Typed as
spelled and written
- Lena Stone Criswell
THE DAILY
DEMOCRAT
Fifty-Third Year - Number 60
Marlin, Texas, Monday, May 18, 1953
TOMATOES, OTHER CROPS
ARE DAMAGED BY HAIL
Extensive damage to the tomato crop that was reaching a green wrap market stage,
corn that was waist high and cotton that was just coming up, resulted from a
hail storm accompanied by some high wind in places and a rainfall ranging from 1
1/2 to 2-inches on Saturday, shortly after noon.
The main area of the hail damage is
reported to have been in the Durango section, a strip about 2 miles wide; in the
Tomlinson Hill section, from approximately Hwy, 320 and south to Pool Creek and
then east of the Brazos River in the bottom sections approximately in the Fall
of the Brazos area and east with a lesser degree of damage toward Hwy. 6.
At the Ed Good store, on Hwy, 320, in the
Tomlinson Hill area Mrs. Good said a total of 11-inches rainfall had been
recorded there during last week including Saturday afternoon. Samples of
the hail storm damage were shown at the Good store in smashed mature green
tomatoes taken from nearby fields after the noon hour storm and stalks of corn
that stood waist high in the fields were shredded and cut down to about half
that height.
At the Jeff Norris place on the old
Marlin-Lott road the tomatoes were beat into a pulp. Similar reports came
from the Claude Luker place where tomatoes and corn were destroyed.
A partnership tomato crop shared on the Deb
Johnson place with Sanford Hancock was beat downy to a stubble.
Mr. Hancock who is also an official of the
General Products Corporation with green wrap tomatoe buying and packing sheds at
Marlin and Bremond (missing) of the tomato growing areas Saturday afternoon and
summed up some of the storm damage reports of earlier in the week and said it
was his estimate that 50 per cent of the tomato crop in the areas to be served
by the Marlin and Bremond buying centers was lost. He believed there might
be some recovery of the plants to produce some tomatoes for harvest in June.
He added that the heavy rainfall already
developed a natural unfavorable status for tomatoes in the field during the past
week where the tomatoes were showing a water loaded condition.
In regard to the progress toward opening
the Marlin and Bremond tomato sheds, he said workers from the Valley had arrived
here early last week and started getting the machinery and equipment in shape
with the expectation of starting buying operations very soon. He said
these workers had been directed to return to the Valley and would be notified
when to come back. The Saturday hail storm has held up all progress on
getting the buying sheds started.
Mr. Hancock said that his survey in the
Tomlinson Hill area about four hours after the storm showed drifts in places
where particles of hail were still piled up and unmelted. Bushes of green
leaves were stripped from trees and spread on the ground.
Hail stones at the Ed Good store are said
to have been of sufficient size to make some dents in automobiles, although they
were not any larger than golf balls as the biggest. Reports in that
vicinity said that the hail stones were not round but were jagged and with sharp
points and edges that made it more damaging to the young vegetation.
Tomatoes ripened on the vines and those reaching the pink stage have been
harvested already in this area.
Hubert Hudson said his tomato crop was
ruined and the corn beat down. Between 11 and 12-inches of rainfall was
recorded on Hudson's place last week.
H. A. Hahn's place just south of the
Tomlinson Hill Reunion grounds, on the Cedar Springs road bore a heavy brunt of
the storm. He said the hail seriously damaged his house where he and Mrs.
Hahn were occupants during the storm. He said his tomato crop was a total
loss and likewise his other growing crops. He said his loss also included
between 400 and 500 gallons of berries.
Corn on the R. E. Wolff place was badly
damaged.
Although the tomato crop on the Jeff Morris
and Fred Allen places was damaged very badly and some to a total loss, their
fields generally were not as badly hit as others in the neighborhood. On
the Henry Lamour place the tomatoes and corn were wiped out. P. G. Janes'
crop was seriously damaged (as) was that on the place of Thomas Black's.
Mrs. Bob Landrum said the hail damage was general (on) their farm and with crops
there (missing).
