Texas Agricultural Experiment Station No. 6

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, right out there in Denton County. Now settle in, because this one starts with dirt, and it ends with something worth remembering. In Denton County's early years, farming and ranching were just about the whole story.

Folks worked the land to feed themselves, plain and simple. But then the railroads came rolling in, and subsistence farming gave way to something bigger. If you could grow a crop and ship it, you could sell it.

Markets opened up, and suddenly the question wasn't just how to survive the land. It was how to get the most out of it. That question needed answers, and in 1887, the U.S.

Government passed the Hatch Act, appropriating funds to states that promoted scientific experimentation regarding agriculture. Over the next twenty years, experiment stations spread throughout Texas. Then in 1910, Denton got its notice.

A station would be located right there. Station No. 6. The Chamber of Commerce stepped up first, offering a site west of Denton, land owned by J.

N. Rayzor, and the station set up shop there for its first few years. But the soil had other ideas.

Soil issues, the kind that don't argue back when you talk to them but do argue back when you plant in them, forced a change. In 1913, the state bought the J. T.

Luper farm, five miles northwest of Denton, and the station moved there. Now here is where the story gets good. Station No. 6 turned its attention to grains, specifically to figuring out how to make them tougher, more resistant to weather and disease.

North Texas winters are not gentle, and rust damage was a real problem for oat crops. So the station went to work. What they produced were new varieties of oats with names that sound almost like they belong on a football roster: Nortex, New Nortex, Mustang, and Alamo.

These weren't just pretty names. These varieties doubled yields and helped overcome the rust problem. They could withstand those sometimes severe North Texas winters that had been beatin' farmers down for generations.

And the grain work didn't stop at oats. The station also developed wheat varieties, Westar, Quanah, and Frisco, and barley varieties called Texan and Cordova. The ripple effects went well beyond the research fields.

Agricultural-related industries took root around the station, operations that bought and sold seed, plants, fertilizer, mills, tools, and more. The regional economy grew. Farmers across the area leaned on Station No. 6 for advice on their own operations, trusting the science that came out of those fields northwest of town.

Sixty-two years of that work. Sixty-two years of seeds and soil and hard-won knowledge. And then, in 1972, the station was closed.

The activities moved on to a regional agricultural research center. The land changed hands, the buildings quieted down, but those oat varieties, those wheat and barley names, the doubled yields and the rust resistance, those didn't just disappear. They went into the ground and came back up in every harvest that followed.

That's the kind of work that doesn't close when you lock the door.

What the marker says

DURING DENTON COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS, FARMING AND RANCHING WERE THE TRADITIONAL PURSUITS. WHEN THE RAILROADS ENTERED THE COUNTY, SUBSISTENCE FARMING GAVE WAY TO FARMING THAT YIELDED MONEY-MAKING CROPS THAT COULD BE SHIPPED TO VARIOUS MARKETS. IN 1887, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT PASSED THE HATCH ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO STATES THAT PROMOTED SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTATION REGARDING AGRICULTURE. OVER THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, EXPERIMENT STATIONS WERE ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT THE STATE. IN 1910, THE AREA RECEIVED NOTICE THAT A STATION WOULD BE LOCATED IN DENTON, KNOWN AS STATION NO. 6. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OFFERED A SITE WEST OF DENTON OWNED BY J. N. RAYZOR THAT THE STATION OCCUPIED FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF SOIL ISSUES, THE STATE BOUGHT THE J. T. LUPER FARM FIVE MILES NORTHWEST OF DENTON IN 1913 AND MOVED THE STATION THERE. THE STATION SPECIALIZED IN RESEARCH ON WAYS TO IMPROVE GRAINS AND THEIR RESISTANCE TO WEATHER AND DISEASE. THE STATION'S SUCCESS WAS EVIDENT IN THE NEW VARIETIES OF OATS DEVELOPED THAT COULD WITHSTAND NORTH TEXAS" SOMETIMES SEVERE WINTERS. NORTEX, NEW NORTEX, MUSTANG AND ALAMO WERE A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE NEW VARIETIES OF OATS. THEY DOUBLED YIELDS AND ALSO HELPED OVERCOME THE PROBLEM OF RUST DAMAGE. THE STATION ALSO PRODUCED WHEAT VARIETIES SUCH AS WESTAR, QUANAH AND FRISCO, AND BARLEYS SUCH AS TEXAN AND CORDOVA. THE STATION LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AGRICULTURAL-RELATED INDUSTRIES THAT BOUGHT AND SOLD SEED, PLANTS, FERTILIZER, MILLS, TOOLS AND OTHER SALES, AND ADDED GROWTH TO THE REGIONAL ECONOMY. MANY FARMERS DEPENDED ON THE STATION FOR ADVICE ON THEIR FARMING OPERATIONS BUT AFTER 62 YEARS, THE STATION WAS CLOSED IN 1972 AND ACTIVITIES WERE MOVED TO A REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTER.