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Alexander M. Ferguson Sherman Democrat July 4, 1976 Grayson County's Golden Waves of Grain Ferguson Pioneer in Hybrid Study Alexander M. Ferguson arrived at Texas A&M looking like a typical country youth. His woolen jeans, which cost 75 cents, shrank because they got wet during a rain storm when he got off the train for a few minutes at Milano Junction. Fresh from the country and his father's farm, Ferguson, then 16 years old, little dreamed that he was destined for fame. Neither did the youths on the platform at the depot at College Station realize that some day this young Scotsman of slightly above average height would be twice awarded a fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That was in 1890 and Ferguson was launching his college career. Working his way through college, he receive his bachelor of science degree in 1894 and his master of scence degree in 1896. Later he studied and conducted scientific research in northern and central state universities, Cornell University, Washington University, and the University of Missouri. His career as a scientist, however, was not started until 1899 after he returned from the Spanish-American War and began a professorship at A&M College. At the turn of the century there was no such thing as a variety of corn for Texas. Regardless of adaptablity every variety of corn was grown. There was no way of checking the ability of crop yield and each farmer thought the variety he raised superior to all others. In 1900 Ferguson was appointed to a professorship at the University of Texas in Austin, where he served until 1906. It was then that his real life work began. He visited farmers in the Bell Valley, south of Austin, listened to their problems. Those Bohemian, Irish and Italian farmers were concerned over their corn crops and the annual yields. Ferguson gathered seeds of the various varieties, and began what were perhaps the first experimental plots in the state. He settled the question as to which seed could produce the best yield. At that time, too, he did prelimary work in the development of certified, pedigreed seed. It was not until 1906, however, when he came to Grayson County and settled at Sherman that he turned this avocation into a vocation and established the Ferguson Seed Farms, which were to make him famous throughout the Southwest. Later Ferguson moved to Howe, where he lived until his death in 1855. "Sandy" Ferguson arrived at Sherman with no money. He began working on a book, which was finished in collaboration with L.L. Lewis, a veternarian at Oklahoma A&M. Night after night he worked into the late hours at his home on Grand Avenue, until the work was finished. The book, "Elementary Principles of Agriculture," one of the earliest works of its kind in the United States, became the accepted text book in the public schools of approximately 30 states. In 1900 Ferguson began his experiments on oat seeds. In 1909 he was awarded the gold medal honor award at the National Corn Exposition. His corn has been widely grown and, like other seed which he developed, brought increased acreage yields for farmers who used them. The Agriculture Year Book, 1936, published by the Department of Agriculture, states that Ferguson and two other Texans, Ed Kasch and R.L. Bennett were among the pioneers in the field of cotton seed selection and breeding. They were among those to develop seed with rapid fruiting and eary maturiing qualities. The staple is better and more uniform according to state experiment station findings, the year book stated. New Boykin and Ferguson Triumph 406 were developed by Ferguson Seed Farms in 1908, according to the year book. These strains were developed from Mebane Triumph. Both are early, small, low branching plants with a seven-eights to an inch long staple. The gin outrun was from 36 to 39 per cent. The bolls are medium to large and the fruit is storm resistant. In terms of economics, Ferguson increased the income of numerous farms through his seed experiments. Ferguson was born on Jan. 7, 1874 and reared on a farm in Bell County, the youngest son of James E. Ferguson and Fannie Fitzpatrick Ferguson. His father was a pioneer Methodist minister filling the early day pulpits in Houston, Richmond, Victoria and Austin prior to the Civil War. After the war his father established in Bell County the second flour mill in central Texas, with a gin, furniture factory and saw mill. Scottish American Roots Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any links inoperable, please send me a message. Grayson County TXGenWeb |