3F ^0 3 COPYRIGHTED BY H M: MADISON 1914 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FLLDING IN 50UTH TEXAS South Texas, called for convenience the San Antonio country, has from time immemorial been a great cattle rais- ing, meat producing section, even in the days when the great plains and hills of this section were roamed by count- less thousands of buffaloes. With the coming of the white man these great ranges were turned into cattle ranches and thousands upon thousands of cattle were raised here and driven to the Northern market. The bulk of the fortunes made in this territory have been made off of ranch land with cattle as the chief source of earning, and the rich "cowman" has for many years been one of the central figures in the life of the San Antonio country. His wealth has been a tradition of the country and he has risen to the dignity of an institution. However, in this, as in every other industry, conditions have changed. Under the old system one steer was found to need fifteen to twenty acres for his pasture. When land sold at from 25 to 50 cents an acre, an earning of a dollar or two per year an acre was a big return, but now with the coming of the farmer, lands are increased in value to from $25 to $50 and an earning of from one to two dollars an acre under the old extensive method of cattle raising is no longer a satisfactory investment. Cattle on the Range —1 - Hogs and Alfalfa Effort to meet this condition was first made by increas- ing the productiveness of the ranges; new grasses and pasturage crops, like Feterita, were introduced, which would support a steer on from one to three and four acres, but this still did not meet the situation. Next came the erection of silos, and the growing of forage crops for silage. Such crops as milo maize, kaffir corn, feterita, sorghum cane, alfalfa, Sudan grass are now being raised extensively and the results show remarkable profits. Instead of a cattle ranch of from 300,000 to 500,000 acres, ranging one steer to every twenty acres, cattle are now raised intensively, just as fruit and vegetables are. Under the new system of raising forage crops and using silos one acre can be made to fatten three steers and the returns give a splendid investment on the value of the land and the crop. THL RLA50N FOR 5UCCLS5 The initial successes in this intensive growing of meat has led to scientific investigation to find out exactly a rea- sonable basis of profit and fundamental facts as to why, under right management, good profits can be had. This little booklet presents a preliminary analysis of this condi- tion and aims to be a. scientific statement of facts in plain business language for the farmer and cattle raisers of this section, or those of other sections who may wish to better — 2— DEC ly Ibi* their condition and place themselves under circumstances where better profits for their labor and investment may be secured. Here are the facts: South Texas, or the San Antonio country, consists of about fifty counties, with a land area of about forty million acres, a territory nearly as large as the state of Ohio. Of this territory only about thirteen (13) per cent is in culti- vation, and it is estimated by experts that there are yet available for cultivation twenty million acres of rich land. How to bring this land under cultivation profitably and thereby to show the intending settler what to do, is the problem that the builders of this country are trying to solve, and in their effort they have enlisted the aid of scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture, from the Texas State Department of Agriculture, and independ- ent scientific investigators. Of these, Mr. H. M. Madison of San Antonio has been collecting data as to the results of a series of tests, and this booklet presents a resume of his investigations ; this matter is given to the Publicity League for dissemination by Mr. Madison and is copyrighted by him. Under the proper conditions, permission to reproduce it can be secured, but the information here presented is free to all who want to use it, and will bear the strictest in- vestigation. Sorghum Cane, Forage Crop —3— BASIC FACTS As a preliminary to conclusions drawn, a few basic facts must be borne in mind : (1) According to a bulletin published by the State of Tennessee in April, 1914, of the cotton growing states of the South, only 5.7 per cent of the area, or 21 per cent of the improved land, in 1913 produced 59 per cent of the world's supply of cotton. Extensive increase in cotton acreage under conditions existing before the European war was not warranted by the cotton market. Under conditions