TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW 

A Monthly Summary of Business and Economic Conditions in Texas 
BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
VOL. XXVII, No. 11 TWENTY CENTS A COPY-TWO DOLLARS A YEAR AUGUST 1953  
2 3 4 5 6 7  


The Business Situation 1n Texas 

The index 0£ business activity compiled by the Bureau of Business Research declined 4% between June and July to register the greatest change for any month in 1953. The July value of 287 for the index represented the low­est point reached this year, although this level was 12% above July 1952. The behavior of the composite index of business activity confirms the belief that a decline in Texas business is under way. 
The following table shows the changes in the com­ponents of the index of business; two registered increases, one showed no change, and seven declined. The month­to-month fluctuations in these series are not always con­sistent, but the weighted average that makes up the index 
INDEX OF TEXAS BUSINESS ACTIVITY AND COMPONENT SERIES 
• (adj11.1te<I for aea11onal variation, 1915-39=100) 
July June Percent Indexes Weight 1953 1953 change 
INDEX OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY 
(COMPOSITE) 

------------------100.0 287* 298 4 Retail sales, adiuoted for price changes_ 47.7 242* 252 4 Industrial power consumption 14.8 595 625 5 Crude oil runs to stills ---------------------·-4.5 205 220 -7 Electric power consumption ------------3.0 776 749 4
+ 
Miscellaneous freight carloadings ----------17.6 145 145 0 Urban building permits, adjusted for price changes --------------3.8 157• 208 -25 Crude petroleum production -------·-8.6 232 222 5
+ 
•Preliminary. 
shows less erratic variation than the individual com­ponents. The upsurge in Texas business lost its drive early in 1953, and since that time there has been a slow hut steady weakening in the various elements that make up the total business picture. 
The factors responsible for the leveling off and de­cline in business volume have not been those most closely related to the expenditures of consumers. Income received by individuals in Texas cities has continued at a high level, and although farm income has declined somewhat, it is still high in comparison with any previous period of the state's history. Farm income is the only statistical series available monthly to show changes in consumer income, and this series indicates that revenue from mar· ketings of farm products was 17% lower in the first seven months of 1953 than in the same period of 1952. The best data available indicate that other types of con­sumer income have increased during 1953, although at a much slower rate than in the three preceding years. 
Total income payments to individuals, measured by the Department of Commerce, showed an increase of 6% in Texas during 1952, bringing the total to $11,887 mil­lion. Agricultural income decreased 11 %, while non­agricultural income rose 9%. The increase of 6% in 1952 income payments over the 1951 sum was much smaller than the 14% increase registered between 1951 and 1952. If it were possible to measure at this date the change between 1952 and 1953, the increase would prob­ably be still less than a year ago. 
There is a general tendency for business economists to overlook the importance of the investment expenditures of business concerns as determining factors in the business situation. The volume of consumer expenditures repre· sents the largest component of the business picture, but investment in capital goods and inventories are more strategic factors in the level of business. The slowing down of the rate at which Texas business concerns are 

TEXAS BUSINESS ACTIVITY 

Index • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935~1939" 100 


1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 

spending for expansion of facilities has undoubtedly been the greatest single force in the current business decelera­tion. Up to the present, the volume of spending on new plant and equipment has remained high, because of the great number of new projects started in preceding months. The fact that Texas industry has shown a slowing down in starts of new plants and in the expansion of existing installations can be expected to be felt during the coming months. 
The decline in this type of expenditure will be felt in consumer incomes and will follow on through to sales at wholesale and retail. It is generally true that con­sumer expenditures are relatively passive as determining factors in the business situation under anything like nor­mal conditions. In other words, consumers tend to spend most of the income they receive, and the amount spent depends in the long run on the amount of income paid out to the group. 
Wholesale Prices in the U.S. 
Index • 1947-1949 •100" 


1.20 11 0 
100 90 
IO 
JO 60 JO 
It 

The reduction in farm income in Texas has brought about a considerable curtailment in the purchase of ma­chinery by farmers. The trend of farm income has been very much the same all over the country, with the result that the manufacture of farm machinery has shown con­siderable decline. Predictions are that it has not yet reached bottom. However, the long-term outlook for in­vestment in equipment by farmers is favorable. The large amount of equipment now in use on Texas farms makes a good replacement market, in addition to the market represented by farms that are still without many major items of equipment. But as long as farm incomes continue to decline, there is little likelihood that improvement will be shown in the sale of farm equipment. There has always been a close correlation between farmers' expenditure for machinery and farm income, and there is no reason to believe that this relationship has changed. 
that credit is becoming more expensive. However, the total volume of construction continues to be supported by a large backlog of projects such as public buildings, utilities, and various types of commercial structures. Even though building is at a somewhat slower rate than previously, it still gives indications of continuing to lend strong support to business activity in the state. It is likely that in the immediate future this phase of economic activity will show more sustaining force for the level of business than business expenditures for industrial ex­pansion. 
Inventories continue to represent a vulnerable phase of business. No data are available for Texas concerns alone, but it seems safe to assume that there is no signifi­cant difference in the position of businesses in different parts of the country. During June the total value of busi­ness inventories rose from $76,836 million to $77,550 million; most of the increase was in manufacturers' in­ventories, $526 million compared to $212 million for retailers. Both manufacturers' sales and new orders de­creased during May and June, after adjustment for sea­sonal variation. As long as sales were rising, the growth in inventories offered no serious problem. As soon as sales begin to decline, however, businessmen find it im­portant to reduce inventories. The reduction of inven­tories can only be accomplished by selling more than is manufactured or purchased. That is, even a small reduc­tion in sales will inevitably bring about a much greater reduction in manufacturing. This type of business decline appeared in 1949 and continued until the stocks of goods on hand had been worked down to acceptable levels. During the inventory decline of that period, there was no substantial reduction in capital expenditures of business or in construction activity, so these elements of the na­tional income were well maintained. But now there is uncertainty that capital expenditures would resist the depressing effects of a reduction in inventories. This un­certainty gives rise to a major part of the difficulty in forecasting the nature of the business decline that appears to be in progress. 
The index of bank debits in Texas cities fell 3% in July, after adjustment for seasonal variation. Since this barometer measures essentially the same forces that affect the composite index of business, it has generally paral­leled the index of business. 
Bank Dehlts In Texas 
Equally as important as the expenditures of business­
ladu • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935-1'39. JDO 

men and farmers for equipment has been the volume of construction in Texas. The growth in population and the shift into the metropolitan areas, as well as the indus­trial expansion, have resulted in a tremendous volume of buildin~ during the past eight years. Residential con­struction in Texas has declined, but the value of all building permits for the first seven months of 1953 averaged 7% more than for the year 1952. There is no 20 agreement among builders as to the relative importance of slackening demand and the tightening money market, but it is agreed that houses are harder to sell and also 

The trend of prices during July represented the strong­est reversal of the downward movement in more than a year. The net change in the wholesale price index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics since December 1952 has been very slight, but during July the weekly index rose. 
INDEXE5 OF WHOLESALE PRICES IN THE UNITED STATE!! 
(19'7-49=100) 
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U . S. Department of Labor 
1963*  July  Aug  
Index  Augll  Aug4  1963  1952  
ALL COMMODITIES ___  110.6  110.7  110.9  112.2  
Farm products -----··­··-··-·  96.6  97.0  97.9  109.9  
Food ---------­---------------­--­-­ 104.7  105.2  106.6  110.6  
All others --------------------­ 114.8  94.6  114.8  118.0  

•Estimates of the index for the week endi11¥· on date g-iven. 
Most of the rise was accounted for by rising prices of farm products, although industrial prices were slightly higher than in June. Processed foods followed the up­ward movement of farm prices. The index of prices re· ceived by Texas farmers rose from 264 to 272, bringing the parity ratio for Texas farm prices from 96 to 98. The BLS national consumers' price index for all cities rose from 114.5 to 114.7 (1947-49=100), with increases registered in food, housing, transportation, medical care, and miscellaneous items. If the sharp decline in farm prices is a reversal of the trend rather than an erratic movement, the total index may be expected to move up, since industrial prices have been rising steadily, although very slowly, since last winter. This steadiness in indus­trial prices has been one of the factors cited to justify the high level of inventories. As long as prices remain firm, there is little tendency for the businessmen to worry about large inventories. A weakening in demand will usually he reflected in lower prices. 
JOHN R. STOCKTON 
Bureau of Business Research Publications 
Economic Statistics of Texas: 1900-1952 
Business Leaflet No. 6 
Alfred G. Dale and Frank T. Cadena, 
Research Associates in the Bureau of B'usine~s Re­search have collaborated in the collection of sta­tistical data outlining the development of mineral and agricultural production, industry, commerce, and other pha ses of Texas business for the first half of the century. The bulletin will be published Sep­tember 15. Price, twenty-five cents. 

TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW 

Robert H. Ryan. Managing Editor 
College of Business Administration, .The University of Texas 
William R. Sprlea-eL ___________________ __Dean 
Business Research Council 
William R. Spriegel (e2' officio), A. Hamilton Chute, F. L. Cox, Elizabeth Lanham, R. H. Montiromery, and C. Aubrey Smith. 
STAFF OF THE BUREAU 
OF BUSINESS RESEARCH 

John R. Stockton Stanley A. Arbingast . Marjorie T. Cornwell 
Director Assiatant Director Rea....-ch SMperviac>r Reaources Specialist 
Stella Traweek A. Hamilton Chute Richard C. Hen•haw, Jr. 
ConsuUing Statistician Retailing Specialist Statistician 
Raymond V. Lesikar Robert H. Ryan Frank T. Caol.ena 
Research Aaaociate Research Asaociate Research Aa1ociat8 
Jo Overstreet Harvey B. Smith William S. Lowe Calvia Jayroe
Research AaBiBtant Statistical Assiatant• O!!aet Presa Operator 
Judy Vauirhan Della Henry Secretaries  Jo Anne Horne Librar11 ABBiatant  Beverly Webb Yvonne Hawn Statistical Clerk•  
Assistants  
Marilyn  Biel,  Carroll  Boudreaux,  Robert  Clayton,  Floyd  Eiland,  

Maurice Friedman, Tom Greer, Olin Hardwick, Benny Hill, Vera Jeffrey, Bill McClelland, Sam Muller, Gene Myrick, Jack Stillinger, Fred Varnado, and Newton Youngblood. 
Cooperating Faculty 
A.B.Cox E'lizabetb Lanham 
Profusor of Assistant Profe­
Cotton Marketing of Management 
TABLE OF CONTENTS The Business Situation in Texas .............................. 2 Finance ...................................................................... 5 
Retail Trade ........... .. ............. ........ .... . . .............. ...... .... 6 Construction .............................................................. 8 Foreign Trade ···············································-············ 
Industrial Production ............................................... . 
Irrigation for Texas Farms ....................................... . 
Local Business Conditions ..... .................................. 18 
Barometers of Texas Business .................................. 24 

Pnblished monthly by the Bureau of Businel!8 Research, Colle&e of Business Administration, The University of Texas, Austin 12. Entered as second class matter May 7, 1928 at the post office at Austin, Texas, u:llder the act of August 24, 1912. Content of this publication Is not copyrighted and may be reproduced freely. Acknowledgement of source will be appreciated. Subscription, $2.00 a year ; individual copies, 20 cents. 

FINANCE Bank investments gain. A 6% increase in bank in· vestment in U. S. Government securities (from $1,154 million to $1,226 million) is indicated by data released in late July by reporting member banks of the Eleventh Federal Reserve District. Reflecting heavy purchases of the 2%% tax anticipation certificates of indebtedness issued July 15, the expansion is wholly in holdings of Treasury certificates (up 64% from $120 million to $197 million). Investments in both Treasury bills and Treasury notes declined slightly. U. S. bond investments remained unchanged. Neither was there significant change in total bank loans. Deposit increase reported. Deposits (except inter· bank) increased 3% during July. Demand deposits, up 3% from $2,410 million to $2,486 million, account for most of the rise. Contributing to the gain is a 33% in· crease in U. S. Government deposits (from $92 million to $122 million), reflecting in part bank purchases of Treasury certificates. Time deposits fell slightly from $570 million to $567 million. Total interbank deposits decreased 18% (from $858 million to $707 million). State revenue receipts increase. Texas state revenue receipts for the current fiscal year continued to run well ahead of the year.ago level. Collections for the 11-month period ending July 31 total $679 million---8% above the $631 million collected at the same point last year. Nearly all categories of tax receipts registered gains. Federal collections in the state, however, were 2% below those for June of 1952 ($127 million to $125 million). A 
REVENUE RECEIPTS OF STATE COHPTBOLLEll 
Source: State Comptroller of Public Accountl 

September 1..July 31 
Percent Source 1952-53 1951-52 change TOTAL _____________________$679,328,312$631-;465;10-2 ---F 8­
AD VALOREM TAX -------26,254,980 24,221,959 + 8 INHERITANCE TAX -------6,040,143 5,662,612 + 7 POLL TAX ------------------------------1,559,607 2,651,709 -41 GROSS RECEIPTS-UTILITIES 
AND TELEPHONE -----6,463,757 6,003,810 + 8 
GROSS PRODUCTION Natural and casinghead gas ---------19,496,296 16,442,748 + 19 Gas gathering tax -----------------1,214,978 4,067,843 -70 Crude oil ---------------------------------113,952,400 110,094,523 + 4 Other -----------------------------------------10,252,553 10,579,129 -8 
LICENSES AND FEES Occupation tax ------------------18,762,207 16,311,110 + 23 Net motor fuel tax ---------------------100,996,517 95,487,432 + 6 
Cigarette tax and licenses -------------32,635,015 32,127,570 + 2 Alcoholic beverage tax and licenses-17,380,159 17,019,431 + 2 Sales taxes -----------------------------18,178,033 16,820,940 + 8 Other licenses and fees ----------17,356,753 16,598,541 + 5 
FRANCHISE TAXES -----------14,044,318 13,940,949 + 7 UNCLASSIFIED RECEIPTS Mineral leases, rentals, and bonuses__ _ 29,057,744 22,642,442 + 28 Oil and gas royalties -------------------17,850,169 16,409,929 + g Interest on securities owned _______ 18,564,868 11,706,283 + 16 Motor vehicle license., permll:I!, 

and fees ----------------------------38,319,237 35,190,506 + 9 Sale of commodities -----------------8,563,963 4,285,764 +loo Other ----------------------------9,865,790 14,715,680 -33 
FEDERAL AID 

Highways ---------------------------28,215,882 28,020,225 + 1 Public welfare -------------------92,691,723 67,557,055 + 37 Other ----------------------------------19,138,851 25,478,857 -25 
DONATIONS -------------------------­66,699 69,638 -19 UNEMPLOYMENT COMPEN· SATION TAXES -----17,416,670 18,568,422 5
-
FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE COLLECTIONS Source: Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Treasury Department 
July 1-July 31 
Percent Source 1953 1952 change 

TEXAS -------------­ $124,821,377  $127 ,257 ,400  - 2  
Income  ---­----­--­ 40,713,659  45,118,740  -10  
Employment  ---·------­·--·­- 179,166  229,344  -22  
Withholding  ----··--­-·-··­ 69,467,980  67,841,552  + 2  
Other -------------------------­ 14,460,572  14,067,764  + 3  
FIRST DISTRICT  - 64,562,296  69,525,611  - 7  
Income  ----·---­--··-­----­ 13,766,258  26,702,643  -48  
Employment  --····-­--------­-·­ 32,919  82,913  -60  
Withholding  -----------··-­ 43,604,848  35,137,653  + 24  
Other ----­---------­---------­ 7,158,271  7,602,402  - 6  
SECOND DISTRICT.. Income -------­-----------­ 60,259,081 26,947,401  57,731,789 18,416,097  + 5 + 46  
Employment ---------­--­-----­ 146,247  146,431  x  
Withholding  ----·----­ 25,863,132  32,703,899  -21  
Other --­---------------­ 7,302,301  6,465,362  + 13  

xChange is less than one half of one percent. 