Some hail was reported to ha(ve) been noted
on Monday but (--) damage then was slight in (missing) areas that were so
critically damaged on Saturday.
There was a slight amount (of) hail at Lott
on Saturday and (missing) rainfall totalled 1.90-inches, t(missing) brought the
week's rainfall to up to 11.40 inches.
Hillary Barganier said some (missing) was
noted south of Big Creek (but) was not too damaging. He said that he
believed most of his livestock was recovered from the creek bottom ahead of the
overflow and moved to safety in hgher areas. He said the flood stage (i)n
Big Creek south of Marlin rose again Saturday night to the high stage it reached
earlier last week. He said the Brazos River stage being only about half
full lessened the anxiety about higher flood stage on the creeks.
Grady Hair said the fl(ood) stage of Big
Creek est of Ma(rlin) dropped from its peak of (missing) last week, but the
heavy weekend rainfall brought about a 3-foot (missing) as it appeared on Sunday
morning and compared with the Friday morning flood stage.
On the farming areas in charge of R. V.
Mitchell in the Brazos River bottom east of the river the Saturday hail is
reported (missing) caused much damage and (missing) the cotton and corn crops.
Saturday's rainfall is (missing) to have
caused the overflo(w) of Little Brazos Riv(er) (missing) Reagan on Hwy (missing)
cover the highway for (missing) (consider)able distance as it spread over the
area late Saturday (missing) and Saturday night. Men of the State Highway
Department's maintenance headquarters at Marlin were on dut(y) directing traffic
in the Little Brazos River bottom on Friday night, but they reported the flood
water never reached a high stage above water touching the center stripe on the
highway. However on Saturday night the men were again on duty as water
reached depths of nearly a foot in depth over portions of the highway, but
subsided Sunday.
Mrs. Ike Mann at the Mann's store south of
Big Creek on Hwy. 6 said there was some hail in that vicinity on Saturday, the
period of the hail was brief, there was some high wind but she said no damage
had been reported from either source.
Mrs. Elgin Hays in the Rosedale section
said some hail was noticed there no damage had been reported.
Mrs. Reed Watkins of Cedar Springs siad
Sunday morning that the hail damage in that vicinity had not been reported as
too great although there was some half noted there Saturday. She said the
greater hail damage appeared to be north of the Cedar Springs section.
Bob McCleary at Durango said the hail
damage Saturday was very great to the fruit crop, tomatoes, corn and cotton.
It was generally a total loss to these crops in that vicinity where the said the
hail damaged area seemd to be from one to two miles wide. He said the corn
was beat down and damaged, but not as seriously as represented in the tomato
damage.
Robert Westmoreland and Steve Jackson lost
all their tomatoes, according to reports from Durango. Hail about the size
of a large marble and jaggedly sharp stripped leaves of all vegetation and was
accompanied by enough rain to cause a flash flood.
The tomatoes had been ready for market two
weeks, but buying hadn't started yet and the loss was complete.
Apparently the hail skipped over Lott and
hit west of Cedar Springs. Principal loser there was W. H. Bradberry, C. V.
Evans at Pleasant Grove, said The hail in both places covered a strip
about two miles wide and ruined cotton, corn and tomatoes.
Reports from Kosse state that as much as
10-inches of rainfall has been totalled in places of that area last week.
In the Ebenezer and Headsville communities hail, rain and wind damage has been
considerable to crops including a total loss to the tomato crop. It was
said this damage was confined to a narrow strip that touched these two
communities.
Some farm terraces in the Fairview
community are reported to have been broken and other farms considerably washed.
In some places cotton was damaged by the rainfaill and plants were washed out of
the ground. Much of the cotton will have to be replanted.
Some observers stated that in sandy areas
of the county that the rainfall was so hard it packed the soil so tightly that
regardless of the heavy amount of rainfall they were able to drive cars into
some fields. They also added that the soil was packed so tight that any
seed planted in the fields would be lost. In the northeast part of the
county the cotton fields generally were washed to a smooth surface.
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Permission granted to Theresa Carhart and her volunteers for printing by
The Democrat, Marlin, Falls Co., Texas.