existing since the European war became a terrible reality, destroying the market for about fifty per cent of the cotton raised in the United States, it will be more than folly to attempt to increase the cotton acreage. At present pro- posed legislation is engaging the attention of the National Congress and of the Legislatures of the Southern States for the purpose of limiting the cotton acreage. Develop- ment, therefore, on a cotton basis cannot be made of the available land in the San Antonio country, or in the South generally. (2) The raising of fruit and truck though yielding large profits in the San Antonio country, as well as in many other points in the South, does not afford a sufficient out- let for the enormous acreage of land available for cultiva- tion, but not now in cultivation. Again, the raising of truck and fruit has to be done by experts, because it is a highly hazardous undertaking. It can be carried on by the aver- age farmer as a side line, if he is so situated in relation to the market and the climatic conditions as to make the ven- ture safe. In many cases in the San Antonio countiT this is the fact. Around this city are numerous truck gardens and at various other places in this country, notably the Rio Grande Valley, truck raising is a profitable enterprise. At the same time experts agree that it would not be possible to colonize the twenty million acres of available land in the San Antonio country on a truck and fruit growing basis exclusively. (3) The United States Government in a recent report shows that there is 21 per cent less meat per capita in the United States now than existed ten years ago. We are all sadly familiar with the fact that the price of meat is con- stantly going up, that in the past ten years it has advanced in some sections as much as fifty per cent. We are all also familiar with the fact that a great deal of meat is imported into the United States, and that the normal demand for meat far exceeds the supply. Therefore, in the growing of meat there is an open market, a rising price and this indus- try offers profits to enterprise and good management. The statistics available as to the world's supply of meat were compiled prior to the European War. The enormous destruction and the abnormal consumption of meat going on in the countries at war make the figures available far short of the actual necessities of the world for meat. Let us then examine the salient facts of the meat production in the United States. MLAT PRODUCTION IN THE UNITLD STATES Statistics issued by the general government, as before referred to, show a loss in the number of cattle in the Unit- ed States ; that is to say, there are fewer cattle in existence now than there were ten years ago, and not only is this true, but there has been a very large increase in population so that the amount of meat available is 21 per cent less per capita now than ten years ago. By examining chart No. 1 in the back of this book you will see that the decrease in the number of cattle is con- fined chiefly to meat cattle. There has been a gratifying increase in dairy herds and the stock of heifers has gen- erally increased. There is, however, a heavy loss in the number of calves. It would seem that dairymen are selling all of their calves when very young for veal. This has operated, of course, to produce a falling off in the number of steers, and, bearing in mind that this falling off in the number of meat-producing animals has been attended by a very heavy increase in population throughout the United States, it means an increased demand for meat. Another significant fact in the production of meat in the United States: In 1880 almost sixty per cent of cattle in the United States were east of the Mississippi River; in 1914 sixty-one (61) per cent are west of the Mississippi River. By studying chart No. 1 carefully you will see that the trend of the production of meat-producing animals has gone from the Northeast to the Southwest. Examination of the figures as revealed by the chart will show that the general trend of meat-producing animals to be from the colder and more rniny sections to the warmer sections with moderate rainfall. To sum up the proposition, there has been a steady de- crease in the number of meat-producing animals, coupled — fi— 5ilos in South Texas with a steady increase in population, and the tendency has been from the wet, cold climate to the dry, warm climate. To this must be added the fact, clearly proved by sta- tistics compiled prior to the outbreak of the European war, that the meat supply all over the civilized world has been growing less. COST OF ME.AT PRODUCTION