10% ($4.4 million) drop in income taxes was more than enough to offset a 2% ($1.6 million) gain in with· holdings. 
State financial condition is sound. Texas' financial status is sound, according to reports of the State Comp· troller and the Treasurer. Advance estimates of the Sep· tember 1 amount of the general fund are around $25 million. On July 31 about $200 million in cash in the almost 300 treasury accounts was allocated by the legis­lature in its $1,200 million of planned expenditures for the coming two years. 
RAYMOND v. LESIKAR 

CHANGES IN CONDITION OF WEEKLY-REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN THE DALLAS DISTRICT 
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
Percent change• 
July 1953 J uly 1953 July 1952 from from from Item July 1952 June 1953 J une 1952 

ASSETS  
Loans and investments -------------­Loans ---------------­--­--------------------­---­ + 6 + 12  + 3 x  + 2 x  
Total U.S. Government securities Treasury bills -------­----­--------­ -4 -35  +  + 4 + 17  
Treasury certificates of  
Indebtedness  --------­-----­ + 16  + 64  
Treasury  notes  ---------------­ - 1  2  +  
Bonds ----­------------­---­--­-­Other securities -----­-------------­ x + 11  x 2  + 2 2  
Reserve with Federal Reserve  
Banks  -----------------------­ - 4  1  
Cash In vaults -----------------­--Balances with domestic banks____  + 19 + 2  + 19 -23  + 5 -14  
LIABILITIES  
Total deposits (except interbank) Demand deposits (adjusted) __ Time deposits --------------­U. S. Government deposits___  + 4 + 3 + 20 -23  + 3 + 3 1 + 33  + + 4 + 3 -31  
Interbank deposits  -----------­ - 1  -18  -10  
Domestic banks --------­ - 1  -18  -10  
Foreign banks -------------------­CAPITAL ACCOUNTS ----­ -10 + 11  0 + 1  + 11 + 1  

•Percentage chanires are based on the day nearest the end of the 

month. xChaniie la leu than one half of one percent. 
RETAIL TRADE 

Optimistic merchants in majority. Merchants are still cautiously optimistic and carefully alert to national developments. Production, employment and incomes are at historically high peaks. Although orders are slowing, a gradual downtrend would still maintain business at high levels for many months to come. The seasonal up· turn for fall is already apparent in some lines. Despite 
1Retail Sales in Texas 
Index • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935-1939 °100 



some alarming forecasts and financial pressures, retailers in general expect business in the second half of 1953 to top latter 1952 by 3 to 10%, although downward adjust· ments are expected from the sales peaks registered earlier this year. Of course sales possibilities will differ by lines of goods and type and liize of community and will be in· fluenced by impact of drought or crop surplus~s, labor dissension, governmental defense spending, subsidies and price support programs, stockpiling, and manipulation of 
ESTIMATES OF TOTAL RETAIL SALES 
Sales Percent change (mils of dols) J uly 1953 July 1953 Jan-July 1953 Type of July Jan-July from from from store 1958 1953 July 1952 June 1953 Jan-July 1952 
TOTAL _ ____ 661.0 4,692.6 + 7 2 + 8 

Durable goods _____ 296.6 2,108.2 + 9 2 + 9 Nondurable goods ___ 264.4 2,584.4 + 5 -1 + 7 
finance, taxes and credit. Competition is expected to he· come continually more searching and vigorous. Custom· ers' intentions to continue spending at high levels are in· dicated by various surveys. Still price conscious, con· sumers are strongly interested in quality in the merchan­dise they examine. 
Inventories and prices reach peak levels. In oh· vious campaigns to increase their dominance of the mar· kets, automobile producers and also manufacturers of large household appliances built up inventories and heavily stocked their dealers. Except in the used-car and trade-in markets, sales have held up surprisingly well at this season. Inventories of finished goods in nondurable lines rose in the second quarter of this year at manufac­turing, wholesale and retail levels. Increases in the first quarter had been largely in producers' stocks of goods­in-process. However buyers in the wholesale markets seem little perturbed by large stocks on hand, apparently 
RETAIL SALES TRENDS 

Source: Bureau of Business Research in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce 
Percent change  
Number of  
reporting  July 1953  July 1953 J an-July 1953  
establish- from  from  from  
Group  ments  July 1952 June 1953 J an-July 1952  


KIND OF BUSINESS  
DURABLE GOODS  
Automotive stores -­------­-- 236  + 28  + 3  + 18  
Furniture and household- 
appliance stores -----·-·­ 149  - 13  -15  + 1  
Jewelry stores  ------­-35  - 8  -21  2  
Lumber,  building material,  
and hardwa re stores ____  286  - 12  -11  7  
NONDURABLE GOODS  
Apparel stores  --------­-----­- 222  +  3  -7  + 3  
Country general stores ------­- 43  4  -1  -2  
Department stores ----­ ----­ 79  3  7  -1  
Drug stores  --­-­--------­----­ 179  - 5  + 2  
E at ing a nd drinking places  110  +  1  + 2  -1  
Filling stations  ------­-----1,004  + 3  3  + 3  
Florists  -------·--·---­ 37  8  -18  x  
Food stores  ---­-----­-­--­ 256  +  2  + 2  + 4  
General merchandise stores  188  1  8  x  
Liquor stores -----­-------­ 11  + 4  + 1  + 11  
Office, store, and school  
supply  dealers  ----­-­- 40  x  + 1  + 2  
CITY-SIZE  CLASS  (1950)  
Over  250,000 -----------­1,422  + 6  4  + 6  
100,000 to 250,000 ----­- ---­ 215  +  9  -5  + 9  
50,000 to 100,000 --­-----­ 203  2  -7  + 6  
25,000 to 50,000 -----­--­ 873  +  4  2  + 5  
Under 2,500 ----------------­- 110  3  - 5  - 9  

xChange is less than one half of one percent. 

being convinced that these are necessary to support ex­pected sales volumes this autumn. 
Buying in the markets fell off seasonally during July although consistently maintaining a moderate lead over last year. In early August, ordering for fall delivery of apparel became brisk. Commitments for fall have been noticeably higher than a year ago. Demand in food lines has remained consistently ahead of last year, although now weakening. Demand sharpened in mid-August for floor-coverings, bedding, and incidental furniture, al­though customary August furniture sales drew varying responses. Cooling appliances, musical instruments, and decorating materials had been under strong demand; yet markets remained sluggish for television, most household electrical appliances and used cars. 
An increasing number of retailers, although still defi­nitely a minority, have reported unfavorable sales com­parisons with last year. Clearance sales of seasonable merchandise have been heavy. Buying response has been good on apparel but apathetic on promotions of house· hold goods. Banks and sales finance companies have con· tinued to be selective in their acceptance of loans and financing of installment contracts, especially for used cars. It is generally conceded that the Korean truce had little immediate effect on manufacturing and wholesale markets for consumers' goods. But some merchants and economic observers currently question whether perplexi­ties or confusion among customers is not slowing down their expenditures. 
AUGUST 1953 
According to the Consumers' Price Index for Moderate. POSTAL RECEIPTS Income Families, over-all retail prices rose I.I% dur­ing the second quarter; food, 2.0%; apparel, 0.2%; rent, Percent chanll:e 1.2%. At mid-June, retail prices were 0.2% over the 
July 1953 July 1953

earlier high levels of August and November 1952, also 	July June July from from 
City 1953 19521953 July 1952 June 1953

I.0% above June 1952 and 12.5% over June 1950. Texas retailing in July. Reporting by cities, 301 TOTAL __$5,273,543 $5,195,386 $5,162,681 Texas department and apparel stores averaged a 7% de­
Alpine ---­4,291
crease from June and -1% from last July but a nom­	3,492 3,825 + 12 + 23 
Bastrop ------­2,087 1,339 1,574 + 33
inal increase (+1%) for January-July over the same 	+ 56 
Bay City ------­8,611 7,396 8,454 
+ 2 + 16

months of 1952. Among the 39 cities included, 10 topped Belton --------­4,086 5,238 5,544 
-26 -22 June, nine bettered last July and 16 were ahead of 1952 Borger ·-----­14,576 12,162 12.884 + 13 + 20 Brady ------­4,520 3,586 3,885 + 16
for the first seven months. In the July-to-July comparison, 	+ 26 
Brownfield -----­6,273 5,616 7,596 -17 + 12
leaders were Texas City (+47%), McAllen (+8%), 
Cameron ----­3,779 6,189 3,743 + 1 -39Sherman (+7%), and Brownwood, Dallas, and Houston Childress ----­5,212 4,126 4,822 + 8 + 26 (+6% each). Best showings for the seven months were Cisco ·······-------­4,167 3,621 3,581 + 16 + 15 Cleburne -----­9,243 9,574 8,931 + 3 -3
in Texas City (+ 16%), Corpus Christi, Houston and 
Coleman -------5,235 4,818 5,268 -	l + 9
Marshall (+8% each), McAllen and Sherman (+7% Crystal City ____ 2,534 2,120 2,606 
-3 + 20each), and Brownwood (+6%). Cuero --------­4,106 4,475 3,398 + 21 -8 El Campo ------7,556 6,317 6,442 + 17 + 20
Of 46 cities reporting enough retailers of various types 

Gainesville ___ 9,886 S,425 8,837 + 12 + 17
to be listed individually, 11 topped June, 22 bettered last 	Gatesville --­3,483 3,194 3,226 
+ 8 + 9

July, and 26 were ahead of January-July 1952. Best show· Giddings -----­2,540 2,374 2,501 + 2 + 7 4,372 3,753
ings in the July-to-July comparison were at Big Spring 	Gilmer ---­3,407 + 28 + 16 
Graham -----­6,235 4,317 5,320 + 17 + 44
(+41%), Austin (+21%), Paris (+16%), Houston 

Granbury ····---­1,742 1,341 1,560 + 12 + 30
(+15%), Pittsburg (+14%) and Corpus Christi Grand Prairie ----­10,670 ll,200 8,576 + 24 -5 
(+12%). Comparing the January-July periods, leading Hillsboro -----4,823 4,925 6,670 -28 -2 

Huntsville _ _ _ 

7,295 5,357 6,295

increases were at Pittsburg (+23%), Austin, Corpus 	+ 16 + 36 
Jasper -----------­4,679 3,522 4,763 	2 + 33
Christi and Denison (+ 14% each), Big Spring and Paris 

Jacksonville ----­10,189 9,524 11,209 9 + 7
(+12% each), Denton and Port Arthur (+11% each), 	Kenedy ---------­3,477 8,413 3,444 
+ l + 2 

Beaumont 	(+ 10%), Houston and McAllen (+9% Kerrville --------­8,723 7,811 8,245 + 6 + 12 
Kingsville ------­10,048 10,737 9,210 + 9 -6

each). 
La Grange-----3,128 4,346 4,390 -29 -28 Littlefield ___ 
5,024 5,096 3,869 + 30 -l CREDIT RATIOS IN DEPARTMENT AND APPAREL STORES 2,319 l ,682 2,113 + 10 + 38
Llano ...____ 
Luling -----3,306 2,801 2,519 + 31 + 18 McCamey ___ 3,333 2,325 3,235
Credit Collection + 3 + 43 Number ratios• ratiost Marlin ----­5,826 5,684 4,984 + 17 + 2 
of 	Mission ---····----­5,820 5,217 6,313 -8 + 12
reporting July July July July 
Classification stores 1953 1952 1953 1952 


Monahans ------­5,600 4,654 5,573 x + 20 Navasota ------­3,961 8,238 3,423 + 16 + 22 ALL STORES ------------------68 59.9 62.5 40.2 41.3 Pampa --------------­15,770 15,417 14,345 + 10 + 2 
BY CITIES Pasadena -····-------­13,314 14,274 12,453 + 7 -7 Austin ---------------------4 57.8 58.7 54.3 53.6 Pittsburg ---------­2,397 2,369 2,282 + 5 + 1 Cleburne ----------------3 35.8 34.9 40.8 .u.o Snyder ------­9,750 7,892 9,956 -2 + 24 Corpus Christi ----------3 57.2 60.3 36.9 41.9 Terrell ------­5,502 4,573 4,867 + 13 + 20 Dallas --------------7 
56.6 	70.7 54.5 52.5 Uvalde -------­5,612 6,315 5,866 -4 -11 9,749 7,109
El Paso -------------------3 53.8 53.9 33.4 36.1 Vernon ·--------· 9,893 -1 + 37 Fort Worth-------------4 64.7 63.0 37.6 40.7 Victoria --------21,530 19,463 15,803 + 36 + 11 Galveston ---------------5 55.2 57.2 47.8 49.5 Weatherford 6,489 7,616 6,041 + 7 -15 Houston --------------8 62.0 61.6 33.6 33.7 Yoakum -------9,085 8,182 9,332 -3 + 11 San Antonio --------------6 62.l 63.7 43.7 44.7 
Waco --------------------5 56.9 57.6 51.6 52.2 •The total Includes receipt. for clti.,, which are listed Individually Others ------------------------20 
58.9 57.0 43.3 45.8 under " Local Business Conditions." 
xChange is less than one half of one percent.
BY TYPEJ OF STORE 
Department stores (over $1 million) ------------------21 60.5 63.9 38.8' 39.7 

Department stores (under $1 	Advertising linage in 30 Texas newspapers as a group 
million) ------------------------18 42.2 42.7 43.3 45.9 fell 5% from June but remained 5% above July 1952, Dry goods and apparel stores_ 6 70.0 69.4 54.8 53.2 
with 23 papers topping last year.
Women's specialty shops ___ 14 57.2 56.9 41.8 45.6 Men's clothing stores ····---------9 62.8 62.2 55.0 55.l Eighty of 123 Texas cities bettered their postal re­BY VOLUME OF NET SALES (1952) ceipts of July 1952, to an average increase of 2%. Over $3,000,000 ------------------20 60.7 63.9 38.8 39.9 
$1,500,000 to $3,000,000 ----7 61.5 61.3 54.0 54.7 Sales of gasoline subject to tax totaled 280,993,000 
$500,000 to $1,500,000 -----18 54.6 53.7 50.8 51.2 gallons in June, 8% above May, also 8% over a year $250,000 to $500,000 --------·-10 38.1 38.8 40.6 44.2 
earlier. Gasoline sold to the federal government amounted
Less than $250,000 -----------13 43.0 43.6 44.2 42.9 
to 109,270,000 gallons, 19% down from May but 109% 
•credit sales u a percent of net sales. 	higher than in June 1952. 
tCollectlona during the month aa a percent of account& unpaid on the first of the month. A. HAMILTON CHUTE 
CONSTRUCTION 

Building permits fall substantially. The value of building permits issued in Texas during July dipped 26% below the June total, far more than the normal seasonal decline of 2%. Much of the overall drop can be attributed to a 46% slackening in nonresidential per­mits issued. This occurrence is somewhat less dishearten­ing when viewed in the light of the abnormally high value of nonresidential building permits issued during June. Strikes in the building trades in certain parts of the state during July, which have continued well into August, may also have caused. some. slowing dow~ in t.he rate of permits issued, especially m the noi:ires1denhal sector. By the latter part of August it was es~1mated .that work had been halted on Gulf Coast construction projects valued at well over $200,000,000. 
Cement Production in Texas 
Index • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935-1939 •100 


The value of residential building permits issued in July dropped 15% from the June level. Although the magnitude of this decline is not particularly alarming, it should be realized that this is the fourth consecutive monthly decrease and the value of residential permits issued for July was 45% below that of last March. The number of dwelling units authorized by building per­mits in Texas clearly shows this pattern. After reaching the highest point for a year in March 1953 with permits issued for 5,493 dwelling units, the level ebbed to 4,737 in April, 4,285 in May, 3,857 in June, and finally to 3,390 in July. 
Additions, alterations, and repairs were up 7% in July over June. Factors in the shift were a 28% increase in the nonresidential category and a 10% decrease in the residential component. 
Considering the large proportion of projected Texas military installations that have been completed since 1950, construction activity has held up remarkably well. According to the Texas Employment Commission, nearly every month since the Korean outbreak more Texans have been working than were during the same month a year earlier. The dip in building still left the June total of construction workers only 1.4% below the corre­sponding month of last year. 
Sales of Texas lumber, building material, and hard­ware dealers declined by 11 % from June to July, a substantial drop since normally there is no significant seasonal change betwetm these months. Sales in July this year were at a rate 12% below those of the same month in 1952. The level of sales for the first seven 
ESTIMATED VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED 

