Titus County farmers have raised a broad range of agricultural crops in commercial quantities over the years. In most cases, we do not have enough news articles and other historical information to be able to create a page for each crop. Therefore, we listed them below in alphabetical order to give readers an idea of the crops that Titus County farmers produced and sold for their livelihood.
CORN
Since before the days of the Native Americans, Titus County farmers have raised corn as one of their staple crops. Corn has been used both as food for people and as feed for livestock.
COTTON
Cotton was king in Titus County from the time it was first founded in 1846 until the 1930s. The U.S. Government encouraged farmers to produce as much cotton as they could during World War I, since cotton was the primary fiber used in making clothing and war goods.
Mt. Pleasant had several cotton gins, and gins were also located in Winfield and Cookville. Mt. Pleasant's oil mill pressed cotton hulls to produce cotton oil and cattle feed.
Once the war was over, there was a glut of cotton and prices fell dramatically across the nation. In the latter 1920s and early 1930s falling cotton prices put Titus County farmers, and likewise the merchants who depended on their business, in dire financial straits.
Cotton was still Titus County's primary cash crop in 1924. To help farmers with their cotton crop, the Martin Theater showed two free movies on April 23, 1924 relating to profitable cotton production and boll weevils, land fertilization, seed selection, soil care, and fertilization methods.
On September 26, 1926 cotton was selling in Mt. Pleasant at 15-l/2c for the best grades and less for the short-staple. The September 23rd government cotton report said there was a larger than projected crop, which caused prices to fall.
Prices continued to fall, with only an occasional small rally. The cotton market opened Friday morning, October 1, 1926 70 points lower than it closed Thursday. The local market was paying from twelve to twelve and three quarter cents for good staple cotton, while low grades brought much less. Some buyers would not bid on half and half at all, while others did not discriminate much.
The price drop Mt. Pleasant's business conditions considerably, since many growers held their cotton in hopes of better prices and did not spend any money. Others who were forced to sell their crop to pay debts had very little cash left to spend. Therefore, traffic in local businesses looked like it did in the spring of the year, with few customers.
The county as a whole was in better condition than the previous year, but most of the money from the 1926 crop was not deposited in the banks. By October 2, 1926 the local cotton exchange posted the price of New Orleans cotton at 12c, the lowest price since 1921.
On February 8, 1927, the Bureau of the Census cotton report showed a drop in Titus County cotton production. Titus County had baled 15,332 in 1926 compared to 19,571 bales at the same time in 1925.
Production increased in 1928 to 16,728 bales, but fell off again in 1929 to 14,855 bales and continued to fall through 1930. In 1930, Titus County produced less cotton than it had in many years, making only 8,368 bales.
In August, 1931, the U. S. Department of Agriculture released its first estimate of the 1931 cotton crop. Even though cotton acreage had been reduced all over the country, the report estimated that 15,584,000 bales would be produced, an increase of 1,222,000 over the previous year.
The report was released before most stock exchanges opened, except for the Chicago exchange, where the cotton price dropped 135 points in a very few minutes. It appeared that unless something happened to destroy much of the crop, farmers could expect only about 5c a pound for their cotton.
Total cotton production in the State of Texas was cut almost in half, with 1,088,619 bales ginned compared to 1,843,532 bales at the same time the year before. However, almost all Northeast Texas counties had a larger crop than in the previous year. By September 16, 1931, Titus County had ginned 1,254 bales, compared to 1,008 at the same time the year before, on less land than was used in the previous year.
When the final numbers were tallied for 1931, the 15,922 bales of cotton produced in Titus County was almost twice as much as the 8,368 bales produced the year before. It was one of the largest crops ever produced in Titus County. In the long run, even though farmers received considerably lower prices for their cotton, their gross income was almost as high as in 1930 due to the much larger crop.
Because of a heavy increase in cotton production during 1937, Mt. Pleasant needed a bonded cotton storage warehouse. Quite a number of bales had been sent to other towns for storage due to lack of local storage.
In October, 1937, John B. Stephens leased the new livestock building at the fair grounds and opened a new bonded cotton warehouse that could hold about 1,500 bales. He arranged with the Texas Cooperative Cotton Association to class the cotton and to guarantee its staple length. Local manager Lloyd Legg classed the cotton, and a competent weigher was employed to weigh it and provide guaranteed weight receipts.