The comparative cost of producing meat in various lo- calities has never been thoroughly sifted. This little pamphlet is an effort, by the collection of feeding sta- tistics as issued by the different state departments of ag- riculture for the different sections, to compare and bring out the difference in cost between Northern and South- ern feeding. Chart No. 2 is a preliminary abstract representing several months of investigation. It is based on comparison of ac- tual feeding tests that have been conducted during the past ten years in the several states. The cost of the feeds have been recalculated to a uniform price scale and the results compared and tabulated. There can be no question that the feeding tests were made, and in a short time the details of where and when these tests were conducted will be published. The exact amount of feed used in each test will be printed and the cost given as calculated by the uni- form price scale. The 235 tests so far tabulated will go far towards estab- lishing an entirely new fact in the scientific and commer- cial world, namely, that cattle can be fattened cheaper in the South than in the Norjth. The fundamental fact snown in the chart, reduced to actual figures, shows that the average cost of producing a gain of 100 pounds in fattening cattle in the South is $5.50, as against a similar cost in the North of $9.41. The reason for this is plain. In the colder and wetter Northern states a portion of the feed given the cattle must be burned up in producing heat to offset the cold and damp. In the drier regions, especially in South Texas, this is not necessary. The more expensive heat-producing feeds do not have to be given to the cattle and the feed almost en- tirely goes into fat and very little into the production of heat. Another factor that makes fattening cattle more ex- pensive in the North than in the South, a factor not in- cluded in the tables given in this book, is the cost of build- ing barns to house and protect the cattle against the weather. Official figures issued by the State of Illinois show that the cost of barns for housing 200 head of cattle in the Northern winter will average $5000. Allowing six per cent for interest on the investment and ten per cent for depreciation, making a total interest charge of sixteen per cent, it will be found that this item alone will add more than $2 for each 100 pounds of meat added to the weight of cattle. In South Texas, the San Antonio country, the mildness of the climate makes housing unnecessary, and the cattle do better left in the open with brush for shelter. It goes without saying that summer feeding is less ex- pensive than winter feeding. The fact that no summer feeding tests have been conducted in the Middle States makes the chart No. 2 show that the cost of feeding in these states is higher than in the Northern group. This, of course, makes the feeding tests as shown in this middle group of states in the chart abnormally high, but this is not correct because of the lack of official figures of summer feeding tests. The comparison of the facts set forth in Chart No. 2 show clearly a wide margin of difference in favor of the South, and especially in favor of the dry, mild section known as South Texas, and points the way clearly to the development of this great country as a cattle-raising, meat-producing country. —7— K ^ * A Field of Feterita. A valuable new forage crop introduced from India Reference to the chart No, 1 in the back of this booklet shows that there has been an increase in dairy stock in all sections of varying amounts until 33.4 of all cattle are dairy cows in the United States. Further reference to the chart also shows that with the building up of the dairy industry has come a tremendous slaughter of calves, amounting to over 49 per cent from 1900 to 1910. From 1850, the time when statistics were available, there has been a decrease in the number of cattle per capita in the United States. In 1850 the number of cattle per capita was .77; in 1860, .81; in 1870, .62; in 1880, .79; in 1890, .92; in 1900, .69; and in 1910 only .66. Inasmuch as the booklet refers primarily to beef pro- duction, dairy cows and calves are excluded from the fol- lowing figures in each section (see chart for boundaries) of the United States, according to the census of 1910 for each available beef animal : Northeast section, 1 to 9.39 Southeast section, 1 to 4.83 Southwest section, 1 to 1.21 West North Central, 1 to 1.16 Western section, 1 to .96 Since the census report of 1910 the estimates of the De- partment of Agriculture show that Texas is one of the very few states that has shown an increase in cattle production. —10— FE.LD CROP5 IN SOUTH TLXAS Some may be disposed to agree to these general conclu- sions thus drawn and to offset them by saying that owing to the droughts in this dry climate of South Texas it is not possible to produce the crops for this feeding. In answer to these questions the doubting Thomas' are referred to the official statistics of rainfall for San Antonio as issued by the United States Government, and by com- paring them they will find that the rainfall of the San An- tonio country is in excess of the official statistics given for the rainfall in Madrid, Alexandria, Petrograd, Budapest, Marseilles, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna, Stockholm, Malta, Paris, Capetown, Berlin, Delhi or London, in the over-sea countries ; and more than Helena, Boise City, Pueblo, Cheyenne, Denver, Roswell, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Bismarck, North Platte, Spokane, Dodge City, Sacra- mento, Huron, San Francisco, Fargo, and many other cities of this country. The alleged drouths of South Texas are mostly due to the unbroken condition of the large bulk of the lands. Most of these are loams and clays, upon which the rains of ages have beaten, over which buffaloes, cattle, armies and men have traveled. The lands have been made compact, and act like a roof to the torrential rains, and the rainfall is thus carried to the rivers that are swollen into floods and overflow lowlands and wash out bridges. All over these clays and loams may be observed tiny ditches, miniature gulches, occasional ravines, and now and then a "draw" — all of which furnish ample evidence of the past and present running off of the rainfall. Under these lands, there is neither a most subsoil, nor are shallow wells to be found. Interspersed among these loams and clays are consider- able areas of sandy lands. By their very nature, they are loose ; and they take in the rain as it falls and where it falls. Except on hillslopes, or along streams rising in other sec- tions, they show none of the evidences of washing so plain- ly seen on the loams and clays. Besides, their subsoil is moist, and shallow wells are abundant underneath them, providing there is an impervious shallow formation to pre- vent the water from going downward into the artesian reservoirs. The loams and clays are extremely rich, but the sandy lands are not so rich, though with fertilizing highly pro- ductive. The early farmers sought the sandy lands, be- —11— WMr HiiHHlf iiiiiL..jik .^ B|H ■Hn^'^^:.»<-:/.>^ ■ . JTiii^^^^^BfllU mm ^^^1 ^^^^^^BISqSc2£j§BKKI ^I^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ■^■■ke^y ^j^iyi miHI^HlHIHHIHI Two Crops of Corn in one Season cause of the fact they took in the rainfall and had a greater stock of moisture, and also had the advantage of shallow wells. But wherever any considerable areas of loams and clays have been broken deeply and made thoroughly loose, they, too, have taken in the rainfall — just as long as this loose- ness was maintained — and both the soil and subsoil became moist ; in a few years the shallow well began to appear. In addition to these things, there came sureness of crops ; then another something that the sandy land farmer could never get, largeness of crops. Drouths are not to be feared in South Texas in any unu- sual way, if soil looseness — particularly in winter — is main- tained, and there is ample rain for producing the kind of feed crops needed. Glance at the map of South Texas on the double center page of this booklet — on it's 40,000,000 acres there are only 1,626,342 cattle and a mere pittance of 331,640 hogs. Only a single county — Caldwell — has 50 pe^^ cent of its lands improved, and one — Maverick — has as little as .4 per cent; the average for 1910 was only about 9 per cent, and it hardly reached 13 per cent in 1914. The possibilities of these acres can better be understood by indicating that they are quite as extensive as all the acres of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con- — 12— necticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Mary- land, with their population of 9,845,813, as against 618,841 for South Texas, These acres almost equal seven-eighths of all the improved land in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Colonization and something that will make the farmer sure and stable profits are unquestioned needs. Over 100 years of successful cattle raising, scores of cat- tle fortunes, some of them counting in the millions, type of soil, rainfall, climate, feeding tests — all these point un- erringly to South Texas as a great cattle and feeding