Source: Bureau of Buah••• R•earch In cooperation with the Bureau of 
Labor Statlatlca, U. S. Department of Labor 

January-July  
Classification  July 1953*  1953  1952  P ercent cha nge  


CON STRUCTION CLASS Value (thousands of dollars) 
ALL PERMITS ··--·--··· 49,288 ~18,076 379,907 + 10 

N ew construction  ----····-------­ 40,041  366,285  330,969  + 11  
Residential  -----------------­ 24,472  231,419  234,808  -1  
H ousekeeping  -------­ 24,225  225,484  233,349  - 3  
One family  ·-··············  22,682  214,890  21 4,536  x  
Multiple family  ..........  1,543  10,594  18,813  -44  
N onhousekeeping  ----­ 247  5,935  1,459  +307  
Nonresidential  -----··  15,569  134,866  96,161  + 40  
Addit ions, alterations, and  
repairs  ---­---···­ 9,247  51,791  48,938  + 6  
CITY-SIZE GROUP  (1940)  
ALL PERMITS ------­ 49,2i8  418,076  379,907  + 10  

Over 100,000 ---·------··· 26,490 203,005 162,316 + 25 50,000 to 100,000 ---··-···--8,574 78,334 69,579 + 13 25,000 to 50,000 --·----3,247 33,885 39,259 -14 Under 25,000 ---··--··--10,977 102,852 108,753 -5 
Only buildinll' for which permit.a were laeued within the incorporated area of selected citie& ie Included. Federal contract.a are excluded. 
•Preliminary. 

months of 1953 was 7% below the comparable period last year. 
Residential contracts turn down. Although con­tracts awarded are not always reported in the same period as the building permits for identical projects and the coverage is considerably different, the 30% dip in residential contracts in Texas awarded from June to July can be considered as confirmation of the diminish­ing rate of residential construction shown both by the building permit figures and by the construction em· ployment figures. 
The value of contracts awarded during the first seven months of 1953 is 19% below the same period last year. This decline can be explained by decreases of 8% in value of contracts awarded for residential building, of 24% for nonresidential building, and of 32% for pub­lic works and utilities. 
Another explanation for the overall 19% decrease in 
the value of contracts awarded during the first seven 
months of 1953 is the 32% decline in publicly financed 
construction and the 12% decline in private building. 
National expenditures to reach new peak. Total 
expenditures for new construction in the nation during 
1953 are expected to exceed last year's record of $32.6 
billion by 6% according to joint estimates prepared by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of 
Commerce. This year's dollar volume of new construc­
tion will also represent a new peak in work actually 
put in place, after adjustment for price changes. 
Continuation of the steady postwar climb in construc­
tion activity into 1953 will result primarily from a sharp 
rise in commercial building and substantial increases 
in privately owned public utility construction, private 
housing, and schools and highway work. The only major types of construction for which spending is expected to decline are private industrial construction and farm and hospital building. 
The only major types of nonresidential building in Texas which showed an increase in value of permits issued in July over June were public works and utilities (+211% ) and stores and other mercantile buildings( + 16%). Decreases in other major categories of non· residential building ranged from -93% for offiae and bank buildings to -30% for church buildings. 

Despite the sharp drop in July, nonresidential build­ing totals for the first seven months of 1953 exceeded those for the same period of 1952 by 40%. This increase was brought about primarily by changes in the follow­ing important types of construction: office and bank buildings (+265%), educational buildings (+56%), amusement buildings ( +188% ) , stores and other mer· cantile buildings (+9%), other nonresidential build· ings (+119%), and factories and workshops (-9%). 
The dominating class of residential construction, one­famil y houses, dropped in value some 17% from June to July. In spite of increases of 106% for two-family houses, 3% for apartment buildings, and 2% for three· and four.family houses, total housekeeping residential construction declined by 15% because of the decrease in one-family houses. Nonhousekeeping residential, on the other hand, increased in total by 5% from June to July, but the magnitude of construction in this classifica· tion during both months was negligible. 
VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED 
Saarce : Dodge Statistical Research Service 
January-July 
Type of July Percent construction 1953 1953 1952 change 

Value (thousands of dollan)  
ALL CONSTRUCTION  84.000  647.114  799,798  - 19  
NEW BUILDINGS .... Residential ----------------------Nonres idential ·-····-·····-·-··  69,246 29,840 89,406  519,443 302,500 216,943  612,847 329,088 283,759  --- 15 8 24  
PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES -----­ 14,754  127,671  186,946  - 82  

Housekeeping residential construction for the first seven months of this year was only 3% below the total for the same period of 1952. Particularly significant in this connection, however, is the diminishing rate of resi­dential housekeeping construction since last March. The value of one-family houses and apartment buildings au· thorized during the first seven months is not significantly different from totals for the same period of 1952. Two· family houses and three-and four-family houses were down substantially during this period by 63% and 14%, respectively. Nonhousekeeping residential building shows significant increases for all major types this year, partly because of rather low activity experienced in the first seven months of 1952. 
RICHARD c. HENSHAW, JR. 


FOREIGN TRADE 
U. S. merchandise trade. For the first five months of 1953 U. S. exports of domestic and foreign merchandise totaled $6,708 million, $160 million less than the com· parable 1952 sum. Imports for the same period reached $4,696 million, up $150 million from 1952. Included in the cumulative 1953 export total was $1,589 million in Mutual Security Program shipments, $920 million more than the comparable 1952 figure. 

Import balance with Latin America. U.S. merchan­dise exports to the Latin American republics in the first five months of 1953 fell to $1,232.4 million, about 75% of the sum for the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, imports from these republics increased to a total of $1,561.2 million, representing a gain of $138.2 million over the first five months of 1952. 
The drop in exports to Latin America concomitant with a rise in imports from our southern neighbors re­sulted in an import balance of $328.8 million-the larg­est for any five-month period on record. The merchandise trade balance with Latin America had been decisively re­versed. Current U.S. sales of commodities to Latin Amer­ica, averaging $246.5 million per month for the first five months of 1953, have slumped from the high levels of early 1952, while purchases of coffee, sugar, and other commodities from rhe southern neighbors have pushed up imports to a monthly average of $312.2 million. The concurrence of increased sales to the United States and lowered purchases from this country has enabled the Latin American republics, as a group, to increase their gold and dollar reserves. 
Almost every country south of the Rio Grande showed an improvement in its dollar position. Individually, Mexico's merchandise trade position with the United States has meliorated. Although Mexico's purchases from the United States a,re in excess of her sales to this coun­try, the balance for the current five months is a moderate $62.2 million as compared with $116.0 million during the same span last year. 
Tourism build-up in Mexico. In an attempt to bridge her dollar gap, Mexico has stepped up efforts to attract foreign visitors, especially Americans. A new Na­tional Tourist Council was established to promote one of her most lucrative industries-tourism. Among other pro­posals, plans to conduct a more effective campaign in this country were formulated as a means of increasing tourism in Mexico and obtaining greater dollar holdings. Regulations governing the issuance of tourist cards have been revised with such cards now available at $5 and with multiple entries permitted during the 6 months period of validity. Airline coach service as practiced in the United States is expected to be introduced as another stimulus to tourism. Americans poured $180 million into Mex­ico's coffers during 1952, thus enabling that country to continue its third-ranking position behind Canada and Europe, respectively, as an attraction for U. S. tourist dollars. Mexico's 1953 tourism receipts should show a signal increase over those for the previous year if their campaign proves effective. 
HARVEY B. SMITH 


AGRICULTURE 
Agricultural conditions vary sharply. The late August picture of Texas agricultural conditions presents sharply contrasting scenes by geographic area. Much of the western half of the state remains in the grip of dis­astrous drouth, although rains ranging from light show· ers to "gully washers" brought welcome relief to scat­tered areas, particularly in the High Plains, Rio Grande Valley, and South Texas. In the wake of the long·awaited moisture, hundreds of thousands of High Plains and South Plains acres were sowed with cover crops. In the northwest, dryland sorghums planted after the July rains are making good early growth, but additional timely rains will be needed. Crop lands and ranges in less for­tunate areas of the western portion of the state remain critically dry. 
In the eastern, "wet" half of the state, agricultural con­ditions are good, particularly in Northeast Texas, where one of the most productive harvests in history is in prospect. Crop and pasture conditions in North and Central Texas are fair to excellent, but an invasion of insects and army worms has plagued some counties. 
Federal drouth aid begun. Federal aid in the state's 164 counties classified as drouth-disaster areas got un· der way during July. By mid-August over $5 million in new loans to Texas farmers had been granted since July 1. Applications to the Commodity Credit Corporation for subsidized feed totaled 1,118 cars of oats, 811 cars of corn, 45 cars of wheat, and 126,954 tons of cotton pellets and cake. Unfortunately, delivery of the vital feed was slowed considerably by a shortage of box cars, and the program's over-all benefits were dampened by grave charges of abuse. 
FARM CASH INCOME 
January.July 
Value 
(thousands of dollars) 

Percent  
Commodity  1953  1952  change  
TEXAS -­---­--­-­ 766,911  922,911  -17  
Cotton  142,856  193,287  -26  
Cottonseed  9,162  9,756  -6  
Wheat --·  34,516  60,286  -31  
Oats -----­ 8,611  6,833  + 48  
Corn -------------------­ 6,149  6,054  -16  
Grain sorghum -------------Fiaxseed ------­---­---­ 14,969 3,911  28,119 3,155  -47 + 24  
P eanuts ---------­--­ l,309  1,584  -17  
Cattle  --------------­ 154,137  215,211  -28  
Calves  ---------------­ 52,273  60,731  -14  
H ogs ------------------­Sheep and lambs --------­ 46,049 1&,381  60,196 10,076  -8 + 63  
W ool  -------------------­ 13,008  20,382  -36  
Mohair  ------------­--­ G,539  8,292  -33  
P oultry -­------------­Eggs ---------------­ 36,465 50,760  36,107 43,083  + 1 + 18  
Milk and milk products -----­ 120,156  127,877  6  
F ruit and vegetables ------­ 52,660  62,905  x  

Farm cash income ..,, computed by the Bureau understates actual farm cash income by from 6 to 10%. This situation result.s from the fact that means of securing complete local marketings. especially by truck, have not yet been fully developed. In addition, means have not yet been deve1oped for computing cash income from all agricultural specialties of local importance in scattered areas. This situation does not impair the accuracy of the index shown on page 24. 
INDEXES OF PRICES RECEIVED BY FARMERS 
(1909-14 =l OQ) 
Source: Bureau of Ag ricultural Economica, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture 

Percent chan~•  
J ulv  June  J uly  July 1963 from  July 1953 from  
Index  1953  1953  1962  July 1952 June 1953  

ALL FARM PRODUCTS --­ 272  264  333  - 18  + 3  
ALL CROPS ------­-­ 260  260  302  - 14  0  
F ood g rains ····-----------­- 232  246  235  - 1  6  
Feed grains and hay ~---·-­ 196  193  224  - 13  + 2  
Potatoes and sweet potatoes.. _  290  310  829  - 12  6  
Fruit  ----------------­ 147  1(7  240  - 39  0  
Truck  crop  ---------­- 384  388  472  - 19  
Cotton  -----------­ - 256  252  297  - 14  + 2  
Oil-bear ing crops  ·------­ - 282  290  325  - 13  a  
LIVESTOCK AND  
PRODUCTS ----­Meat animals ---­---------­·--­ 288 294  269 264  373 457  -- 23 36  + 7 + 11  
Dairy products -------­P oultry and eggs ---·--­ 253 261  '242 251  276 238  -8 + 12  + 6 + 4  
Wool  -···--··-·------­-·-·­ 385  404  366  +  6  6  

Cotton harvest gains momentum. Cotton harvest, aided by intense August heat, gained momentum during the month. The Rio Grande Valley season faded rapidly as farmers rushed to complete harvest of the 270,000­bale crop in order to beat the August 31 plow-up dead­line. Harvest of the short South Texas crop, less than 100,000 bales, was practically completed during the month. In the southern Blacklands and in the upper coastal counties harvest moved into full swing, and gen­eral prospects are good. According to the U. S. Depart­ment of Agriculture estimates, 3,525,000 bales will be gathered in Texas this year, as compared with 3,808,000 for 1952. The expected decrease, however, is a result of 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 
Source: Compiled from reporta of Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 
January-J uly 
Rail shipments (carloads)  
Percent  
Item  1953  1952  change  

TOTAL ------­-80,087  30,239  -1  
FRUIT . 4,274  3,816  + 12  
Cantaloupe -­~--------1,143  345  +231  
Grapefruit --­--·-··-··-----­---­-­43  
Lemons ····----­----­----­23  
Oranges --------­-----­83  
Peaches --­----­----------­--­--41  
Plums and prunes --------··­35  10  +260  
Nectarines ---------------------­10  
Watermelons -------­--··-­-------­2,877  3,461  -17  
Mixed fruit -·······--------­-------­19  
VEGETABLES ---­------· 25,813  26,423  -2  
Beets -----------------­139  208  -83  
Cabbage --------------­1,390 Carrots -----------­--­4,542  2,196 3,714  -37 + 22  
Cauliflower -----· 116  162  -29  
Corn ---------------­513  432  + 19  
Lettuce ----------­---­1,311  1,156  + 13  
Onions ----­···-··-···----·­-·--··----­6,647  6,624  x  
Potatoes ---­-----­-----------­865  1,057  -18  
Spinach ···-·-···--·--·--····--·-····----­1,009  1,074  6  
Tomatoes ----­-------4,255  4,412  4  
Mixed vegetables ·----·--····­··--··-­5,027  5,388  7  

a reduction in acreage. Yield estimates for the year are 182 pounds per acre, an increase over last year's 171 pounds per acre. 
Wheat farmers vote controls for 1954. By a four­to-one vote, Texas wheat farmers elected to continue acre­age restrictions and price supports for 1954. This means that Texas wheat growers will be allotted 4,800,863 acres for the 1954 crop and that a price support of 90% of parity will be available for cooperating farmers. This year's short crop (21,681,000 bushels) came from a planting of 5,423,000 acres. 
Farm prices gain slightly. Prices received by Texas farmers turned up in July, registering an overall gain of 3% over the preceding month. But this same figure was 18% below the July 1952 level. Virtually all of the month's gain resulted from general increases in livestock and product categories, up an average 7% over June but 23% under last year's level. July crop prices registered no general change from those of the preceding month, but compared with a year ago the month's overall crop average showed a 14% decline. 
RAYMOND v. LESIKAR 
CARLOAD SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK* 
S&urce: Bureau of Businese Research in cooperation with the Bureau of 
Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture 

Percent chan&"e  
Classification  July 1953  June 1953  July 1952  July 1953 July 1953 from from July 1952 June 1953  

TOTAL SHIPMENTS 3,705 5,072 5,637 -34 -27 
Cattle  --------------­ 2,850  3,983  2,428  + 17  -28  
Calves  ---·­-----­ 449  564  405  +  11  -20  
Hogs  ------------------·-·---­ 3  2  79  -96  + 50  
Sheep  -----------------­ 403  523  672  - 40  -23  
INTERSTATE ... ____  3,475  4,771  4,425  -21  -27  
Cattle  --------------------­·  2,667  3,721  2,276  + 17  -28  
Calves  ------­-----­-----­ 422  540  393  +  7  -22  
Hogs  ----------------­-----­- 0  0  41  -100  0  
Sheep  --------------------­ 386  519  643  - 40  -26  
INTRASTATE .-.... ­ 230  301  1,212  -81  -24  
Cattle  ---­--------------­ 183  271  152  +  20  -32  
Calves -------------­ 27  24  12  +125  + 13  
Hogs  --------­-------­--­ 3  2  38  -92  + 50  
Sheep  -----------------­- 17  4  29  -41  + 325  

*Rail-car basis : cattle, 30 head per car; calves, 60; hogs, 80; and sheep, 250. 

