
ber of polio cases in the spring
months ahead.
Most of the victims, Said the
Department, will be among those
who have not taken advantage
of polio shots.
Last year’s record shows that
three out of four polio victims
had not had any vaccine and
9 out of 10 had not had all the
recommended series.
Texas had 526 cases of polio
last year, approximately 13 per
cent of the 3,984 cases recorded
in 1952 before Salk vaccine.
A Health Department official
deplored parents who, “in the
face of almost daily urgings, ig-
nore the chance of giving their
youngsters an infinitely better
chance to escape polio.”
Junior Leaders
To Get Scout
Training Soon
The program for the District-
wide Boy Scout Troop Junior
leaders skill training camp was
outlined today by Joe Benson,
Sinton, and W. J. Mott, Aran-
sas Pass, directors of the two
day camp. The camp will be
held at the Sinton Nursery on
Saturday and Sunday, March 12
and 13. Units will come in any
time Saturday with the events
due to start at 1:00 p.m. The
scouts and their leaders' will
bring a sack lunch for Saturday
noon with the first camp pre-
pared meal to be Saturday night.
Meals will be prepared under
a central feeding plan with one
group of Junior Leaders prepar-
ing the meals for the entire
group.
Events on the training pro-
gram are axemanship, first
aid, compass and mapping, rope
work, tracking and trailing, na-
ture, signaling and survival. Di-
recting the various events will
be James Henry, Refugio, Ep-
pie Pa, L. J. Luedke, Joe Ben-
son, A. J. Ellisor all of Sin-
ton, R. B. Hester, Ingleside and
W. L. Huntsinger, Mathis.
Protestant services will be hela
Drum Is Valuable
Commercial Fish
AUSTIN — The drum is a
valuable commercial fish, it is
very tasty, and is considered
by many to be a fine game
fish, according to Ernest G..
Simmons in his very interesting
article, “Drumming Along,” in
the January issue of Texas
Game and Fish.
Simmons, a marine biologist
for the Texas Game and Fish
Commission, points out that the
drum’s position as an edible
food is indicated by the fact
that they comprise a major por-
tion of commercial food fish
sold in South Texas. Some opin-
ions of persons who know the
fish, writes Simmons, indicate
that the fish is of little value.
Nevertheless, “Many a fish-
erman has enjoyed battling a
drum, especially while he
thought he had a redfish on
the hook.”
Die magazine’s January issue
cover carries a lifelike painting
of the drum by San Antonio
artist, Clay McGaughy.
of grain per acre. Adjoining land
was in grain sorghum in 1958
and again in 1959. Taylor ap-
plied 20 lbs. of nitrogen and
30 lbs. of phosphate to the sor-
ghum residue in the fall of
1958. This produced 2938 pounds
of grain per acre.
A check plot of grain sorghum
following grain sorghum without
fertilizer produced 2000 pounds
of grain per acre.
These clippings were made
by Taylor with assistance from
technicians of the Soil Conserva-
tion Service. Mr. Taylor is sold
on the combination of practices
plan on his farm.
Technicians of the SCS are
assisting Farrel Smith and Floyd
Webb in the preparation of a
complete conservation plan for
their farm near Mathis. Terrific
erosion has taken place on this
farm in the past because the
needs of the land were not ful-
filled. Sixteen waterways need
to be shaped and seeded to An-
gleton and Bermuda grass. Af-
ter these waterways are esta-
blished, approximately 20 miles
of terraces can* be constructed.
Existing brush will be removed
and replaced with adapted gras-
ses. On the deep sands, suscep-
tible to wind erosion, strips of
perennial grasses will be used
to minimize the blowing. Land
too steep to farm will also be
put into perennial grasses. For
the most part fertilizer and large
volume residues will be used to
maintain the fertility and con-
dition of the soil.
Each spring the question of
when to plant, arises. Many
farmers plant by date if at all
possible to get into the field.
In most cases, they say their
father or grandfather always
planted on a certain date and
therefore he should plant on that
date also. We all know that our
seasons vary. Some winters are
mild, others are severe, and so
on. This variation of tempera-
ture will have an effect on the
planting date because the thing
that really governs when to plant
is the soil temperature. Seed put
into cold ground may have retar-
ded or poor germination. Those
that come up frequently ai'e
effected by seedling disease and
retarded growth or heavy in-
sect infestation. Planting time
shoiild ibe determined by taking"
the soil temperature three con-
secutive mornings at 7:00 a.m.
at a depth of 3. inches. If the
temperature is above 60 degrees,
the soil is not excessively wet
and you have high quality seed,
planting may be done. However,
if there is doubt about the seed
quality, higher temperature of
approximately 70 degrees will
give better results. This year,
with the excessively wet soils,
it will probably be wise not to
plant too early. Soil condition
•has quite a bearing on the soil
temperature. A well-conditioned
soil containing the proper
amount of air and organic mat-
ter warms up considerably fas-
ter than a more dense compact-
ed soil.
(The Fort Worth Press essay
contest is again being conduct-
ed. Twenty-eight essays were
received from Mathis, Sinton
and Taft. Befox-e they were sub-
mitted to Fort Worth, several
local prizes were given. The
subject this year was “Conser-
vation — Who is Responsible”.
From Sinton, Frank Weir was
first, Johnny Wasserman second
and Louis Cockerhow third.
From Mathis, Bill Graham was
first, Dickey Greenwood second
and Frank Dehnisch third. From
Taft, Armando Galindo was first,
Convin Telscchik second and
Trino Cortez third. Bill Graham
was awarded an additional $10.-
00 for having the best essay of
all those submitted.
A new technician, Henry B.
Stoneham has been added to
the Soil Conservation Service
staff at Sinton. Stoneham gra-
duated from Southwest Texas
State College at San Marcos in
January.
at the camping area while Cath-
olic scouts and leaders will at-
tend mass in Sinton. The cost
of the meals for all attending
win .be. divided ^moi)g:.tbem,v^g i
camp will close at 1:00 p.m. on
Sunday.
You Are -Invited
To Hear
Mardell Lynch
Hobbs, New Mexico
Park Avenue
CHURCH OF CHRIST
Highway 77
Odem, Texas
MARCH 13 - 20
SERVICES DAILY
7:30 P. M.
SUNDAY 10:45 A.M.
7:30 P. M.
WEEK DAY MORNINGS
Tuesday - Friday
10:00
Come Study The Bible
With Us
INVESTIGATE as the gospel
is preached in love by an
outstanding gospel preach-
er.
Bring notebook, Bible—we
urge that every statement be
checked against an open
Bible. Urging in only that
what rs found therein be ac-
cepted — all else rejected.
“Prejudice never started
an honest investigation nor
ever discovered a truth”
Introducing A New Cotton ,
Variety - Northern Star 4-11
For a longer staple, more pounds per acre
and better machine harvesting, plant North-
ern Star 4-11. If you have been dissastisfied
with your class cards, the brighter color of
this new Northern Star should help.
See Your Dealer
Or
LAWRENCE & HUTSON
** ..... X. G-. *£
II ' V-T .. • ,
BOX 472 ROBSTOWN, TEXAS
wk
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Winebrenner, Mary Cornett. The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1960, newspaper, March 3, 1960; Odem, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1015557/m1/3/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Odem Public Library.