CUCUMBERS
Titus County farmers have also grown cucumbers commercially at several times. Cucumber production was not widespread or a large operation in relation to the county's total farms, but then again you can grow a lot of cucumbers on a small plot.
In 1937, the Craddock Pickle & Relish Company of Dallas requested that two hundred acres of cucumbers be planted in Titus County, and were successful in obtaining them. The company offered very attractive prices for cucumbers, and was hoped the crop could be developed into a cash crop for Titus County farmers. Raising cucumbers was aided by F. T. Ward, Wilkinson school's vocational teacher, who had the vocational students of his community plant at least ten acres. Research does not indicate that cucumbers were ever a major crop in Titus County, but quantities that were far above those of home gardens were raised and sold commercially.
Speaking of home gardens, A. T. Roach of the Chapel Hill community raised a cucumber over two feet long and six or eight inches in circumference in places in his garden in 1931.
The W. & W. Pickle Company bought cucumbers from this area in 1957, then moved to west Texas. By 1959 they wanted to re-establish acreage in this area because of the superior quality of cucumbers grown here. This time they offered better prices and a more attractive grading system than before to encourage growers.
GRAPE VINEYARDS
In 1930, the Mt. Pleasant area was home to L. G. Meier's grape vineyards, where he developed an ever-bearing grape whose fame spread all over the southwest and to other countries.
A number of prominent horticulturists visited Mr. Meier's vineyard and grape nursery on July 15, 16 and 17, and the Chamber of Commerce wrote letters to people invited to attend welcoming them to Mt. Pleasant and urging their attendance. The Chamber also assisted in entertaining them while they were here.
Mr. Meier took the horticulturists on a tour of his four vineyards planted with the ever-bearing grape that he developed. He had a six-acre vineyard at the east edge of Mt. Pleasant, a four acre tract four miles east on the old Cookville road, two and a half acres just north of Redfearn's Dairy, and eleven acres five miles west of Mt. Pleasant. The other tract had 30,000 vines under cultivation and was used as a nursery to raise vines for shipping purposes. He even received an order for five vines to be sent to Turin, Italy, where they would be used to improve Italy's stock.
PEACHES
For several years, Titus County farmers experimented with raising peach orchards. As early as 1927, and possibly sooner, Elberta peaches were raised in Titus County. As is often the case with agricultural crops, there were good years and bad years. The 1930 crop proved to be a failure, with fewer peaches gathered than had been done in many years before. No full train carloads were shipped, and the few that were raised in Titus County were taken by truck to Pittsburg and combined with small lots from other towns. However, J. B. Huckeba of the Green Hill community brought a perfectly formed peach that weighed exactly a pound to the Mt. Pleasant Daily Times office on July 24, 1930 to show. He said there were only a dozen peaches on the entire tree.
Farmers held their breath for the 1931 crop when a blizzard hit on March 6. A heavy rain that totaled 0.71 inch began falling about five o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by a strong wind that constantly got colder until the temperature fell to 30 degrees. During the night quite a bit of snow fell, but melted in a short while.
Freezes ruined a large part of the Northeast Texas peach crop in the Athens, Jacksonville and Tyler areas, and hail ruined peaches in many other sections, which caused a peach shortage. The Titus County orchards escaped damage and produced a large crop of good peaches. Peaches were expected to bring a high price because of the shortage, but prices fell instead.
The regular market price at the railroad packing shed for most of the selling season was only around 35c a bushel, which disappointed most growers. Therefore, if a man with a truck offered even 5c more per bushel, he was sold peaches at the packing shed. The truck driver would then drive to West Texas and sell the peaches for a good profit. In many cases, people living in a community formed a pool and sent a truck to Mt. Pleasant to buy peaches.
As peaches became scarcer, their price went up to 50c per bushel at the orchard, giving the grower a small profit which he could not make at 35c. A total of 15 rail cars of peaches were shipped from Mt. Pleasant, and it was estimated that about 30 rail car loads were shipped out by truck.
The trees produced well again in 1932 and it looked like there would be a good peach crop. However, the weather didn't cooperate again. The temperature dropped to 27 degrees on March 6, was below freezing on the morning of March 8. That night the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. The sun came out on March 9, but the temperature did not rise above freezing. The freeze killed tender vegetation and damaged the peaches.
Many growers didn't even attempt to harvest their crops, and it was estimated that the crop was only about one-tenth the normal amount. Prices started off at 90c a bushel at the start of the season, but on July 20 only 50c was being paid at the railroad packing sheds. The sheds along the Cotton Belt tracks which were usually very active were practically deserted, with only a few people at work. Only one rail car had been shipped, with the rest being shipped by truck.
Another freeze hit Northeast Texas in February, 1933 and killed peach crops in Tyler, Athens, Jacksonville and Omaha. While Titus County's peach crop was damaged, it was not destroyed. The early peach crop gave promise that there would be plenty of peaches for home consumption, with some possibly left for shipping.
After several years of peach prices that were so low that it did not pay to gather and ship them, local orchards have been allowed to deteriorate by 1935. However, some thought that with improving conditions that it was likely that in the near future commercial orchards would again be part of Titus County's farm crops.
The 1935 yield was good in orchards that had been taken care of, and shipping Titus County peaches to northern and eastern markets began the week of July 10. The second carload was shipped on July 10, and growers estimated that at least twenty carloads would be shipped from Mt. Pleasant and that a considerable amount would be shipped by truck. However, that was only a fraction of Titus County's shipments a few years ago when over a hundred carloads was nothing unusual.
One year of decent prices didn't convince growers. They continued to let their orchards run down and a late spring freeze damaged much of the crop, and which made the 1936 yield unusually low.
One rail car of Titus County peaches was loaded on July 16, but few peaches would be shipped that year. Prices were considerably better than they had been in several previous years because of a peach shortage in much of the State, but there weren't many peaches to ship because of it.
A drought in many parts of the nation had already created a shortage of canned goods, therefore canned good prices were expected to increase in the coming winter. There were plenty of peaches for home consumption and residents were encouraged to can as much as possible of the peach crop for home use.
PEAS
In 1928, buyers shipped a train car load of Whippoorwill, Cream, and Black-eyed Peas from Mt. Pleasant.
PEANUTS
Peanuts were grown as a commercial crop in Titus County. We don't have records of exactly to what extent, but there were enough grown to qualify for federal Department of Agriculture acreage reduction programs in October, 1935.
1937 was a good year for peanut growers, when a bumper crop of high-yield peanuts were harvested and marketed at a fair price. Number one Spanish peanuts brought 70 cents per bushel, and three threshers were run in the county to harvest the peanuts.
POTATOES
Sweet and Irish potatoes were a major Titus County crop in the early 1900s, and possibly sooner. Unfortunately, lack of very early newspapers prevents us from establishing when potatoes became a cash crop, but we know they were shipped in commercial quantities from Titus County in 1904 to 1907, as we have a photo showing them being loaded onto rail cars from horse drawn wagons on what is now Washington Street.
In August, 1927, DeWitt Carpenter began remodeling the old brick Blankenship barn on Market Street as a potato curing plant. Jessie Roach was to manage the plant, which would have a capacity of up to 40,000 bushels of potatoes. In 1927, potato buyers paid as much as $4.35 per hundred pounds.
Potato prices were low in 1928, so Titus County farmers organized to market their potatoes. About 100 growers met in the Titus County Court House at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, June 2 to discuss marketing problems for the spring crop. J. L. Wright, G. W. Harper, K. H. Gregory, County Agent Jinks, and others spoke about problems in the potato industry.
While Winnsboro had already shipped over $250,000 worth of produce that season, Titus County farmers decided to form an association to shipping vegetables and produce from Mt. Pleasant in mixed car lots if sufficient products could be secured. Growers decided to begin digging their potatoes on June 11 and to market co-operatively as much as possible, with everyone bringing their potatoes to town at the same time and filling the cars together.
Plans were made to locate a power grader in Mt. Pleasant to obtain a uniform grade of potato, which would greatly benefit growers over the manual method used previously. Use of a power grader also meant that potatoes would be sacked at the packing shed. Rather than having to sack the potatoes in the field, farmers could use any kind of container that was convenient to bring them to the packing shed.
A few buyers were present at the meeting, but no farmers made a sales contract with them because farmers felt the low market price would go up soon.
Unfortunately for the farmers, the market didn't work that way. By noon on July 12, just two cars of Irish potatoes had been purchased with 36c per bushel being paid at the packing shed for most. The price then dropped and buyers could pay only 30c. The buyers felt they could no longer stay in the market, so they quit buying and refused all further potatoes arriving at the sheds.