coun- try. The proof that Texas is a great cattle country lies in the fact that according to the United States census report of 1910 Texas produced 11.2 per cent of all the cattle raised in the United States; the next highest state produced 7.2 per cent, and the greatest cattle country lies in South Texas, the San Antonio country. This census shows also that Texas produced 9.3 per cent of all the calves produced in the United States ; the state producing the next highest number produced 7.3 per cent. According to the same census Texas produced 12.8 per cent of all the beef cattle grown in the United States; the next highest state pro- duced 9.9 per cent. Remember that all this was done under the old extensive method of cattle raising, which ran one steer to twenty acres, and that by the new intensive method with silos five steers can be fed to the acre, and the opportunities for enormous extension of cattle raising and meat producing exists in this state and especially in South Texas, the San Antonio country. FLLDING TL5T5 The average gain in all southern feeding tests was 228 pounds per head ; the average amount of cotton seed meal was 2 pounds for each pound of gain, and the average amount of silage was 14 pounds. Practically as much cotton seed meal and similar pro- ducts as well as dry roughages were fed in the north as in the south, per steer. But the amount of grain in the north was several times as much as in the south, —13— Irrigated lands have produced 30 tons of kaffir corn per acre in a single year, but a low average production is 8 tons. This means that one acre will produce enough silage to fatten 5 steers, and show a profit (after deducting the cost of cotton seed meal) of $31.50 per acre, when fat cattle are selling at $7 per cwt. One man and a team can raise 30 acres of kaffir corn, and have enough time to spare to care for a garden and some other crops for general use. This kaffir corn and feeding would show an absolute cash profit of $945 on 30 acres, as the work of one man and team. The northern farmer can reduce his land investment by coming to South Texas, or he can increase his acreage ; he can increase the production, as several crops in a season are possible; he can drop the cost of producing 100 pounds of grain in fattening cattle from $9.41 to $5.50. Raising feed crops and growing live stock offers the largest possible opportunity for bringing under cultivation the 20,000,000 acres of idle agricultural land of South Texas ; they offer the biggest, broadest hope the colonizer ever had ; they mean the incoming of large amounts of cash without the outgoing of bonds and notes, and later of inter- est charges ; they mean dependence on horses, mules and machinery, rather than on hired labor; they mean interur- ban roads ; they mean increasing land values ; they mean stable, sure business conditions ; they mean packing plants in San Antonio. In a word, they rftean rapid colonization, sure crops, prof- itable feeding, factories, a solidity and stability in pros- perity that is not shakeable by a glutted market, and whose sureness is not disturbed by even a general European war ; nor by anything short of the destruction of the human appetite. (Any person anxious to see the complete steps by which the conclusions set forth in this book were reached can get from the Chamber of Commerce a larger pamphlet, of which we have a limited number, which will set forth all of the tables in detail, so that he may follow each step in the argument. When this limited supply is exhausted cop- ies may be obtained from H. M. Madison, 116 West El- mira Street, San Antonio, Texas.) —14- CHART NO. 1. 5!^ a a " ~ ^ ^" ^T "IT T7 ■T ^" ^" " ^ r ** s «i ■•- ■" 5 = o> « ^ m «9 s ^ 1 fi^'"' K i^ ? S $ OS Ki 5 C; !o ^ 2 '^' S ffi r ;^ i' 1..*^^ ^ ^ 5 Si SJ 3; ? fn i T 8 ^ ^ ■D (X o «> a i ?•,.»■" r- r* •- 'n « ? s S J ki '^ 10 O S ♦ 3 s £ r^ 8 i T 5 '•) "^ VI VD •o r- M) '^ t^ S it^'" r- ^ a^ n !n r^ vo y - 5 ^ .- c ^ o 9 ^ ^ >: o !? ? K ?, 5 5 ■ ■ ■ n- if' ! 1 V ^ «> Or u. 1 1 5 ^ 5 * >. 