COTTON 
A 20.1-million-bale supply of cotton in the United States is indicated for the 1953-54 crop year, according to latest government estimates. Besides the 14.605 million bales expected by the Department of Agriculture to be produced this year, the total supply includes a carry­over of 5.502 million bales. As shown by the balance sheet below, this is the largest indicated domestic supply since August 1945. 
The most significant fact about this situation is that the Secretary of Agriculture will now be compelled to declare quotas and to make acreage allotments for 1954 by October 15, 1953. This deadline is effective when the prospective cotton supply (estimated consumption 
+estimated exports) for the coming crop year is 30% or more above the legally defined "normal." Thus, the present indicated supply is some 2 million bales greater than the sum of estimated consumption (9.5 million), 
COTTON BALANCE SHEET FOR THE UNITED STATES 
Government  
Year  Carryover Augl  estimate Augl  Balanee Augl  

1944-45  -------------------­ 10,727  11,022  21,749  
1945-46  --­-------------­--------­ 11,160  10,134  20,469  
1946-47  ----­--­------­ 7,522  9,290  16,812  
1947-48  ------------­--­ 2,521  11,844  14,365  
1948-49  ---~----­ 2,823  15,169  17,992  
1949-50  -----·----­ 5,283  14,805  20,083  
1950-51  ·-­ 6,700  10,308  17,308  
1951-52  -­----------­ 2,179  17,266  19,445  
1952-53  -----­------­ 2,745  14,735  17,480  
1953-54  --·--­---­-­ 5,502  14,605  20,107  

The eotton year begins August 1, and figures are in thousands of running bales. 
exports ( 4.5 million) , and carryover ( 4.2 million) . The first two of these figures are entirely adequate in view of the present outlook. 
The price of cotton is now dominated by the loan rate, 90% of parity, which amounts to 34.22 cents for M 7 / 8. On M 7 / 8 the base loan rate is thus 30.80 cents. The premium for 15/ 16 is about 32.70 cents. The average cash cost to the farmer for putting his cotton in the loan is $1.20 per bale if he uses Smith-Loxey class. The base rate is calculated in Carolina mill points, and the freight to a distant point in the belt is deducted. The loan rate to farmers at Dallas, for example, on M 15/16 is about 
32.57 cents. The farmer pays 4% interest on his loan. The lending agency will receive 2.5% of this, and the Commodity Credit Corporation, 1.5%. 
A.B.Cox 
TEXAS COTTON ACTIVITY 
Source: Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce 
Percent cban2'e  
June 1953  June 1953  
Item  June 1953  May 1953  June 1952  from June 1952  from May 1953  

COTTONSEED (thous of tons) Received at mills -··-.... 1,121 2,556 Crushed ---­-----­------­60,330 71,386 Stoeks, end-of-month___ 48,100 77,309  5,859 39,172 30,433  -+ +  81 54 58  --- 56 15 38  
CONSUMPTION (running bales) Cotton ......... -...·--··---.. 10,423 10,840 Linters ____,,,,_____ 2,236 2,388  10,292 2,041  + +  1 10  4 6  
SPINDLES ( thOUJlands) Spindles in place ____ 229 Spindles aetive _____,,_ 218 Total spindle hours ...__ 84,000t Average spindle hours_ 367  229 220 86,000 376  225 205 98,000 347  + + + +  2 6 8 6  -- 0 1 2 2  

tFor four weeks ending June 27, 1953. 
LABOR 

Labor forces and employment steady. The overall July labor picture in Texas was one of little change. Re­ports from the 17 key Texas labor markets show the non­agricultural labor force to have decreased only frac­tionally from the year's record high total, set in June. Waco, with its post-tornado reconstruction work, recorded an addition of 1,000 workers to the labor force. 
Employment totals for the 17 labor markets show em­ployment to be relatively firm, with Waco, again, show­ing the only decided fluctuation. This city recorded a 4% employment increase over June totals, as it completed a back-to-work movement of employees idled by the May tornado devastation. Workers in manufacturing, a total of 1,600, made up the bulk of these returnees, retail trade added 165 workers as sales picked up, and construction with its related industries enjoyed a minor boom which required additional help. 
Total unemployment increased by fewer than 1,000 persons (1 %) during July. The major portion of this increase was due to layoffs in the Houston-Baytown and El Paso labor market areas. Waco recorded a 21% de­crease in unemployment as 600 workers were placed during July. Other changes in unemployment were minor, with increases balancing the decreases. The percentage unemployed of the total nonagricultural labor force stood at 4.2% for July, up 0.6% from the beginning of the year. For the nation as a whole, the unemployed con­stituted 2.4% of the total labor force (including agri-
HOURS AND 
cultural workers) during the first seven months of 1953. 
The concensus of opinion, as reported in southwestern newsletters on labor, is for a continuing monthly increase in employment for at least into late fall. The additional employees are expected to be placed in jobs ranging from manufacturing and construction work to retail sales and school employment. 
Strikes spread. Additional labor disputes contributed new walkouts to the total reported last month. South­western Bell workers' general strike, which began August 20, was preceded by a number of isolated "protest" strikes, including those allegedly due to lack of air­conditioning in Bell offices at Waco, Austin, and San An­tonio. Another strike, at Beaumont, was brought on by the company's hiring of an employee for a position which, the union contended, could have been filled from exist­ing employees' ranks. The general telephone workers' strike over wages and fringe benefits, following on the heels of the protest strikes, at first seemed destined to be of long duration. Recent concessions made by the com­pany, however, raised hopes for an early settlement. 
Striking construction workers, including carpenters, operating engineers, and iron workers, starting their second month of idleness, have tied up well over $200 million in construction around the state and particularly in the Houston-Galveston-Orange section. The work tie-up has been markedly effective since striking employees are primarily key personnel, without whom the work cannot proceed. 
HARVEY B. SMITH 

EARNINGS 
Source: Texas Employment Commission in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
U.S. Department of Labor 
Average weekly earnings  Average weekly hours  Average hourly earnings  
Classification  July 1958•  June 1958  July 1952  July 1953•  June 1963  July 1952  July 1953•  June 1953  July 1952  
ALL MANUFACTURING.______  $70.64  $69.30  $66.20  41.8  41.5  41.9  $1.69  $1.67  $1.58  
Durable goods.-­--------------­ 70.88  69.3 7  65.79  42.7  42.3  43 .0  1.66  1.64  1.53  
Primary metals......--­-······-··-····-····­Machinery-except electricaL______  80.59 75.26  76.33 74.82  66.90 72.i5  40.7 43.5  40.6 48.0  40.3 44.3  1.98 1.73  1.88 1.74  1.66 1.64  
Oil field machinery....-­---------­ 83.35  81.08  76.80  44 .1  42.9  43.6  1.89  1.89  1.75  
Trans portation equipment________  88.84  79.19  75.66  44.2  40.2  40.9  1.15  1.15  1.14  
Fabricated m etal products..._._ _ _  75.33  74.22  67.80  46.5  46.1  45.5  1.62  1.61  1.49  
Lumber and wood products____.._  __ 
 51.18  50.72  49.48  44.5  44.1  43.4  2.01  1.97  1.85  
Furniture and fixtures.----------­ 52.09  49.85  53.84  42.7  40.2  44.5  1.22  1.24  1.21  
Stone, clay, and glass--­------­---·  60.18  61.63  57.35  41.5  48.1  42.8  1.45  1.43  1.84  
Nondurable goods..--­------­- 70.76  69.02  66.26  40.9  40.6  40.9  1.73  1.70  1.62  
Textile mill products...------­ 46.03  47.80  46.31  41.1  42.3  42.1  1.12  1.13  1.10  
Broad woven goods .--­-----­---­ 46.59  48.82  44.73  41.6  43.2  41.8  1.12  1.13  1.07  
Apparel a nd fabric products.....______  36.93  35.04  36.00  87.3  86.5  37.6  0.99  0.96  0.96  
Food....·-·······------------­ 64.87  64.33  59.86  42.4  42.6  42.4  1.53  1.51  1.40  
Meat packing....---­--~..--·-­ 76.74  78.44  65.93  42.4  43.1  40.2  1.81  1.82  1.64  
P aper and allied products....­ -­ -­ 75.34  72.25  67.26  43.8  42.5  42.3  1.72  1.70  1.59  
Printina-.--------------·---------­--­----­ --­ 82.66  81.76  82.40  89.5  39.5  40.0  2.09  2.07  2.06  
Chemicals and allied products..________  82.74  82.91  79.26  42.0  42.3  41.5  1.97  1.96  1.91  
Vegetable oil mills_.........------­ 47.63  50.80  46.33  48.6  49.8  46.8  0.98  1.02  0.99  
Petroleum and coal products_.._  _  _  95.53  90.63  89.98  41.0  40.1  40.9  2.33  2.26  2.20  
Leather products...____,,________  37.20  38.21  37.92  37.Z  38.6  39.5  1.00  0.99  0.96  
NONMANUFACTURING  
Mining__........--------............-----­-..----­ - 95.44  91.06  92.20  44.6  44.2  46.8  2.14  2.06  1.97  
Crude petroleum product•------~ Sulfur...........____,,________________  97.45 81.40  92.82 77.22  94.27 72.28  44.7 40.1  44.2 39.0  46.9 39.5  2.18 2.03  2.10 1.98  2.01 1.88  
Public utilities..___________ _ 
Retail trade.._________ __ ,,_ _____ _____  62.53 55.82  63.36 55.43  60.40 52.44  40.2 44.3  40.1 44.7  40.0 43.7  1.58 1.26  1.58 1.24  1.51 1.20  
Wholesale trade ..-----­ ..---­--·­-·­ -· _  67.98  68.67  65.27  43.3  48.4  44.1  1.57  1.58  1.48  

Figures do not cover proprietors, firm members, or other principal executives. 
•Preliminary-subject to revlaion upon receipt of additional reports. 


INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION 

Industrial power index sags. Texas homes, stores, and industries used 26% more electric power this July than last; industries alone, 21 % more. Yet, for the first time in many months, industrial power consumption was down substantially in July. The drop, 5% after adjust­ment to the normal seasonal pattern, served to confirm the widespread belief that business, particularly manufac­turing, has reached a plateau for the moment and is probably susceptible to mildly depressing influences. Gains from June to July in household and commercial power use hear evidence of the continued trend toward air-conditioning and electrification of homes and public buildings. 
Industrial Electric Power Use in Texas 
PETROLEUM AND GAS ACTIVITY 
Source: State Comptroller of Public Account& and Oil and Gu 
Dlvlalon, Railroad Commission of Texas 

Percent chance 
July 1958 .July 1953 .July .June .July from from Product 1953 1953 1952 .July 1952 .June 1953 

CARBON BLACK  
PRODUCED (value  
in thous of dols) _  3,142  1,855  8,696  -15  + 69  
CRUDE OIL  
Value (thous of dols) _ Production (tlious  286,036  209,879  218,138  + 8  + 12  
of bbls) ------­Runs to stills  87,371  80,732  84,774  + 3  + 8  
(thous of bbls) ___  59,453  61,109  59,015  + 1  a  
NATURAL AND  
CASINGHEAD  GAS  
PRODUCED (Value  
in thous of dols) _  29,403  32,271  27,430  + 7  - 9 

Index • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935-1939 •100 


• 
201 100 
19'0 lt41 1942 IUl l!i44 1945 194$ IS41 194' 1141 1150 1151 1'52 1953 ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMPTION 
Percent change Consumption (thous of kw-hrs) ------­----------July 1953 July 1953 
July Junie July from from Use 1953 1953 1952 July 1952 June 1953 

TOTAL _________ l,534,742  1,387,137  1,214,024  + 26  + 11  
Commercial -----­---­ 300,547  261,428  256,944  + 17  + 15  
Industrial  --
­----­- 603,272  616,679  500,424  + 21  - 2  
Residential  ----­------­-311,380  222,695  221,340  + 41  + 40  
Other  ----------·-----­--­ 319,543  286,335  235,316  + 36  + 12  

Prepared from reports of 10 electric power companies to the Bureau of Business Research. 
Much of the increase in the ratio of industrial output to the number of production workers can he traced to adoption of more efficient and economical methods based upon electrification of the factory. During one week last month, the nation's industry used electricity equal in work power to a 125-million-man labor force employed for an entire year. And the nation's electric generating capacity will he more than 10% greater within six more output will lack one major stimulus during coming months, and the private consumer will probably regain much of his lost prestige as the ultimate dynamic factor behind industrial production. For the moment, the accu­mulation of heavy inventories is more apparent at the wholesale-retail level than in factory stocks. Since Texas industries concentrate more heavily upon the making of intermediate materials than end products, they may not feel inventory pressure as soon as businesses in other sections of the country. 
Shifting pattern of Texas business. Bureau of Busi­ness Research studies, undertaken to determine the overall pattern of Texas business as a guide to the revision of statistical indexes, have revealed striking changes in the proportions of Texas income from major sources. Depart­ment of Commerce surveys show that trade and services now account for more than 26% of all Texas income, and government payments for over 17%. But the greatest in· crease in personal income has been in that from manu­facturing, 1.4% of the state total in 1929 and now 13% or more. 
Agriculture and oil and gas production, once the main­st~ys of the Texas economy, are now outranked by indus­trial payrolls, which totaled $1.54 billion last year, over 500% more than in 1940. The types of manufacturing that dominate the Texas industrial scene are character­istically carried on in semiautomatic plants with high product value per production worker, and the proportion of value added by manufacture in Texas industry is the second highest in the nation. This is not to say that Texas 
Crude Petroleum Production 

months. 
Index • Adjusted far.seasonal variation • 1935-1939 •100 
Ill

It has been suggested in some quarters that the slight 251 
decline indicated for Texas industrial activity during 
m 
July may he partly due to the growing practice of grant­ing production employees a two-week summer vacation and, in some plants, of shutting down production entirely for a two-week summer recess. 
151 
The high level of inventories and currently slackening 
11S 

demand for war materiel will make it increasingly diffi­
IOI

cult, however, for. industries to rebound to peak levels 
15

once they have slipped from them. With investment in new plant and equipment considerably lower, industrial 
SI 


Crude Oil Runs to Stills in Texas 
Index • Adjusted for seasonal variation • 1935-1939 •100 


REFINERY STOCKS SO\lrce: The Oil BM Gu J01<n1 ..Z 
P ercent chanire  
Stocks (thousands of barrels)  --­-­-­July 1963 July 1963  
Area and July June July  from from  
product 1963 1963 1962  July 1962 June 1963  
UNITED STATES  
Gasoline ---­143,423 146,966 116,243  +23 -2  
Distillate ---­102,661 Residual ----49,547 82,986 43,771 86,128 61,414  + 19 + 24 -4 + 13  
Kerosene --­30,732 26,966 27,638  + 11 + 14  
T E XAS  
Gasoline ----25,068 26,868 20,195  + 24 -7  
Distilla te ---­15,879 13,646 10,886  + 46 + 16  
Residual 8,837 7,973 8,874  x +11  
Kerosene ____ 4,250 4,217 3,974  + 7 + 1  

Figures shown for week ending nearest last day of the month. 
xChange is Jess than one half of one percent. 

farming and petroleum production are slipping. On the contrary, income from both these sources increased in Texas by more than 200% between 1940 and 1952. 
Total income payments in Texas have risen to 448% of their 1940 level, yet the state is still among the lowest two dozen in per capita income. It was thirty-third from the top state (New York) in 1929. In 1952 it was twenty­eighth from top-ranking Delaware. So it must be recog­nized that in spite of high wages and salaries paid in some Texas industries and businesses, a majority of Texans still have incomes far below the soaring national average. 
Contraction and expansion in industry. The new­est deal from federal agencies has been a round of budget­cutting decisions to trim Strategic Air Command projects and to cut back ammunition production in Texas. Com­munities, especially smaller towns, that have profited 
WELL COMPLETIONS 
Source : The Oil GM Gu J01<rnal 
July 1963• January.July Region Oil Gas Dry Total 1963 1962 
TEXAS 921 107 663 1,681 10,483 10,707 
North Cent ral ---­ 395  6  300  701  3,875  8,877  
W est  230  6  86  321  2,360  3,347  
Panhandle  ---­ 32  30  7  69  477  408  
E astern  19  12  89  70  497  570  
Gulf Coast  120  33  108  261  1,691  1,660  
Southwest  ----­ 125  20  114  269  1,698  1,460  

•For five yeeka ending August 1, 1968. 

