Manufactures. Manufacturing was quite
unimportant until after 1880. Between that year
and 1890 the value of products increased 239.9
per cent., and in the following decade 69.5 per
cent.; in 1900 the product was estimated at
$119,414,982. In the latter year there were 48,152
persons employed as wage-earners, or 1.6
per cent. of the total population. The industry
has the advantage of a very abundant supply of
raw materials, the State ranking first in the
production of cotton, and having large timber
resources and a heavy production of grain. The
recent increase in the output of coal also greatly
subserves the industry. Texan manufactures
dependent upon resources of cotton are peculiar
in that they do not include textiles, a branch of
the industry which has become prominent in some
other Southern States. In the manufacture of
cottonseed oil and cake, on the other hand, the
State ranks first. The value of products for the
latter industry increased 329.3 per cent. between
1890 and 1900. During the last census year there
were 24,354,695 gallons of cottonseed oil
obtained, or 26.1 per cent. of the total for the
United States for that period. Cottonseed meal
and cake are extensively used as food for cattle.
In the allied industry of cotton-ginning the State
also ranks first. The figures given in the table
below do not include ginneries operated in
connection with saw, grist, and cottonseed-oil mills,
or for the use exclusively of plantations on which
they are located. The Texas ginneries first
introduced the custom of pressing the cotton after
ginning into the so-called ‘round bales,’ and this
process is becoming very general. The
manufacture of flouring and grist mill products is a
growing industry, drawing its supply from
Oklahoma
and the Indian Territory as well as from
the large local production. The extensive railroad
interests of the State have necessitated a
large number of repair shops, employing 2354
wage-earners. The manufacture of saddlery and
harness is a thriving industry centred largely in
the city of Dallas. Printing and the manufacture
of malt liquors and of clay products are other
leading industries. Manufacturing is well
distributed over that State and there are no prominent
centres, the only cities in which the value
of products exceeds $10,000,000 being Dallas and
Houston. The following table shows the relative
importance of the leading industries in the census
years indicated:
INDUSTRIES
Year
Number of establishments
Average number wage-earners
Value of products, including custom work and repairing
Total for selected industries for State
1900
5,793
30,119
$73,024,636
1890
2,503
21,737
43,189,273
Increase, 1890 to 1900
......
3,290
8,382
$29,835,363
Per cent. of increase
......
131.4
38.6
69.1
Per cent. of total of all industries in State
1900
47.1
62.5
61.2
1890
47.5
62.5
61.3
Cars and general shop construction and repairs
by steam railroad companies
1900
56
6,633
$8,314,691
1890
31
2,354
2,860,235
Clay products—total
1900
171
1,859
1,212,266
1890
143
2,072
1,311,270
Brick and tile
1900
143
1,579
1,020,205
1890
124
1,956
1,214,690
Pottery, terra cotta, and fire-clay products
1900
28
280
192,061
1890
19
116
96,580
Cotton, ginning
1900
3,222
4,295
5,886,923
1890
572
2,440
1,172,298
Flouring and grist-mill products
1900
289
705
12,333,730
1890
690
1,626
9,903,455
Foundry and machine shop products
1900
99
1,343
2,682,426
1890
59
782
1,874,059
Liquors, malt
1900
9
585
2,689,606
1890
7
401
1,702,087
Lumber and timber products
1900
637
7,924
16,296,473
1890
314
7,485
11,942,566
Lumber, planing mill products,
including sash, doors, and blinds
1900
76
657
1,605,297
1890
62
949
2,700,941
Oil, cottonseed and cake
1900
103
2,478
14,005,324
1890
13
866
3,262,596
Printing and publishing—total
1900
772
2,547
4,577,110
1890
447
2,069
3,971,410
Book and job
1900
118
718
1,189,700
1890
56
469
1,213,888
Newspapers and periodicals
1900
654
1,829
3,387,410
1890
391
1,600
2,757,522
Saddlery and harness
1900
359
1,093
3,420,790
1890
165
693
2,488,356
Forests and Forest Products. There are
valuable forests in the eastern part of the State,
but to the westward they become inferior and
finally give way entirely. While the wooded
area is estimated at 64,000 square miles, or 24 per
cent. of the total area, the timber upon much of
this is fit for little else than fire wood. From
Texarkana southward to a point about 100 miles
north of Beaumont are forests of short-leaf pine
of only moderate quality. From this point southward
to Jefferson County is a fine forest of long-leaf
pine, having an average stand of merchantable
timber ranging from 6000 to 35,000 feet
per acre. The lumber industry, which had
developed but little prior to 1880, has since made
rapid strides. (See table above.) The crop
consists almost entirely of yellow pine. The
Beaumont and Orange districts are the largest
centres of the industry.
Transportation and Commerce. The
railroads had developed but little prior to 1870, in
which year there were 711 miles. In 1880 the