5 ^ CHART NO. 2. ,■*. Q f (O UJ *^Z 3 »o r^ 9^ yf^ h s ♦ S .V. ffi 9 £ -^ I J M» f ^ / s ll» ■ / , o — r- /«o 5 5 « 5? «V4 * / =) M ^ ^ if? o — ■ --1 1^ O % ?) '•■ »- IV ctf ^ iC v« '^ z *«■ ■»■ sit UJ "-> • UJ 4 O ^ ** ^ «Q O _Q ::L ^ AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU This little book has set forth certain indisputable facts which form an inevitable conclusion, a conclusion which in- telligently followed up will make money for the men who If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, put yourself in the way of making a home and profits in South lexas, there are agencies here in San Antonio to help you do it. ^ Before the last of these good lands are sold and val- ues reach the highest levels, as they have already done m other sections, there is a golden opportunity to get rich acres at comparatively low prices and on reasonably long terms. Grazing land can be bought at from $10 to $25 an acre; good farm land at from $25 to $50 an acre There are numerous examples of men who have come into this country and paid for their land out of one year's crop The Chamber of Commerce of San Antonio has no land to sell. Its object is to help those wishing to locate in this section to get the true facts. Rather than have vou come here and lose your money we had rather you staved home ""''7^1? u^^f'^'^r^f^- ^'^ ^^^^t you to know both" the good and the bad. This country, like every other country, has Its drawbacks and difficulties. Failures occur here as they do everywhere, but failure, while not impossible, is im- probable to the intelligent farmer who cultivates his land and mixes brains and common sense with his muscle and energy. Thousands of Northern farmers have made good in this country. You can do it, too, and we will tell y ou wny. DOL5 FARMING PAY IN TLXA5? There are more people living in the country in Texas ItV-^, f\l\'^''^?. ^" ^^^ ^'"^^^^ ^^^^P^ one-according to the United States Census Bureau. This rural population of 3,460,000 could not live if the farms did not support them. Texas is the fifth state in the Union, according to the census of 1910, in the value of farm property wHh a grand total of $2,218,645,194. In 1900 the va ue' orfarm property m Texas was $962,476,273, and the increase i^ ten years was 130.5 per cent. ^"ciedse in This South Texas country is full of people from the west and Middle West, the North and the East,^^^ are themTf fiv'"^ '""*^"^'^ ^^''^'''- C«"^^ down and ask them it farming in Texas pays. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. —17— WHY FARMING PAY5 IN SOUTH TE.XA5 1 — The climate is favorable to men and to crops. The winters are so mild and open that j^ou can grow two or three crops a year instead of one, and you can grow some crop every month in the year. Your health and that of your family is so good you save money in doctor bills, and are able to do more work and better work. 2 — The cost of living is less. Mild winters make the cost of fuel for keeping warm little or nothing. You do not have to buy expensive heavy clothing. Money saved is money made. 3 — No snow or ice covers the pastures in winter and your cattle do not have to be housed or fed heat-producing foods. Instead the feed goes to produce fat and not so much is required. Experts figure a 30 per cent saving in feed cost for stock. 4 — A soil of great depth and fertility whose yield un- der proper cultivation is ever bountiful. And this rich land can be bought at considerably lower prices than good farm land in other agricultural states. Result, a saving in original outlay and interest charge — and larger profits. To sum up, the terrible European war is bringing about an appalling destruction of growing crops and food stuffs, both by devastation and by the necessary consumption. The withdrawal of men from farming pursuits for military service is bound to make a shortage in food stuffs abroad, which means that America must, in all probability, feed the greater part of Europe for the next two or three years. This means an increased demand for the products of the soil, an increased demand for meat, and an increased price for these products. Here in the San Antonio coun- try are over twenty million acres of land fit for cultiva- tion, that can be had at reasonable prices, with favorable climate, good water and transportation facilities reason- ably close. The world needs what this great territory will produce. It will pay well the men who make it produce. Will you be one of them? Isn't this your opportunity to give the world needed service and win a home and an economic in- dependence for yourself and your family? —18— 002 821 929 5 DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAN ANTONIO ^gCOR full information about 5an pj Antonio address The Chamber ^^ of Commerce, 1 06 Last Crockett Street, 5an Antonio, Texas, and ask for the following booklets: I. SAN ANTONIO A Book for Tourists. II. FARMING IN SOUTH TEXAS A Book of Facts for the man who wants to know the won- derful opportunities of the San Antonio country. III. SPECIAL BRILFS On factory opportunities and investment openings furnished on application. Alamo Printing Co.— Phones 8m. ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 002 821 929 5 ♦ HoUinger Corp. pH8.5