PRODUCTION OF HYDROCARBON LIQUIDS BY TEXAS GASOLINE 
AND RECYCLING PLANTS 
Source: Oil and Gas Division, Railroad Commission of Texas 

Jan Feb Mar Apr Product 1953 1963 1963 
Production (millions of barrels ) 
TOTAL PRODUCTION 11,461 10,441 11,558 11,183 
Condensate-crude  __  733  678  739  734  
Gasoline -----6,145  5,616  6,279  6,982  
Butane-propane ___  4,269  3,862  4,206  4,147  
Other products ---­ 314  285  335  320  
TOTAL GAS  
P ROCESSED• _  378,270  841,422  370,453  364,038  
Yield per Mcf In gallons  1.64  1.64  1.46  1.44  

•In millions of cubic feet. 
from the presence of some of these defense installations may not feel that the prospect of lower taxes fully com­pensates them for the loss of heavy military expenditures. This is particularly evident in those areas where the dry scourge of agricultural depression has already dumped a considerable load of unemployment on the local labor market. 
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has registered the addition of several new cells to its industrial hive. The Foxboro Company, manufacturer of industrial instruments, has announced immediate construction of a new southwestern headquarters at Garland. In Plano, future terminus of the Dallas Central Expressway, five new plants are in the planning stage, one of them a production unit of the newly formed Texas Wire and Cable Company, expected to be in operation before 1954. At Irving, the Palmer­Stendel Company, a New York gasoline by-products maker, has reportedly completed preliminary negotia­tions for the construction of a $1-million plant. 
An increasing number of persons are watching the growth of Texas industry through windows framed with Texas aluminum. And at Rockwall, the Texas Aluminum Company plans to add two units to its extrusion plant where pig aluminum is made into window-framing ma­terials and other extruded shapes. Out of the six-unit plant planned by the company, only one unit is now in operation. The second and third will be built after Octo­ber 1. 
ROBERT H. RYAN 
MANUFACTURE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS 
Percent change  
Product  July 1963  June 1963  July 1962  July 1963 J uly 1953 from from July 1962 June 1963  

TOTAL PRODUCTION IN  
MILK EQUIVALENT  
(thous of lbs)  ----­64,058  66,019  48,921  +u  -18  
Creamery butter  (thous  
of lbs) ------­--­ 664  683  540  +  23  - 3  
Ice cream  (thous of gals).__  2,241  2,661  2,410  -7  -12  
American cheese (thous of lbs) ------------­ 470  419  386  + 22  + 12  
Cottage cheese (thous of lbs)  929  840  602  + 86  + 11  
Concentrated milk products  
(thous of lbs)  - - -­ 8,686  7,483  2,168  + 70  -50  

Milk equivalent of dairy p roducts is calculated from production data. 

Texas Water Resources II: 




Irrigation for Texas Farmers 

Although irrigation has been practiced in Texas for at least four hundred years, only in the past decade has it become a vitally important activity in Texas agricul­ture. Irrigated acreage has spread from barely more than one million acres in 1940 to some 3.5 million acres today. Over the same period, capital investment in irri­gation works and water rights has soared from $66 mil­lion to at least $150 million. Most recent figures indi­cate that the average irrigated farm is valued at more than $40,000, as compared to $18,000 for nonirrigated farms. 
By the late forties, 10% of the principal crops har­vested in Texas were from irrigated fields, and they ac­counted for nearly 30% of the value of all crops pro­duced in the state. Today the proportion may be even higher, for well over 30,000 farms are equipped for irrigation. 
Some irrigation has been carried on in all but 59 of the counties of Texas; however a majority of the coun­ties have only a dozen or fewer farms equipped for artificial watering and many of them only on a small acreage. 
Almost every Texas crop is grown under irrigation in some part of the state, and usually with improved yields. Irrigated cotton, for example, averages .79 bales per acre, as compared with .37 bales per nonirrigated acre. The yield of grain sorghum is doubled by irrigation: 42 bushels per acre when irrigated, 16.5 bushels on dry land. Wheat harvests are increased, on an average, from 
10.5 bushels an acre to 17.5, and corn yields are boosted from 16.5 bushels to 49.6, when the fields are irrigated. 
Cotton, however, remains the top irrigated crop. It occupies around one million acres of water-fed Texas fields, far more than any other planting. 
Water is brought to thirsty Texas croplands from two primary sources: streams or lakes and wells or under­ground reservoirs. In 1948, almost 57% of the irrigated area in the state was watered from wells, usually . by pumping. Surface water was used exclusively on 42% of the area, all but 14% of this water being pump-diverted. A combination of ground and surface water was used on about 1 % of the irrigated land, mostly along the Pecos River. While practically all of the underground water brought up for field use comes from privately owned wells, 10% of the acreage using surface water was sup­plied by independent enterprises. On the other hand, about 37% of the irrigated acreage and 60% of the irrigated farms use the services of organized enterprises. From year to year, this type of enterprise has served !ncreasingly greater areas, but the proportion to total Irrigated acreage has greatly declined in the past 15 years, due mainly to the rapid expansion of irrigation from privately owned wells in the High Plains region. 
Public corporations are those organized irrigation en­terprises owned by the landowners for whom the water is distributed. The private corporations, however, op­erate as public utilities, selling irrigation services for a profit and subject to state utility laws and regulations. 
To backtrack to the beginnings of Texas irrigation, Coronado reported that Indians were irrigating crops near the present city of El Paso when he arrived there in 1541, and evidence that irrigation existed long before this has been found in the Trans-Pecos area. The San An­tonio River supplied water for fields along its course as early as 1716, and the San Saha River by 1756. It was not until 1853 that Anglo-Americans first developed agricultural irrigation, and their first attempts were near the present town of Balmorhea, still a center of irrigation. From there, irrigation spread to the Rio Grande Valley, and, slowly, to other parts of the state. 
NORTHERN HIGH 
PLAINS 
1-N 


The map above shows the Crop-Reporting Districts that are the basic divisions in the geography of Texas agriculture. Although they inevitably shade into one another, each district has some identity, defined by its climate, vegetation, and soil types; thus, certain crops and farming practices are typical of each district. 
The High Plains area of the Panhandle constitutes Crop-Reporting District 1 ( 1-N and 1-S on the map) . This is the largest ground-water irrigated area of Texas, as the cover chart indicates. The climate, optimistically called subhumid, is more often semiparched. And in the burning drouth years (1910, 1934, and 1953) there is no term for this district but arid. Out of 37 years, the region was largely semiarid for 25. Average precipita­tion ranges from 15 inches to about 22, but in this area the average is a fictitious statistic. Actually, the pat­tern changes enormously from year to year, depending upon the burden of moisture carried into the region by warm southerly winds and precipitated by cold air masses from the north. Rainfall surpasses that of semi­arid climates often enough to encourage agricultural 
extension, hut not regularly enough to justify the op­
timism of farmers who pull their plows too far to the 
west. One redeeming feature of the climatic makeup 
of the High Plains is the fact that nearly all of the pre­
cipitation falls as warm-weather rain during the 200-day 
growing season. In Amarillo, an entire month of winter 
drouth may he expected almost every year, and once in 
six years, two winter months pass without precipitation. 
Farming developed in District 1 largely between the 
two World Wars. In 1914 there were only 140 wells in 
the area, and inefficient ones at that. By 1934 the num­
ber had doubled. Today more than half the irrigated 
acreage of Texas lies in District 1, more than 7,500 
farms, ranging from suburban "ranches". of 10 or ~O 
acres on the outskirts of Lubbock, Amarillo, or Plam­
view, to northern Panhandle wheat farms of 20,000 acres 
or more. 
The average farm in District 1 today probably has two wells between 150 and 600 feet in depth. Yet, many have five or more, producing an average of 750 gallons a minute each. Farmers in this area are not in the habit of concentratin<>' their efforts on a few highly productive acres. They sp:'ead their water as far as it will go and still sustain crop life, and irrigation is a marginal safe­guard at that. In seasons rainy enough to suppor~ ~ese extensive crops without supplementary water, irriga­tion is a dubious advantage. But in a dry year, the irri­gated fields yield twice as ll!uch wheat and perhaps four times as much cotton as their dry-land counterparts. The general goal is any reasonable yield from as large an area as possible. 
Cotton, wheat, and grain sorghum together account for nine-tenths of the irrigated crop in District 1. The growing of alfalfa has declined to a low level in recent years. Most of the wheat is grown in the northern Pan­handle region. To the so~th, cotton has com: to he. the dominant crop, largely m response to soarmg prices. Only if the cotton crop is ruined, as by this year's drouth, is there much interest in planting low-revenue sorghums. Over half the irrigated cotton and almo~t all the irrigated wheat in Texas comes from the typically large, mechanized farms of District 1. 

In District 2, the Wichita Falls area, the irrigated acreage has declined from more than 30,000 in 1933 to as little as 10,000 acres in more recent years. With as much as 29 inches of rainfall annually, irrigation is not so badly needed there, nor are the soils well suited to the practice of irrigation. Moreover, the water from underground tends to he salty, and much of the land is more valuable for the oil that underlies it than for the crops it can raise. 
Far to the west lies District 6, the Pecos and Upper Rio Grande region. This dry wedge of ranchland be­tween Mexico and New Mexico receives an average of about a foot of rain annually. For this reason, the long growing season, considerably more than 200 days, is little advantage, except in the centers of irrigated farming around El Paso and Pecos and near Fort Stock­ton and Balmorhea. The Rio Grande and Pecos rivers provide almost all the irrigation water for more than 120,000 acres of cropland. Farming on these tracts is an act of faith in continuing stream flow, and the hopes 
of farmers here are not always realized in years of de­
creased surface water supply. Around Pecos and Im­
perial, and elsewhere, underground water helps sustain 
crops on more than 80,000 acres, generally on larger 
farms than those that depend on surface water. 
Cotton fields occupy over 70% of the total irrigated area in District 6, and alfalfa, 20%. In the EI Paso Valley some of the highest cotton yields in Texas, well over one bale per acre, have been reported. And the farms there produce an average of five tons of alfalfa per acre, as against only two tons in the Pecos Valley. The Pecos region, better suited to cotton farming, pro­duces an average of . 7 bales per acre. 
Most of the land of District 7 lies in the ranches 0£ the Edwards Plateau. Only in narrow strips along the Concho, San Saha, and Llano rivers and along Pecan Bayou is there much irrigated crop-farming, but the total irrigated area, about 25,000 acres, has increased little since 1900. In fact, development along the Rio Grande near Del Rio and on the Colorado River north 0£ Austin has declined in recent years. For the most part (75%) the crops grown in District 7 are feed products--grain sorghum, oats, and alfalfa-intended for supplementary feeding of livestock. 
The only important irrigation in District 8 is carried on west 0£ San Antonio, where truck crops are the most important irrigated product. A smaller concentration of irrigated truck farming is in Nueces County. 
On the Coastal Prairies that rise in a shallow arc from the Gulf shore, irrigation is mainly a facility for the production 0£ rice. Since 1895, the Texas rice harvest has grown from its beginnings in Jefferson County to become the one dominant agricultural activity in Dis­trict 9 requiring irrigation. The 1948 rice acreage in the district totaled 525,300, all of it under irrigation and three-quarters 0£ it irrigated with surface water. Out of 1,942 farms irrigated that year, 1,940 were rice farms, with an average of 270 acres of rice per farm. 

In spite of the technical difficulties that discourage the rice farmer, his crop characteristically yields such a rich harvest that his effort and expense are justified. A gross of $100 an acre is typical. But the expense is consider­able, also; water is usually delivered to the farmer for ten dollars or more per acre, or one-fifth of the crop. Some enterprises supply the farmer with land, seed, and water in return for half his harvest. 
Texas is now the nation's top rice state. (Louisiana, California, and Mississippi are other major producers.) More rice is grown in Texas than the entire nation con­sumes, for Americans eat less rice per capita than the people 0£ most nations, and they leave the larger share of domestic production for export. Texas' 1,200-million­pound crop, however, seems negligible in comparison with the 100 billion pounds grown annually in China. 
Maverick, Zavala, and Dimmitt counties are the cen­ters of irrigation in District 10, although other counties along the Rio Grande have a scattering of irrigated farms. The development of this district began early. By the late 1890's, artesian wells were in rather widespread use. Since World War II, around 175,000 acres in the area have used irrigation facilities, fairly equally divided between underground and surface water. 

Commercial truck crops dominate the agricultural scene here, for a long growing season and mild winters allow nearly year-around production. Almost a quarter of the irrigated acreage has been given over to pastures, and some grain sorghum and cotton have been raised. 
The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Crop-Reporting Dis­trict 10-A, constitutes the largest single concentration of irrigated land in Texas and the state's most densely settled and intensively cultivated farm belt. The mild climate, long growing season, and ease of irrigation have given incentive to the planting of a wide range of crops: cotton, citrus fruit, and winter vegetables. The most recent figures indicate that these crops occupy about 94% of the irrigated land, which totals 592,000 acres, a fifth of all Texas' water-fed farmland. All but about 5,000 acres of the irrigated area has been supplied from the Rio Grande. 
The average size of District 10-A farms is so small ( 40 acres) that the number of irrigated farms there amounts to half the Texas total. Yet the yields are often disproportionately large. At least half the land is given over to a summer crop of cotton; but with the mild winters that prevail, much of this land is planted to a second crop, usually vegetables. The remaining half of the irrigated cropland in the Lower Valley is divided almost equally between full-time vegetable farms and citrus groves. 
Water for irrigation is more costly in District 10-A than in any other part of the state. Raisers pay their high water bills through three procedures: flat rates, toll charges, and bond taxes. The flat rate is a charge per irrigable acre, payable whether the water is used or not. Such charges average somewhat more than three dollars an acre. On the other hand, growers can pay a toll charge in advance for each delivery of water. The charge, commonly less than two dollars an acre, is deceptively small, for as many as six deliveries of water may be needed in a single year. The bond tax, an ad valorem levy, averages about three dollars an acre. Revenue from these taxes is used to amortize bonded indebtedness. 
A major problem in the use of Rio Grande water for irrigation has been the great fluctuation in the amount of water available from the river. In the absence of storage facilities, much of the water, especially in time of flood, escapes unused to the Gulf of Mexico, leaving the area short of water at the times when it is most needed. The Lower Valley gravity project plans, pre­pared by the Bureau of Reclamation, are designed to alleviate this irregularity in flow and also to aid in planned drainage of the area. 
The technology of irrigation is a major field in agri­cultural research and education. It involves knowledge of the varying amounts of water required by different ~r~ps, the :permeability and water-retaining character­IShcs of soils, the mechanics of water flow, and the m;thod~ ?f making the water available to plant roots with m1mmum loss from evaporation and random ab­~or.pti~n. In !his l.ast consideration alone, efficiency of irngation vanes widely. Studies made in the Pecos Val­ley showed effective water losses ranging from 24 to 78%. 
The opportunity for development of new irrigation practices has already been demonstrated in East Texas, where farm managers have increased their yields mark­edly through supplementary sprinkler-watering of fields that receive from 40 to 50 inches of water yearly from natural rainfall. In Arkansas, some farmers are now alternating rice and fish-farming in their paddies. An estimated 6,000 acres of Arkansas rice land is kept under one to six feet of water, thus eliminating weeds and enriching the soil with a valuable increment of fish wastes and organic matter. After two years of use as fish ponds, some fields reportedly raise twice their for­mer harvest of rice, and meanwhile the fish can be sold at a good profit. 
If future events are to be predicted upon the basis of past experiences, the prospect for irrigation is hardly encouraging. There is every reason to believe that our water resources cannot indefinitely sustain the present rate of use without the development of new sources of water and techniques of use. The outlook is blackest in the areas that depend upon underground water. Notably in the Panhandle, ground-water is probably overexploited already. In the region south of the Canadian River, the water-table sank from five to more than 45 feet during the years 1938-48; throughout the most heavily pumped sections, the drop was more than 10 feet. Although the levels have fluctuated in response to rainfall, rising during the wet seasons of 1941 and 1942, the gain was only temporary. A slight increase was recorded again in 1945. But today the downward trend is still dishearten· ingly evident. Whether the levels have reached a critical point is uncertain, but as foundation for heavy farm irri· gation, the High Plains water table is none too firm. 
Irrigation with surface water is equally unpromising in many places. Some of the major areas have expanded their irrigated acreage to such an extent that drastic water shortages have already been suffered. Only a lim­ited number of these shortages could be entirely relieved by the construction of new reservoirs. 
Several possibilities exist for developing the unused water resources of Texas, but where they have been in· vestigated, the cost of bringing the water to the point of use has proven to be prohibitively expensive. 
Some observers have suggested that a cheap process for taking the salt out of sea water would give Texas a firm and unlimited supply of water. By present methods, it costs nearly twenty cents per thousands gallons to re· move the salinity of ocean water, far too much to allow the use of Gulf waters for irrigation. Even if the costs of processing the water were within reason, the tremendous expense of building a net work of pipelines to distribute the desalted water would be a discouraging factor. 
Texans, then, cannot safely rely on the prospect of irrigating with sea water or with water from any other completely undeveloped source. Instead, they must base their plans upon the reality that Texas water resources are limited and subject to deterioration or depletion. Only if they recognize the dismal possibilities will they he likely to take action to prevent the prospects from being realized. 
RICHARD P. BRENNEMAN 

TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW 
Local Business 


Percent change  Percent change  
City and item  July 1953  July 1953 from July 1952  July 1953 from June 1953  City and item  July 1953  July 1953 from July 1952  July 1953 from June 1953  
ABILENE:  (pop. 45,570)  BAYTOWN:  (pop. 22,983)  
Retail sales ----------­Department and apparel stores___ Postal receipts -----------$ Value of building permits -----$  59,420 323,667  + 6 8 + 7 -23  + 4 + 3 + 11 -78  Postal receipts ______________$ Value of building permits -------$ Bank debits (thousands) ·-··----·····----$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t . ___ $ 15,647 137,400 18,598 20,484  + 6 -45 + 20 + 17  + 4 + 15 + 1 + 8  
Bank debits (thousands) ______$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) L -$ Annual rate of deposit turnover___ 51,674 50,207 12.2  x -13 + 3  2 0  Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ Employment (area)• ·-·---------­Ma nufacturing employment (area)•­ 11.3 354,450 85,275  + 8 + 3 +  +  3 x 1  
Employment -------------­Manufacturing employment ---­Percent of labor force unemployed___  25,550 3,400 4.8  -8 + 4 + 20  x + 2 -14  Percent of labor force unemployed (area)• ---­-­-­----­ 3.7  + 28  + 19  
Air express shipments -------­ 209  + 70  -19  BEAUMONT: (pop. 94,014) Retail sales* ---------------­ + 3  -12  
ALICE: (pop. 16,449) Postal receipts $ Value of building permits _____$ Bank debits (thousands) $ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t­$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ Air express shipments ------­11,356 46,500 12,567 13,598 10.9 12  -4 -16 -6 -12 -33  + 18 -45 + 7 4 + 9 0  Automotive stores* ---------­Department and apparel stores_____ Eating and drinking places• ____ Furniture and household appliance stores• --------·--­General merchandise stores• ---­Lumber, building material, . and hardware stores* -------------­ + 28 2 + 6 + 3 ? -32  + 3 + + 8 6 -57  
AMARILLO: (pop. 74,246) Retail sales• ----­-------­ -11  x  Postal receipts -------------------­---$ Value of building permits _______$ Bank debits (thousands) ··--·-·-·--···-···­$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ 74,365 209,449 131,308 92,185  -6 -50 + 7  -2 -59 + 2  
Department and apparel stores __  -22  4  Annual rate of deposit turnover. ______ _  16.9  +  +  4  
Drug stores• -------­-----­Office, store, and school supply dealers• -------­ -13 + 1  7 + 8  Employment (area) -----------------·-·­Manufacturing employment (area) __ Percent of labor force unemployed  79,375 26,99'0  2 + 2  +  0  
Postal receipts -----------­-$ Value of building permits _____$ 123,555 1,628,734  + 11 -31  + 7 + 57  (area) -·--···----··--·······-··-­Air express shipments -------------­ 5.7 227  0 5  2 -21  
Bank debits (thousands) ------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-$  130,569 103,585  7 9  1 2  Waterborne commerce  (tons)  ---­ 29,901  x  -29  
Annual rate of deposit turnover____ Employment• . Manufacturing employment• ____ Percent of labor force unemployed•_ _ Air express shipments -----­-­ 15.0 43,050 4,975 5.9 694  + 8 x + 74 +no  ? x 2 5 + 3  BEEVILLE: (pop. 9,348) Postal receipts ---··---------$ Value of building permits --------$ Bank debits (thousands) -·····--·-·······---­$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ----$ 7,185 88,622 5,975 12,111  + 12 +101 -10 -3  + 1 +719 + 4 + 2  
Annual rate of deposit turnover________  6.0  - 9  + 2  
AUSTIN:  (pop. 132,459)  Air express shipments  5  -44  0  
Retail sales ··---------··-----­Automotive stores -----------­Department and apparel stores ·----­ + 21 + 64 x  -4 + 10 -13  BIG SPRING: (pop. 17,286) Retail sales -------------­ + 41  + 7  
Eating and drinking places ----­ x  + 3  Departm1>nt and apparel stores. _  _  + 2  + 17  
Filling stations ----------­Food stores -·-··-·------­ -12 x  7 + 1  Postal receipts --------------$ Value of building permits _____ $  17,182 210,150  + 2 -78  -4 +412  
Furniture and household appliance stores --------­ + 7  -18  Bank debits (thousands) _________ $ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-.$ 20,519 21,639  -5 -13  + 1 8  
Lumber, building material, and hardware stores -------­ + 8  -13  Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ _ Air express shipments --------­ 10.9 78  + 5 + 47  + 5 + 4  
Postal receipts --------·---·------------$  198,951  4  - 2  
Value of building permits ·----------$ 1,970,500 Bank debits (thousands ) -----·-·····---$ 110,295 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t---$ 97,900 Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 13.3 Employment -···----------------------­60,200 Ma nufacturing employment ··--······--·­4,175 Percent of labor force unemployed.___ 3.6 Air express shipments --------­612 ARLINGTON: (pop. 7,692) Postal receipts ____________$ Value of building permits ----------$ Bank debits (thousands) -------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t---$ 9,254 248,300 8,662 9,325  -18 + 12 -22 + 4 + 6 -2 + 13 + 16 + 16 + 47 + 20  -12 -:-­5 3 4 x x + 9 + 1 + 4 -72 + 5 7  BRENHAM: (pop. 6,941) Postal receipts ····-····-·-······-·-··----­---­$ Value of building permits ___________$ Bank debits (thousands) ----------·-·-·--····$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 5,842 67,000 5,545 9,992 6.7 BROWNSVILLE: (pop. 36,066) Retail sales* ----------­-·······----­Department and apparel stores_____ Postal receipts ·-··-··------------------­$ Value of building permits ------$ Air express shipments -------------------­Waterborne commerce (tons) ----­20,673 460,981 428 86,618  + 16 +258 + 9 + 7 + 3 2 8 1 + 41 + 6 -4  x + 73 2 + + 13 + 24 + 9 +168 + 15 + 12  
Annual rate of deposit turnover______  10.8  + 6  + 5  For explanation of aymbola, ­ p. 28.  

AUGUST 1953 


Conditions 

Percent change 	Percent change 
July 1953 July 1953 July 1953 July 1953 July from from July from from City and item 1953 July 1952 June 1953 City and item 1953 July 1952 June 1953 
BROWNWOOD: (pop. 20,181) 	DEL RIO: (pop. 14,211) 
Retail sales ----------------------+ 9 + 7 Postal receipts ----------------S 8,823 + 13 + 4 Department and apparel stores________ + 6 x Value of building permits __________$ 41,825 + 6 + 28 
Postal receipts -----------------------------$ 15,167 + 1 + 4 Bank debits (thousands) ---------------$ 6,851 8 Value of building permits ------------$ 17,078 -65 -56 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-----$ 10,097 2 
"' 
Bank debits (thousands) ----------------·$ 8,814 -12 2 Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ 8.1 0 7 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-$ 13,183 + 5 + 2 Air express shipments ---------18 -26 + 29 Annual rate of deposit turnover__ 
_ _ 8.1 -15 -4 
Air express shipments 	15 -29 + 15 
DENISON: (pop. 17,504) 
Retail sales --------------------+ 6 -13BRYAN: (pop. 18,102) Department and apparel stores_____ 
-16 -33 Retail sales* ----------------------+ 6 Postal receipts -------------$ 13,617 + 18 + 18 Department and apparel stores___ 
-13 -3 Value of building permits ---------$ 79,611 +162 + 87 
Postal receipts ------------------$ 15,226 + 5 -11 Bank debits (thousands) _ ____$ ll,li79 + 10 -3 Value of building permits ------$ 158,885 -47 -75 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ 19,947 + 49 + 26 Air express shipments ---------17 -23 + 6 Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ 7.7 -20 -16 
CORPUS CHRISTI: (pop. 108,287) DENTON: (pop. 21,372)
Retail sales 	+ 12 -3 Retail sales -----------+ 4 -16
Apparel stores ----------­-6 -10 
Department and apparel stores___ 4 -12
Automotive stores -------­+ 47 + 9 Postal receipts ----------$ 18,610 + 3 -1Country general stores -----­-11 + 9 Value of building permits .$ 94,376 +11 -60 Department storest ---------­+ 4 -15 Bank debits (thousands) _______$ 10,643 1 2
Lumber, building material, 	+ + 
End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-$ 13,139 + 2 4 and hardware stores ----------22 -16 Annual rate of deposit turnover__ _ _ 9.6 4 1 
Postal receipts ----------------$ 115,546 + 2 -1 + 
Value of building permits ----------$ 2,428,697 +us + 48 
Bank debits (thousands) -------$ 157,515 + 12 + 3 EAGLE PASS: (pop. 7,276)
End-of-month deposits (thousands) t-$ 106,765 2 8 

Postal receipts --------------$ 6,147 -1 -7 
Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 17.4 + + 4 Value of building permits _ _____$ 12,617 + 25 -60 Employment -----------------61,100 x Bank debits (thousands) ---------$ 3,417 + 6 Manufacturing employment --------7,551) + 9 + 1 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t----$ 3,393 + 11 
Percent of labor force unemployed._____ 4.7 + 38 -19 Annual rate of deposit turnover______ 12.7 
3 Air express shipments -------------398 + 8 + 7 Air express shipments --------------17 +113 0 
+ 
CORSICANA: (pop. 19,211) EL PASO: (pop. 130,485)
Department and apparel store sales__ 9 -16 
Retail sales* ---------------­4 -4 
Postal receipts ------------------$ 18,373 8 -39
+ Apparel stores• ----------­4 + 6 
Bank debits (thousands) -----------$ 12,573 + 8 + 
Department storest ----------------3 -19
End-of-month deposits (thousands)*--$' 19,716 9 x Drug stores* ----------------------------+ 13Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 7.7 + 10 0 
"' 
Furniture and household 
appliance stores• -----------­-19 -13 DALLAS: (pop. 434,462) General merchandise stores• ----­-3 -19 +
Retail sales• 8 -2 Lumber, building material, Apparel stores* ----------­+ 6 -14 and hardware stores --------­+ 17 -21 Automotive stores• ---------­+ 59 + 15 Office, store, and school Department storest ----------­+ 4 7 supply dealers ------------------+ 34 + 2 Drug stores• -------------------­-10 4 Postal receipts ------------------------$ 178,702 + 11 x 
Eating and drinking places*----­+ 4 + 6 Value of building permits __. ______$ 1,041,528 + 7 -33 Filling stations• -----------­+ 5 3 Bank debits (thousands) ----------$ 199,013 + 15 + 8 Florists• -----------------­-19 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t---$ 116,318 -23 4 Food stores* -----------­2 Annual rate of deposit turnover______ 20.3 + 12 3
+ + + Furniture and household Employment• ------------------------67,300 + 3 + 1 ~ppliance stores• ------------­-34 -37 Ma1mfacturing employment• -------10,725 + 8 + 1 
General merchandise stores• ---­6 1 Percent of labor force unemployed*------4-4 + 2 + 22 Lumber, building material, Air express shipments -------------------1,444 + 29 + 2 and hardware stores* ------­4 5 Tourist& entering Mexico -------------4,040 + 2 + 3 Office, store, and school Tourist cars entering Mexico --------1,595 + 2 + 10 
supply dealers• ----------+ 8 + 7 Postal receipts ------------------$ 1,415,746 + 2 1 Value of building permits -------------$ 8,728,611 + 42 7 EDINBURG (pop. 12,383)
+ Bank debits (thousands) ------------------$ 1,656,056 + 16 2 Postal receipts -------------------------$ 6,626 -18 -20
+ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t----$ 867,139 -20 3 Value of building permits ----------------$ 30,300 -43 
+296 Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ 22.9 + 13 + 4 Bank debits (thousands ) -------------------$ 9,710 + 3 + 12 
Employment• ---------------------292,265 4 x End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--S 9,518 + 6 + 7
+ 
Manufacturing employment• ___ 74,550 	Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 12.6 -4 + 10
+ 6 2 Percent of labor force unemployed•_ _ 2.7 + 13 + 4 Air express shipments ---------------3 -70 -60 
Air 	express shipments---------7,889 + 13 + 1 For explanation of aymbola, eee p. 23. 
TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW 
LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS 

