Agricultural practices on the small farm, which typically ranged in size from 120 to 160 acres, varied from purely pastoral to a combination of pastoral, crop, and garden farming. Hunting and gathering provided an important supplement to family food provisions. In Washington County a farmer with 120 acres might be expected to use 100 acres for unfenced cattle and hog raising, firewood gathering, and hunting. Of the remaining twenty acres, ten to twelve would ordinarily be devoted to corn, a staple for both human beings and farm animals. An acre or less might be used variously for sweet sorghum or sugarcane, a fruit orchard, home garden and herb plot, and tobacco. Cash income, always minimal, came from the cultivation and harvest of two or three acres of cotton....
As the economy became more of a money-based system, small farmers increasingly slipped into tenancy or left farming. Generally, in tenant farming the landlord or planter contracted with the tenant for the cultivation of a small plot of land (usually in the range of 16–20 acres) on which the tenant was expected to raise as much cotton as possible. The planter ordinarily received one-third of the income from the crop for supplying the land, and one-third for provisioning the farmer with tools and housing, while the tenant received one-third for the labor. Credit was extremely expensive and scarce for the planter and disabling for the tenant, who commonly ended a year more deeply in debt than before....
In conjunction with such capital investments, Texas farmers who recognized that profitability depended upon achieving higher crop yields at reduced labor costs readily incorporated the application of chemicals as part of their agricultural programs. The use of fertilizers, particularly ammonia-based and nitrogen products, generally enhanced commodity returns. Furthermore, the introduction of herbicides at the preplanting, preemergence, or postemergence of the crops usually reduced weed growth and cut labor expenses. In addition, insecticides applied by tractor-mounted equipment or by aircraft helped lessen damages inflicted by insects and diseases.
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