Texas History

Fort Burrows, B&B Ranch

14.4 - Agricultural Products of Texas

Read pgs 345-348

Main Idea:

Machines and new technology helped Texas to become an important center of agriculture in the Unites States.

Vocabulary:

cotton gin – a machine that removes the seeds from cotton

cottonseed oil – oil from cotton;used in producing margarine & vegetable oil

chaurros – a breed of small Spanish sheep valued for their meat

Setting the Scene:

Every three pounds of cotton bolls that Texans picked produced about one pound of cotton and two pounds of seeds. Cottonseed became a problem. In the 1870’s, Europe changed this problem into a valuable item.

Cotton and Corn

♫ New Methods

PRODUCTS / USES
Cotton / ♫The cotton gin (invented by Eli Whitney) removed the seeds from the cotton. Cotton was used to make cloth and thread.
Cottonseed Oil / ♫This was oil made from the seeds left after the cotton was ginned. This oil was used in the production of margarine and vegetable oil.
Corn / ♫This was the biggest crop in Texas after cotton. Early Texans used corn for food, corncobs for fuel and tool handles, and corn husks for mattress stuffing and writing paper. Corn became a major source of food for Texans and their livestock in the late 1800s.

Swine, Sheep, & Goats

♫Hog Raising

Texas ranked 4th in the country in hog production in the late 1800s

•Kendall and Gillespie Counties on the Edwards Plateau

•Mild climate was appealing to hogs

•Two litters per year from each sow

♫Sheep Ranching and the Wool Industry

Newspaper publisher George Wilkins Kendall used his paper to turn the emphasis of sheep raising from meat to wool production in the 1850s

The Civil War helped boost demand for wool

•Northern Textile Mills demanded large amounts of wool

•West Texas was ideal for raising sheep

•Chaurros – breed of small Spanish sheep valued for their meat

•German and Scottish immigrants brought purebred sheep in 1840-50’s

•750,000 sheep in Texas in 1860 – 4 million by 1885!

•Texas ranked second largest sheep producer behind California

•Textile mills opened in New Braunfels, Waco and Bastrop Counties

♫Goat Ranching

•Many sheep ranchers also raised goats

•William Haupt of Hays County brought first Angora goats to Texas

•By 1900, Texas led the nation in mohair production

•Today, Texas still leads the nation in wool and mohair production

1.What was the function of the cotton gin?

A.it spun the raw cotton into thread

B.it removed the seeds from the cotton

C.it planted cotton seeds evenly in rows

D.it extracted oil from the seeds for use in margarine production

2.Which crop in Texas became a major source of food for people and livestock?

A.tomatoesB.wheat

C.cottonseed oilD.corn

3.How did machinery and other technology change cotton farming?

______.

4. What effect did immigrants have on the Texas wool industry?

______.

1 of 14.4 Printer Copy