Percent change  Percent change  
City and item  July 1953  July 1953 from July 1952  July 1953 from June 1953  City and item  July 1953  July 1953 from July 1952  July 1953 from June 1953  
FORT WORTH: (pop. 278,778) Retail sales• -------------------­Apparel stores• -----------------­ + 1 + 6  -4 -16  GONZALES: (pop. 5,659) Postal receipts ---------------------------------------­$ Value of building permits _____________________$ 4,080 43,923  -8 +1317  -13 +137  
Automotive stores• ------------­Department storest --­-----------­Drug stores• ---------------­Eating and drinking places• -----­ + 26 -7 + 16 + 7  + 1 -14 3 + 1  Bank debits (thousands ) ------------­----------­$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ----$ Annual rate of deposit turnover___________ 4,984 5,970 10.0  + 13 x + 12  + 5 1 + 6  
Filling stations•  ------------­ 6  - 5  
Florists• --------------­--------­Food stores• Furniture and household appliance stores• ---------­General merchandise storea• ----­Hay, grain and feed stores• -----­Lumber, building m aterial, and hardware stores• ------­Postal receipts ___ __________$·  440,970  5 + 5 -21 -6 -30 -17 x  -16 + 9 -19 -10 + 11 -7 -2  GREENVILLE: (pop. 14,727) Retail sales• ------------------------­Department and apparel stores sales.. Postal receipts -----------------$ Value of building permits --------------$ Bank debits (thousands) ______________ $ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) t.____$ Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ 14,397 66,318 10,922 12,234 10.6  -24 -24 -37 + 2 -14 + 12  -17 -32 -10 -40 9 2 8  
Value of building permits _____$ 8,807,108  + 7  -30  
Bank debits (thousands) ------$ End-of-month deposits (thousa nd•H---$  512,608 331,789  x -19  -21 -3  HARLINGEN:  (pop. 23,229)  
Annual rate of deposit turnover______  18.4  5  -21  Retail sales•  --------------------­ + 4  
Employment• -----­----------------­Manufacturing employment• ___ Percent of labor force unemployed*-­Air express shipment.. ---------­----­ 163,200 63,150 4.8 1,808  + 1 -3 + 12 + 5  + 1 + 9 + 7  Postal receipts --------------------~­$ Value of building permits ______________$ Bank debits (thousands) ---------------------$ End-e>f-month deposits (thousands) t----$ Annual rate of deposit turnover_________  24,721 31,240 48,137 22,448 27.3  + 16 -77 + 13 -4 + 13  + 5 -64 + 80 + 13 + 62  
GALVESTON:  (pop.  66,568)  Air express shipments  72  -47  - 6  
Retail sales --·---·------­Automotive stores ---------­-Department and apparel stores___ Eating and drinking places____ Food stores -----------------­--­Furniture and household appliance stores -------­-----­-­Lumber, building material,  4 + "+ -10 -2 -82  3 8 5 6 Jr + 30  HENDERSON: (pop. 6,833) Retail sales• -----------------­Postal receipts ----------------------$' Value of building permits _________________$ Bank debits (thousands) -----­---------------· $ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) t......$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ 8,142 38,018 4,912 13,628 4.3  + - 4 3 9 2 16  -1 + 7 -26 -19 + 1 -20  
and hardware stores -----­Postal receipts _________________$ 69,936  -33 + 11  + "+ 11  
Value of building permits---------$ Bank debits (thousands) __________$ End-of-month deposit.. (thousands) t---$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ __ _ Employment (area) ------------­----­Manufacturing em ployment (area) _ Percent of labor force unemployed  117,985 76,350 82,885 11.2 48,600 12,040  -55 + 1 -21 -19 1 + 5  -31 3 + 2 6 x + 2  HEREFORD: (pop. 5,207) Postal receipts ---­---------------------$ Value of building permits -----------------$ Bank debits (thousands) ------------------------­$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ----$ Annual rate of deposit turnover----­---­5,727 20,450 8,587 8,870 12.1  + 8 -71 -3 -13 + 3  + 5 -55 + 20 + 8 + 22  
(area)  ---------------------­ 3.9  +  5  + 5  
Air express shipments --------------­ 477  +  85  + 2  HOUSTON:  (pop. 596,163)  
GARLAND: (pop. 10,571) Postal receipts ........ --------------­-------­$ 10,340  + 24  + 13  Retail salesn --------------------­Apparel storesR --------------­A utomotive storesIT ---------------­ + 15 + 8 + 56  2 5  
Value of building permits ----------------$ Bank debits (thousands) -------------------* End-of-month deposits (thousands) t---$ Annual rate of deposit turnover__ ________  681,846 10,890 10,262 13.9  -18 + 84 + 47 + 1  -16 + 9 + 21 -1  Department storest -------------­Drug storesIT ---------­-----------------Eatin g and drinking placesff _ _____ Filling •tationsU ----------­-------­ + 3 + 4 + 5 + 16  8 + 1 Jr 4  
Food storesn -----------------­------­ + 5  --f  2  
GLADEWATER : (pop. 5,305) Postal receipts ------------------------------$ 5,344 Bank debits (thousands ) ____________$ 4,191 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ 4,101 Annual rate of deposit turnover_________ 11.6 Employment (area) -------------------­23,950 Manufacturing employment (area) __ 3,775 Percent of labor force unemple>yed (area) -----------­-­4.8 Air express shipments -----------------­3  + 5 + 5 + 2 -25  + 29 + 2 -10 + 9 x 0 + 2 +zoo  Furniture a nd household appliance storesil -------------­General merchandise storesIT _____ Liquor storesV -----------------------­­Lumber, building material, and hardware storesil ---------­Postal receipts -----------­-----------$ 861,383 Value of building permits --------------------$ 9,649,120 Bank debits (thousands) -----­-----------$ 1,662,377 End-of-month deposits (thousands) L .-$ 1,044,750 Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ 19.0  + 2 + 10 + 7 + 3 3 7 + 6 -12 1  4 5 + + 10 x -55 3 2  
Employment  (area)• -----------------­--­ 354,450  + 3  x  
GOLDTHWAITE: (pop. 1,566) Retail sales• -------------------------------­Postal receipts --------------­-----------$' 1,700 Bank debits (thousands) -------­---$ 2,655 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t­$ 2,747  -8 + 20 + 8  + 7 + 7 + 7 -17  Manufacturing employment (area)•-­Percent of labor force unemployed (area)• --------------­-----------­Air express shipments ----------­For explanation of eymbol.a, see page 28.  85,275 3. 7 4,119  + 5 + 28 -3  + + 19 -2  

LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS 

Percent change  Percent change  
City and item  July 1968  July 1958 from July 1962  July 1963 from June 1953  City and ite!ll  July 1958  July 1953 from July 1952  July 1958 from June 1963  
KERMIT: (pop. 6,912) Postal receipts ----------------$ Value of building permits ______________ $ Bank debits (thousands) $ End-of-month deposits (thousands)*----$· Annual rate of deposit turnover______ 5,537 56,600 8,521 8,846 13.l  + 3 -60 + l -28 + 88  + 26 + 19 + 8 + 4  LOCKHART: (pop. 5,573) Department and apparel store sales____ Postal receipts ------------·-----$ Value of building permits -·-··--·--·-····--·­$ Bank debits (thousands) ________ $ End-of-month deposits (thousands)*-­-$ Annual rate of devosit turnover..____ 2,815 42,450 3,340 4,531 8.9  -2 -6 + 68 + 10 + 8 + s  -17 -2 +168 + 26 + 2 + 26  
KILGORE: (pop. 9,638) Postal receipts ------·-----­--­-$ Value of building permits ---­-­-------$ Bank debits (thousands) ______ $ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ----S Annual rate of deposit turnover--·--···· Employment (area) --------·------­Manufacturing employment (area).... Percent of labor force unemployed (area) ·--------·-­·-----·------··· Air express shipment.a ---­----·--------­KILLEEN: (pop. 7,045) Postal receipts ------·---------,-----$ Value of building permits ---·-·------·-·---·-·­' Bank debits (thousands) -----·-----$ End-of-month deposits (thousa nds) i ---$ 11,803 15,000 13,517 14,671 11.l 28,960 3,775 4.8 19 14,113 15,900 4,221 9,736  + l -76 + l + l 0 -30 -36 + 4  + 22 + + 2 x 0 + 2 + 86 -14 -68 x s  LUBBOCK: (pop. 71,747) Reta il sales -----·­··---­---··­----------­Automotive stores ----------------------­Department and apparel stores____________ Furniture and household appliance stores --­---­----------------------­General merchandise stores ---------------­Lumber, building matedal, and hardware stores ------··--------­Postal receipts -·---------·-·-----·-·--..·--$ Value of building permits ---------·--···---* Bank debits (thousands) ---·-------$ E nd-of-month deposits (thousands) t__ .. $ Annual rate of deposit turnover________ Employment• -----------------­Manufacturing employment• -----­-Percent of labor force unemployed•______  81.426 962,114 92,086 75,458 14.0 32,750 3,350 6.3  + + 7 3 + 22 -3 -40 x -63 -12 -25 7 + 8 + 6 + 97  + 2 -3 + 18 -9 + 20 -23 + 3 -28 4 9 2 0  
Annual rate of deposit turnover _  _____  5.1  - 36  0  Air express shivments  --·-----­ 673  +213  7  
LAMESA: (pop. 10,704) Postal receipts -----------·------·---­-$ Value of building permits ------------------$ Bank debits (thousands) __________$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) L ....$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 7,416 1,000 7,025 11,860 7.0  -8 -98 -19 -15 -4  + 15 . -92 + 16 -8 + 19  LUFKIN: (pop. 15,135) Postal receipts ---·-·----­-----------·---­-$ Value of building permits --·--­-·---···­------$ Bank debits (thousands) ________$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ---­$ Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ Air express shipments ----------­14,226 164,875 15,855 19,248 9.4 38  + 6 +177 6 + l -9 + 10  + 9 +449 -17 -10 -18 + 6  
LAMPASAS: (pop. 4,869) Retail sales• ---·----···-·-·----------­Postal receipts ___________________$ Value of building permits -------------$ Bank debits (thousands) --·-----$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t----$ Annual rate of deposit turnover________ _  3,869 22,276 3,637 6,676 6.4  + 16 -60 -18 x -16  -16 + 81 -15 14 3 12  McALLEN: (pop. 20,067) Retail sales ---­-··-------­--·----­Department and apparel stores____ Postal receipts ·-------------$ Value of building permits ____________ $ Air exvress shipments -------­---­ 13,984 41,526 40  + 6 + 8 + -43 + 90  4 + 5 3 -61 -33  
LAREDO: (pop. 51,910) Department and apparel store sales____ Postal receipts --------------­--­--$ Value of building permits ----·-······-----$  25,727 111,476  -15 + l -86  + 3 + 17 +s26  McKINNEY: (pop. 10,560) Postal receipts -----·----·-------­---··---$ Value of building permits -------------------$ Bank debits (thousands) -­----------$' End-of-month deposits (thousands) :j:____$  6,848 36,800 5,634 10,597  + 2 -13 + 10 + 7  + l +soi 7 2  
Bank debits  (thousands)  ________$  19,014  - 7  6  Annual rate of deposit turnover____  6.3  +  2  9  
End-of-month deposits (thousands)t_  $ 18,278  -27  4  
Annual rate of deposit turnover_._____ Air express shipments -------------­Tourists entering Mexico ------­-----­Tourist cars entering Mexico______  12.2 136 16,262 4,900  -2 -89 -10 -12  4 6 + 45 + 18  MARSHALL: (pop. 22,327) Department and apparel store sales___ Postal receipts ··---------------$ Value of building permits _________$ 17,827 128,575  -2 + 11 -19  -22 + 14 -17  
LEVELLAND: (pop. 8,264) Postal receipts --------------------• Value of building permits --·--·--------• Bank debits (thousands) ------­---S  6,585 28,300 5,426  + 4 -76  + 34 + 26 8  Bank debits (thousands) ______$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ Annual rate of depoSit turnover_______ MERCEDES: (pop. 10,081)  13,534 20,077 8.1  + 8 ++ 4.  8 x  
End-of-month deposits (thousands) t -----$  7,781  8  Postal receipts ····-­-·-----------·------$  4,176  - 3  - 4  
Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ LONGVIEW: (pop. 24,502) Postal receipts ---·---------··-··-·····-$ Value of building permits _______________$ Bank debits (thousands) ______$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t .­.$ 8.2 27,314 333,686 34,081 36,466  + l -67 + 11 + 4  l l + 4 l  Value of building permits -----­-------$ Bank debits (thousands) ·-----------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) L--$ Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ MIDLAND: (pop. 21,713) Postal receipts -----------­----$  1,386 7,887 6,673 16.4 44,540  9 8 0 + 8  -48 + 21 + 15 + 16 + 8  
Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ Employment (area) ----------·· Manufacturing employment (area) .... Percent of labor force unemployed (area) ------------------------· Air expr""s shipments ---·­--···-------·­ 11.2 23,950 3,776 4.8 195  + 6 + 82  + 3 x 0 + 2 + 11  Value of building permits -----------$ Bank debits (thousands) ______$ E'nd-of-month deposits (thousands) t-$ Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ Air express shipments ·-----·-----------­-For explanation of symbols, see page 28. 561,710 47,218 60,417 9.2 178  -82 -4 +u -15 -14  l 4 4 3 + 12  

TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW 
LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS 

P ercent change  Percent change  
City and item  J uly 1953  July 1953 from July 1962  July 1953 f rom June 1953  City and item  July 1963  July 1953 from July 1962  July 1953 from June 1963  
NACOGDOCHES:  (pop. 12,327)  PORT ARTHUR:  (pop. 57,530)  
P ostal receipts ----------­---------·-·· $ V alue of building permits _____$  8,135 19,426  -18 -27  -8 -53  Retail sales• -··--····-·-­·-··---------­Department and apparel stores_______  -9 -11  -11 -16  
Bank debits (thousands ) _________$ End-of-mon th deposits (thousands) t ---$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____  9,324 15,142 7.6  +  3 x  1 + 4 -1  Drug stores• ----­-------­Filling stations• --­-----­Food stores• ---------­--­-­ + 3 -34 + 4  + + 7  
Air exvress shipments ----------­ 11  0  -21  Furniture and household  
appliance stores• --­-­·--­ -29  -19  
NEW BRAUNFELS: (pop. 12,210)P ostal r eceipts ________________$ 9,817 Value of building permits ----­----·-··$ 73,846 Bank debits (thousands ) -------$ 9,270 End-of-month deposits (thousands) t --$ 7,473 Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 12. 7  -14 -31  -9 -29 + 30 -26 + 36  Lumber, building material, and hardware stores• ---­--­Postal receipts _________________$ Value of building permits ___________$ Bank debits (thousands) -------·-­·-·---·-$ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) t -... $ Annual rate of deposit turnover______  36,471 157,943 46,960 36,988 16.2  -34 -1 -64 + 9 -11 + 10  -34 + 6 -68 8 x 7  
ODESSA: (pop. 29,495) Retail sales ····---·--···-·-·-··-·-··----­Department and apparel stores____ P ostal receipts ··----------·------$ V alue of building permits _ _________$  39,592 539,441  -14 -4 + 6 -52  -10 + 19 + 30 -60  Employment (area) -···­-·-·-····-·-·-·-··· Manufacturing employment (area) __ Percent of labor force unemployed (area) ··----­---------­Air express shipments --­---­--­ 79,376 26,990 6.7 116  2 + 2 0 + 20  +  0 2 7  
Ba nk debits  (thousands )  _________$ 33,060  - 7  5  
End-of-m ont h deposits (thousands ) t .. _.$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ Air express shipments ---------­ 30,370 12.6 118  -10 + 9 -45  -7 -1 -14  RAYMONDVILLE: (pop. 9,136 ) Postal receipts ·-------------$ 4,825 Value of building permits --------$ 1,700  -24 -79  + 10 -26  
ORANGE: (pop. 21,174) Postal receipts ······-·-----------··-$  14,564  - 3  + 7  Bank debits (thousands) --­-··-·--·-·-$ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) t --$ Annual rate of deposit turnover.. ·-···-·-·  13,243 10,380 16.7  + 42 -22 + 55  +126 + 21 + 92  
Value of building permits ---··-----····$ Bank debits (thousands) ····---------···$ End-of-m onth deposits (thousands ) t.-..$ Annual rate of deposit turnover________  233,996 17 ,832 24,470 8.8  +406 + 19 + 6 + 26  -64 -18 + 1 -14  ROCKDALE: (pop. 2,321) Postal receipts ··--·---·­--------$  4,384  + 15  + 62  
PALESTINE : (pop. 12,503) P ostal receipts --·-----·--------$· V alue of building permits ______$  10,073 52,643  -4 -10  + 15 + 66  Value of building permits ··--···--·-·$ Bank debits (thousands) ··--·-····---­----$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t--$ A nnual rate of deposit turnover______  427,000 3,432 3,531 11.4  + 14 + 15 -3  +981 -7 -4 -11  
Bank debits  (thousands )  --·------­$ 5,879  + 3  8  
End-of-mont h deposits (thousa nds) t ­$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 11,690 6.9  +  7 3  SAN ANGELO: (pop. 52,093) Retail sales ·----------­·-·-­·­ -20  -16  
PARTS: (pop. 21,643) Retail sales ------··---·---­----­Department and apparel stores ____ P ostal receipts ··---·-·---·­------·-·····-····-$  13,268  + 16 -6 -6  + 11 -13 + 8  Department and apparel stores___ Postal receipts ··--·-··------­·-··-·-·····$ Value of building permits ···--·-·····-·--$ Bank debits (thousands) ·····-········-·-·····$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t ----­$ 46,261 647,124 37,456 44,886  -10 + 10 + 21 + 4 -11  + + 8 +  
V alue of building permits ----·-·--·---$ Bank debits (thousands ) _________$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t --­$ Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 29,006 11,920 13,891 10.2  -36 + 1 -7 + 15  -53 + -2 + 6  Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ Employment -------·······-···---····-·-·-·· Manufacturing emvloyment -----------­Percent of labor for ce unem ployed______  10.0 21,400 2,260 4.7  + 5 -7 + 6 + 18  x + 1 4  
Air express shipments  ------------­ 43  + 39  + 30  Air express shipments ---­------··  317  + 84  + 32  
PECOS: (pop. 8,054) Department a nd ap parel store sales__ P ostal receipts ·-·-·-----··-··-----$ Value of building permits -··--·--­--$ Air express shipments ----------­ 7,873 91,302 26  -18 x -66 -7  + 3 -4 + 69 + 8  SAN MARCOS: (pop. 9,980) Postal receipts -­-------­--$ Value of building permits ······------$ Bank debits (thousands) ·-····------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) t _._$  9,563 20,145 4,660 7,959  + 11 -60 -6 + 8  -6 -97 6 + 8  
PHARR:  (pop. 8,690)  Annual rate of deposit turnover____  _  7.1  - 10  7  
P ostal receipts ------­--­ $ 3,830  - 4  - 6  
Value of bu ilding permits __________$ Bank debits (thousands ) ---··-·-··········$ End-of-month deposits (thousands ) t .. -.$ Annual rate of deposit turnover______ _  39,327 2,708 3,616 9.4  -14 -10 + 9 -28  0 + 10 + 4 + 2  SEGUIN: (pop. 9,733) P ostal receipts ----------·-····-----$ Value of building permits ··--·-··­··-···$ Bank debits (thousands) ·-·-····---·--·----$  8,313 70,587 6,744  + 2 +132 + 8  -6 -38 + 6  
PLAINVIEW:  (pop. 14,044)  End-of-month deposits (thousands) t --­-$' Annual rate of deposit turnover________  15,550 6.2  + 7 0  ++ 4  
Retail sales -···--------­--­ - 7  x  
Department and apparel stores__ P osta l receipts ·-----­--------$  11,294  -17 -1  x -24  SHERMAN: (pop. 20,150)  
Value of building permits ________$  166,500  -56  +107  Retail sales --------­-­---­ 4  -16  
Bank debits (thousands) ________$ End-of-mont h deposits (t housa nds ) t -.$  18,764 19,461  -12 -1  + 8 -4  Department and apparel stores sales.. Postal receipts ------------­$ 21,410  + 7 7  -13 -1  
A nnual rate of deposit turnover____  8.3  - 14  + 12  Value of building permits  --------$  124,086  -72  -24  
Air express shipments ----------­ 63  + 112  + 33  For explanation of symbols, 1ee page 28.  