Titus County farmers had planted a sizable acreage in potatoes. The 36c per bushel disappointed them, especially when just last year buyers paid as much as $4.35 per hundred. However, Titus County wasn't caught alone by the low prices. The Clarksville Times reported poor prices in Avery and other places where large crops were planted.
Potato shipments were up in 1929 with ten cars being shipped by June 7. The potatoes were of unusually good quality and appearance, having a uniform size and no blemishes. Prices were up, but the potato market was generally uncertain. Small patches usually paid the grower and the price was sufficient to interest those who had potatoes for sale. Titus County farmers expected to be able to ship a total of fifteen cars during the season.
Titus County's Irish potato crop surprised growers with a much larger yield than expected in 1930. Farmers feared that unusually heavy May rains had ruined most of the crop, but it appeared that on rolling land that potatoes were not very badly damaged.
Seven carloads had been shipped by June 5, and shippers said that prospects were good to ship at least that many more. Titus County crops were not hurt as badly in 1930 was some surrounding counties where there are more lowlands.
The sweet potato crop turned out better than expected, too, but was less than normal due to a drought in the middle of the growing season. When the rains finally came, the sweet potatoes suddenly began growing heavy and many cracked open, which made them unsuitable for shipping. However, they were good for home use and farmers could ship the best ones.
Shipping sweet potatoes began on October 23 when the first car of the season was loaded. Several growers stored their potatoes for sale during the winter and early spring.
Titus County planted a large crop of both Irish and sweet potatoes in 1931, and due to favorable weather conditions everyone expected a good crop.
County Agent DeWitt Huckabee called a meeting of Irish potato growers at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6 at the Titus County Court House to plan marketing the year's crop. Buyer's representatives were present to provide growers with information about preparing and marketing their potatoes.
The Harper and Culver Company began loading Irish potatoes in car lots on Monday, June 8 at the loading platform near Mayfield Company's warehouse. Harper and Culver set up a grading machine on the loading platform which sorted the potatoes in sizes demanded by the best markets. They paid somewhat better prices than farmers had anticipated.
However, several marketing difficulties like farmers harvesting at different times, poor culling, late blight, etc., made the Mt. Pleasant market unsteady. The difficulties were brought to the attention of the Chamber of Commerce that night, and the Chamber was asked to assist growers in obtaining a good price for their potatoes.
Farmers cut back planting potatoes all over the county and planted more tomatoes in 1934.
Loading rail cars of Irish potatoes began on June 8, 1934. Prospects were good for a large crop, and several carloads were expected to be shipped during the season. However, an average price of 75c per hundred was paid, which disappointed growers who had expected higher prices.
The 1938 potato crop was larger than was expected. Only fifteen rail cars were expected to be shipped from Mt. Pleasant, but over twenty-five carloads were shipped.
RIBBON AND SORGUM CANE
The Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce tried to help local farmers by starting a sorghum cane syrup mill in Mt. Pleasant in 1957. Their purpose was to encourage local farmers to grow sorghum, which the mill would process into syrup and sell, returning the left-over silage to the farmers for winter feed.
The Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee located a large syrup mill in New Iberia, Louisiana, and moved it to Mt. Pleasant. They established the East Texas Cane Growers and Processors Association to operate the mill, and sold seed through Glover's Feed Mill.
It was a well-intentioned project, but appears to have only operated two or three years after it was initiated.
Until the latter 1960s or early 1970s, there were a number of small ribbon cane syrup mills in Titus County. While they may have sold a little syrup to neighbors or local grocery stores, they were not large commercial operations.
SOY BEANS
In 1930, around 300 acres of soy beans were planted in Titus County. Farmers raised an average of 2,300 pounds of soy beans per acre, even though planting was delayed due to heavy rains which were followed by a summer drought that reduced production. The gross income from soy beans was more than $28.00 per acre, since soy bean hay was equal in value to alfalfa hay.
County Agent DeWitt Huckabee, assisted by the county's vocational agriculture teachers and Paul H. Walser, Cotton Belt Railroad Agricultural Agent, held meetings around Titus County in April, 1931 to demonstrate the value of soy beans as a feed crop.
