Dry-Land Farming

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Garza County isn't exactly what you'd call a garden paradise. Low rainfall, limited grazing, the kind of land that makes a sensible person tip their hat and keep on driving.

And for a long time, that's about all anybody did with it. But then came 1907, and with it came a man named C. W.

Post. Yes, that Post. Creator of Post Foods.

A philanthropist with, apparently, a taste for a challenge. He looked out at this dry stretch of West Texas and saw something other than dust. He colonized the area himself, and he didn't just show up and wish folks luck.

He brought new agricultural techniques, the kind that made farming profitable in a place where farming had no business being profitable. Cotton took root out here. Milo maize.

Indian corn. Oats. Post wasn't satisfied stopping there, either.

He experimented with several types of fruits and vegetables, pushing at the edges of what this reluctant land would give. Now here's the part worth slowing down for. Post understood that the people coming to work this land weren't wealthy speculators.

Men of small means could buy farms from him on easy terms. And he didn't leave them to fend for themselves once the deed was signed. He provided good houses, fences, windmills, and electricity.

Out here, in Garza County, in 1907, that was no small thing. He even built the Post Textile Mill, so colonists had supplemental work and income beyond the harvest. The man built a whole world out of dry land and a long bet.

This marker was placed in 1967, and the land is still here. Make of that what you will.

What the marker says

This low rainfall area, limited usually to grazing, was colonized in 1907 by C. W. Post, creator of Post Foods and a philanthropist. By introducing new agricultural techniques, he was able to make farming profitable for colonists. Cotton, milo maize, Indian corn, and oats were grown here. Post also experimented with several types of fruits and vegetables. Men of small means could buy farms on easy terms from Post. He provided good houses, fences, windmills, and electricity. Also built Post Textile Mill to provide supplemental work and income for the colonists. 1967