AUGUST 1953 


LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS 

Percent change Percent change 
July 1953 July 1953 J uly 1953 July 1953 July from from July from from City and item 1953 July 1952 June 1953 City and item 1953 July 1952 J une 1953 
SAN ANTONIO: (pop. 408,442) TEXARKANA: (pop. 40, 628) § 
Retail sales* ------------------------­Retail sales§ --·-·----------------·----·-·· + 5 2 
Apparel stores* -------------------------------­Department and apparel stores§_______ 1 8 Automotive stores* --------------------­Postal receipts§ ----------------------·---$ 46,361 + 2 + 11 Department storest -----------------­Value of building permits§ ------·----$ 132,672 + 61 8 Drug stores* ---------------------------­Bank debits (thousands) § ------------$ 44,486 + 14 + 7 
Eating and drinking places• -------­End-of-month deposits (thousands)t_____$ 18,862 -33 2 Filling stations* ---------------------­Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 12.2 -2 
+ Employment§ --------··----······-·-·-·········---+
Food stores* -------------------------------­43,000 -10 1 Furniture and household 
Manufacturing employment§ ·-·-····-···· 11,175 + 20 + 3 appliance stores• ---------------------­Percent of labor force unemployed§________ 6.1 + 36 0 General merchandise stores* --------------­
Air express shipments§ --·-····-----·-··-· 82 -12 -14 Lumber, building material, and hardware stores* ----------------------­Office, store, and school TEXAS CITY: (pop. 16,620) 
----------·--­
supply dealers* -------------------·------Retail sales ----------··· + 18 -12 Postal receipts -------------------------------·$ 453,911 Department and apparel stores_________ + 47 
+ 12 
Value of building permits ------------------$ 4,305,388 Postal receipts ---·-·-------------··-··---$ 15,588 + 11 + 12 Bank debits (thousands) ---------------$ 395,475 
Value of building permits ··--··-··-----$ 298,875 -33 -46 End-of-month deposits (thousands) 1:----$ 310,981 
Bank debits (thousands) -·----·---------$ 26,145 3 6
+
Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 1(.9 End-of-month deposits (thousands) j: _____$ 26,056 1 3
+ Employment• ----------------------------------­198,100 Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 
11.8 9 5 Manufacturing employment* ----------21,975 
Employment (area) ·-···------·-···-··--48,600 x 
Percent of labor force unemployed•___ 5.3 Manufacturing employment (area) __ 12,040 5 2

+ + 
Air express shipments ----------1,981 Percent of labor force unemployed (area) -·---------------·-··------·· 3.9 + + 
SULPHUR SPRINGS: (pop. 8,991) 
Postal receipts ·--------·-·-····-----··---··--····$ 5,816 WACO: (pop. 84,706) 
Value of building permits ····----·--·--$ 245,735 

Retail sales -------------------------·---·· + 1 -11 
Bank debits (thousands) ------·--·--------$ 5,918 

Apparel stores ·--------··--·····-·-··------··----­-22 -11 
End-of-month deposits (thousands ) L .._$ 10,508 
Automotive stores ---------------------------­+ 13 -7 Annual rate of deposit turnover_._____ 6.8 
Department storest -----------------------­-11 -33 Furniture and household appliance stores ---------------··-····---·-·· -11 -52
SWEETWATER: (pop. 13,619) 
Lumber, building material,
Retail sales ··-······----·-·------·------------­
and hardware stores ------------------­-7 -30
Department and apparel stores_______ Postal receipts ····-·----·---·-·····--·----···-·--$ 109,130 + 10 + 13 
Postal receipts ··--··---··------------------$ 9,886 Value of building permits ---------------$ 1,176,755 + 50 4 
Value of building permits ·-······--··--·---$ 62,200 
Bank debits (thousands) ·-------·--·------,--$ 74,930 + 11
Bank debits (thousands) ------------·--···$ 7,749 End-of-month deposits (thousands) j:_••.•.$ 62,475 -29
End-of-month deposits (thousands) 1:-----$ 9,907 + 
Annual rate of deposit turnover·--·--------14.5 + 9 7Annual rate of deposit turnover________ 9.3 
Employment -----·------·--------------·--·······-··-· 44,300 -10 + 4 Air express shipments -----------------------11 
Manufacturing employment ----··----------8,675 + 4 + 18 Percent of labor force unemployed__________ 4.9 + 23 -23 
TAYLOR: (pop. 9,071) Air express shipments -----------------------------138 + 1 + 5 
Postal receipts ·---------------·-··-·--··----·-····--$ 7,411 Value of building permits ____________$ 83,379 
WAXAHACIDE: (pop. 11,204)
Bank debits (thousands) ·------------------$ 10,857 Postal receipts ----·-----··----·-····--·---·------$ 8,694 + 12 + 65End-of-month deposits (thousands) l -----$ 13,594 
Value of building permits __________________ $ 
42,800 + 97 -39
Annual rate of deposit turnover_________ 9.6 Bank debits (thousands) ····--·--------·------$ 3,340 1 -11 End-of-month deposits (thousands) 1:.-...$ 3,281 + 3 -11 TEMPLE: (pop. 25,467) Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ 11.5 6 -15 
Retail sales ·----·-·····-----------·--···-·-----­Department and apparel stores______ 

WICHITA FALLS: (pop. 68,042)
Postal receipts ·--······-···-------·--------$· 25,048 Value of building permits ---~-----·-·-··-$ 84,705 Retail sales -------·----------·--·-··-·-··---·· + 18 + 2 Department and apparel stores__ _
_______ _ -6 2
Bank debits (thousands) -··--·-···--------·$ 16,091 End-of-month deposits (thousands) 1:----S 22,202 Postal receipts ·-···----·-··-·---···---···-··-····$ 85,574 + 7 2 Annual rate of deposit turnover_________ 8.6 Value of building permits ------··-------·-$ 691,535 + 14 + 22 
Dank debits (thousands) ---------··········-$ 82,134 -10 E nd-of-month deposits (thousands)t .. $ 97,305 -8 1 Annual rate of deposit turnover___·-··----· 10.1 -14 2 
TYLER: (pop. 38,968) Air express shipments -----··-··--····-·--··--·-448 + 168 + 15 
Retail sales ··-·---------------­
Postal receipts -----------------------$ 44,043 xChange is less than one half of one percent. 
Value of building permits ___________$ 

Air express shipments ----------39 
463,086 *Preliminary. 
Bank debits (thousands) ·-··---------···$ 58,233 tReported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. End-of-month deposits (thousanda) j:____$ 
52,714 :Excludes deposits to credit of banks. Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ 13.2 
ffReported by the Bureau of Business Research, University of Houston. Air express shipments -----------------------229 tFilfUres include Texarkana, Arkansas (pop. 15,875) and Texarkana, Texu (pop. 24,758) . 
BAROMETERS OF TEXAS BUSINESS 

Year-to-date Average July June May average month 1g53 1953 1953 1953 1952 
GENERAL BUSINESS ACTIVITY tlndex of Texas Business Activity (100.0) __ ____ ____ __ __ __ __ ____ __ ___ 237• 298 291 294 269 Index of bank debits______________,____ ________ 
690 708 695 696 661 Income payments to individuals in the U.S. (billions-seasonally
adjusted at annual rate) _____________________________________ 285.9* 284.7 283.1 269.7
$ $ $ $ Index of wholesale prices in the U.S. (1947-49=100, unadjusted) ___ 
__ 
_ 110.9 109.4 109.8 109.9 111.6 Index of consumers' prices in the U.S. (1947-49=100, unadjusted) _______ 114.7 114.5 114.0 114.0 113.5 
Index of postal receipts_____ 
_ ______________ 424 415 404 401 382 tlndex of miscellaneous freight carloadings in the Southwestern Dis­
trict (17.6) ------------------------_
____ _ 
-------------------------------___________ ------------___ __ 
_ 145 145 143 144 144 Business corporation charters issued (number) ___ _ 294* 317 345 330 278 Business failures (number) ----·----------------------· ---------------------·---------------· 17 13 12 14 8 
fRADE tlndex of total retail sales (adjusted for price changes, 47.7) ______ ----··----__ 242* 252 247 249 231 
Index of total retail eales______ _________________ 
504 525 514 519 486 Durable-goods stores ---------------------------------------·-------·-------683 734 711 731 672 
Nondurable-goods stores ------------------·--------------------____.. ________ ------------------417 424 419 417 397 Ratio of credit sales to net sales in department and apparel stores ___ _ 59.9 63.9 65.6 64.1 63.7 Ratio of collections to outstandings in department and apparel etores 40.2 38.1 39.0 41.3 44.4 Index of gasoline sales_____________________ ----------------·------------------------------275 257 276 260 
PRODUCTION tindex of industrial electric power consumption (14.8) ______ __ _ 
------·-----------595 625 625 628 536 
tlndex of crude runs to stills (4.5) __
____ _ 
_
__---------------------------_____ ---··----·----205 220 222 221 209 Index of wheat grindings--------------------------·-----·---.-----------·------------------·-----------­92 99 100 99 Index of cottonseed crushed---------------·----------·--------------------------------·-----------------327 259 192 126 
Index of southern pine production (unadjusted) __
_______________________ ___________ _ 
129 127 128 123 Index of dairy product manufacturing_ _ 51 63 70 69 49 tlndex of urban building permits (adjusted for price changes, 3.8) ____ __ _ 
157 208 191 196 190 Index of urban building permits__________ ____ __
_______ __ 
_________________ _ 
·-----------------__ _ 
350 463 417 428 399 tlndex of crude petroleum production (8.6l ---------------------------232 222 211 226 232 tlndex of total, electric power consumption (3.0) -------·---··--------776 749 678 693 594 Index of industrial production in the U.S.__ --·--------------------232* 241* 240 239 219 Index of cement production·-----------·-------------------------------·-·-··------·-----------317 330 327 325 
Construction contracts awarded (thousands) __ _ $ 84,000 $ 89,957 $130.,338 $ 98,076 $lll,344 
AGRICULTURE Index of farm cash income (unadjusted) _________--------------------------------------------337 291 312 313 506 Index of prices received by farmers (unadjusted) --·---------·---·--------------------­272 264 280 280 332 
Index of prices paid by farmers in the U.S. (parity index-unadjusted, 1910-14=100) -----·----------------·-----------------------------------------------------------·-----------278 276 279 279 288 Parity ratio ----------------98 96 100 100 116 Index of prices received by farmers-livestock (unadjusted, 1910-14= 
100) ______________ _
_________________ _
__________ _
_______________________________ __ 
_
_
______ _____________ 

288 269 309 308 371 Index of prices received by farmers-all crops (unadjusted, 1910-14=
100) _____
________________________________ _
__________________________________________________________________
____ _ 260 260 257 258 303 
FINANCE Loans, reporting member banks in Dallas district (millions) _________________ _ $ 1,776 $ 1,759 $ 1,761 $ 1,765 $ 1,609 Loans and investments, reporting member banks in Dallas district (millions) _ 
.-----------__
_-------------·-__ -·---__________
___________ 
-· ________________ ·-_ $ 3,188 $ 3,103 $ 3,039 $ 3,108 $ 2,999 Demand deposits adjusted, reporting member banks in Dallas district (millions) ----· ---·--·------___ __ ___ ----·-_______ ____ _______ _ 
-------------------------------$ 2,486 $ 2,410 $ 2,442 $ 2,452 $ 2,385
Bank debits in 20 cities (millions) _____ __ ___________________ __ __ _ 
$ 5,551 $ 5,718 $ 5,377 $ 5,540 s 5,382 Revenue receipts of the State Comptroller (thousands ) _____ _ $ 62,935 $ 69,068 $ 68,027 $ 64,469 $ 58,076 Federal Internal Revenue collections (thousands) _
_____ _ $124,821 $249,509 $171,596 $216,812 $188,187 
LABOR Total nonagricultural employment (thousands ) ____________ __ __ ---------------------·---2,275.9* 2,280.8 2,267.9 2,261.3 2,215.2Total manufacturing employment (thousands) ________ ________ _ 438.8* 437.6 437.5 425.9
437.5 Durable-goods employment (thousands ) _____ ---------·--------209.8* 208.5 207.0 207.4 203.3 
Nondurable-goods employment (thousands) ___ __ 
_________ __ _____ _ 229.0* 229.1 230.5 230.l 222.6 
All figures are for Texas unless otherwise indicated. All indexes are blL3ed on the average months for 1936-SD except where Indicated and are 
adjusted for -seaaonal variation (except annual indexes) . 
Manufacturing employment estimates have been adjusted to first quarter 1952 benchmarks. 
•Preliminary. 
tThe index of business activity is a weighted average of the indexes Indicated by a dagfler (t) . The wel!lht elven each Index In com putlne the 
eomposite ia z ive-n in parenthaau. 
tNew series. Index computed from estimates of retail sales published by Bureau o1 the Census.