Meetings were held at Stonewall School on Monday night, April 27th; Yancey school on Tuesday night, April 28th; Midway school on Wednesday night, April 29th; Maple Springs School on Thursday night, April 30th; and Oak Grove School on Friday night, May 1st.
Farmers were provided first hand information about planting, cultivating, and harvesting soy beans. Mr. Walser provided data on the many uses for soy beans, and showed their value as a feed, especially for farmers who were interested in dairying.
TOMATOES
Titus County farmers planted the largest tomato crop in 1934 that had ever been planted in the county. Most growers had little experience in growing tomatoes. Some were dissatisfied with the kind of plants they received, it was an extremely dry growing season, and farmers got a late start on the crop. Even so, the crop was unusually good and in spite of the bad season, eight carloads of nice tomatoes were shipped from Mt. Pleasant. Farmers received a decent price for their tomatoes and many growers were pleased with the results.
In February, 1935, a series of meetings were held in six communities and farmers decided to increase their tomato acreage over the previous year. They placed their orders earlier in order to secure better plants.
Unfortunately the weather and markets didn't cooperate in 1935. Prices were very low, and heavy July rains ruined the crop. Shipments were discontinued in early July.
County Agent Donald R. Ralph held a series of meetings around Titus County in January, 1936 so local farmers could discuss the 1936 tomato marketing program. A tentative program had already been worked out for the year and was presented to growers at the meetings.
Loading rail cars of tomatoes for shipment started at the Mt. Pleasant sheds on June 16, 1936 with two carloads expected to be loaded by Thursday. Estimates at the first of the year were for two hundred cars to be shipped, but after oil was discovered in Talco growers north of White Oak cut their acreage to almost nothing, and dry weather reduced the yield in the rest of the county. Estimates were revised downward and at least fifty carloads were expected to be shipped during the season. Early prices were very good with growers receiving 2 cents per pound, one-half cent more than was being paid at Jacksonville.
Tomato prices were very low in Jacksonville the first of the 1938 season, and the CCC financed disposal of the tomato crop to help growers there.
Things weren't looking at all good for Titus County growers, who had planted around 250 acres of tomatoes. Local growers became very uneasy when they had not received information about when buyers would come to Mt. Pleasant by June, and feared they would lose their crop entirely due to no market.
With the ripening season just a few days away, the Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce asked the Commodity Credit Corporation to help local tomato growers, who were faced with unusually low prices and the prospect no buyers would come here to bid on their crops. Chamber Secretary Delbert Snider sent a number of telegrams from local people asking that the CCC take similar action in Titus County to assure our growers of some revenue from their tomatoes this season, and it was expected that immediate action would be taken here like in Jacksonville.
Local tomato growers' uneasiness over the market was relieved somewhat when two buyers from different firms finally arrived in Mt. Pleasant to bid on the Titus County crop on June 11, 1938. They also hoped that since the Chamber had reported the local situation to Federal authorities, the price paid in this area might be sufficient for farmers to make a small profit on their investment and labor.
WATERMELONS
Watermelons were grown commercially in Titus County as early as 1931. By July, 1931, seven rail cars of melons had been shipped from Mt. Pleasant to eastern markets. Prices were low, but growers received some money when they needed it most.
Watermelon prices were again low in 1932, paying growers 25c per hundred pounds at the rail docks. However, this was considered a good price when other farm products were even lower, and seven rail cars had been loaded by July 26, 1932. Quite a few more cars were expected to be loaded during the season.
Titus County growers produced exceptionally nice watermelons in 1935, but for some reason prices dropped so low that growers could make little profit. Several rail car loads were shipped, but by July 31 the price had fallen to 25c per hundred pounds.
Titus County growers again produced a good crop of very nice watermelons in 1936, and market prices were much better. The first rail car load was shipped on July 14 and brought 40c per hundred. Buyer W. D. Culver, who shipped the melons, estimated that at least fifteen more cars would be shipped during the season.
In early August, 1954, Titus County growers had shipped close to a thousand tons of watermelons to other markets, with many more to still be shipped. W. D. Culver had shipped 63 rail car loads averaging 14 tons per car, and expected to ship over 20 more before the season closes. He said that between eight and ten additional carloads had been shipped from the county by truck. Local growers received an average price of between $20 and $22 per ton.
Ralph Day cultivated hundreds of acres of watermelons in Titus County each year throughout the 1960s and 1970s, shipping them by truck to markets all over the country.
