Lambright, Joe H 1983-04-11

Joe Lambright recalls his agricultural background, his family’s moves from Oklahoma to California during the 1920s and back to Texas during the Depression, and his subsequent experimentation with cotton hybrids on the South Plains.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Joe H. Lambright

Additional Parties Recorded: None

Date: April 11, 1983

Location: Southland, Texas

Interviewer: Richard Mason

Length: 03:07:45 (3 hours, 7 minutes)

Abstract

Tape 1, Side 1: Biographical information, Born: Sayer, Oklahoma (August 8, 1909), Family farming enterprise, To San Joaquin Valley, California, Family worked for cotton company, Parents, Father: T. M. Lambright, Born: Wise County, Texas, Mother: Julia Keith, To Oklahoma, Daughter’s infantile paralysis, Travels, Father’s siblings, Julia Keith (again), Ethnicity, Maternal, Paternal, Spelling of name, Oklahoma land rush (1909), Staking claims to land, Lambright family farms (again), Sayer, Oklahoma, Near Norman, Oklahoma, South Canadian River bottom, Flood ruins land, Sayer, Oklahoma, To California (1925), Reasons for moving, Dust Bowl, Fruit harvest, Settlement in Madera, California farming units, Corporate versus independent, Vineyards, Cotton acreage, Production cycle, Dust Bowl (again), Lack of work, Mechanization in California, A. M. Shanks Cotton Company, Stable, Horses versus mules, Efficiency, Stamina, Handling, Efficiency (again), Acquisition of animals, Sales and horse lots, Local trade, Cotton production, San Joaquin Valley, Variety, Acala, Characteristics, Harvest, Mechanical picker, Origin and tenure of use, Qualities (again), Compared to South Plains cottons, Open-end spinning, Price premium die to tenure of use, Design of equipment of fit Acala, Characteristics, Comparison to South Plains cottons (again), Characteristics, Open-end spinning (again), Labor benefits, Use of defoliants (c. 1925-1930), Spindle pickers (again), Description of operation, Strippers, Cost effectiveness, Breaking the Acala monopoly, Certification of seed by Cotton organization, Plains cotton industry, Price premium for quality, Instrument classing as a marketing factor, Meeting demands of foreign markets, Lamesa, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, Gin agreement, Farmer reluctance, Losses due to Micronaire factor, Benefits to farmer, Elimination of Micronaire in favor of measuring maturity, Open-end spinning requirements.

Tape 1, Side 2: Irrigation, San Joaquin Valley, Land levelling around Fresno, California, Fresnos, Operation, Labor divisions, Bench leveling (1925), Naming of city of Fresno, Canal system, Regulation of water, Gates, Shingles, Team work, Irrigation, Southern California, Siphon systems, Operation, Watering capacity, Time as a factor in Progress, Cotton industry, Yarn manufacture, Ring spinning, Open-end spinning, Move to Nebraska, Move to Texas (1930), Farming for father-in-law, Return to California (Fall 1930), Picking cotton, Fruit harvest, Return to Texas (1937), Pulling cotton (1937), Cotton prices, Father and son team, Works Progress Administration (late 1930s), Building streets in Slaton, Texas, Setting concrete forms, Lubbock Municipal Airport, Runway construction, Setting concrete forms, Stringing survey lines for hot top, Constructing fence, Lining and leveling posts, Job offer from City of Lubbock, Running underground electrical conduit, Cotton production, South Plains (again), Early varieties, Summer hours Half n’ Half (1920s and 1930s), Characteristics, Harvest, Tenure of use, Characteristics (again), 1950s varieties, Western prolific, Characteristics, Early Paymaster varieties, Five A, Macha, Cross of Macha with Five A to create stripper cotton, Lankert, Cotton breeding, Competitive varieties, Qualification for certification of new varieties, Lambright farm (1949), Irrigation (1953), Macha cotton (again), Characteristics (again), Compared to Summer’s hour’s Half n’ Half, Problems with loose lock cottons, Need for large bolled storm-proof cotton, Working for railroad (1943-1953), Need for large bolled storm-proof cotton (again), Discovery of Lambright 123, Determination of defoliant use, Large open bolled plant, Seed count, Staple, Naming "Lambright 123".

Tape 2, Side 1: Large open bolled plant (continued), Mutation, Value of seed, Storage in bank vault, First planting of new cotton, Destruction and recovery from sandstorm, George Pfeiffenberger, Plains Cotton Growers Association, Expression of need of longer and stronger fiber cotton, Development of long staple, Genetic possibilities, LaVon Ray, Crossing Acala cotton with Five A, Rex Dunn, Crossing Rex cotton with Acala, Jack Tary, Manager of Textile Research Center, Suggests use of Del Cerro cross, Lambright 123 DR1, Immunity to bacterial blight, Certification eligibility, Consulting Jack Tary about certification, Cotton breeding on basis of climatization, George Pfieffenberger, Role in cross breeding efforts, Lambrights’ beginning in cotton breeding, Initial impetus, Breeders in Lubbock area (again), Paymaster, Research gathering for breeding experiments, Harry Bates Brown, Louisiana State University, Local research, X15 3, Lambright 123, Single plant selection, Marketing, Breeding glandless cotton (early 1970s), Promotion of glandless breeding program, Robert J. Marivelli, National Cottonseed Products, Association and C. H. Hyar, Segregation education, Inspection of progress, Lambright varieties, glanded and glandless, Instrument classing (again), Projected effect on short staple varieties, Direction of farmers.

Tape 2, Side 2: Martin Maize, first combine maize, Development, Effect on local maize production, Commercial production of maize, Choice not to breed maize, Effect on local maize industry (again), Macha cotton (again), Benefits to cotton industry, Use in development of other storm proof varieties, Stripper cotton, Development, near Slaton, Texas, Popularity, Mechanical stripper varieties, Effect on business, H. A. Macha, Cotton selection process, Experiment station involvement, Loss of seed trade, Lambright’s breeding operation, Acreage, Methodology, Crossing versus selection, Maintaining purity and productivity of a new variety, Wrapping with parent material, Seed production, Contract growers, Distribution, Delinting plants, Advertising, Affiliation with Northern Star Seed Company, Money to be made in cotton breeding, Pricing of seed, Commission on sales, Sale terms of glandless cotton seed, Cost of research, Food and Drug Administration requirements, Moduling cotton, Replanting of glandless seed, Cyclone extractor, Plains Cooperative Oil Mill, John Hurzer, Manager of Cooperative Oil Mill, Backing of Woodrow Rogers, Money making potential, Pet foods, Glandless cotton seed, Characteristics, Food value, Cotton Incorporated, Recent research, Characteristics (again), Food value (again), Uses for flour, Production capacity, Importance of foresight to cotton breeders, Certification requirements, Responsibilities of breeder upon certification.

Tape 3: Side 1: Drought resistant cotton, Selection process, Desirable characteristics, Size of plant, Mechanical stripping, Water availability, Evaluation of farming conditions, Conservation and fertilization recommendations, Burr extraction, Benefits, Increase in use of furrow dykes, Herbicide use, Cost factor, Suggested alternatives, Varieties developed by Lambright, X14 3A and X15 4, Characteristics, Disease resistance, Disease resistance, Nematodes, Recommendations for local farmers, Combined with drought resistance, Characteristics to look for in a cotton variety, Relationship between Independent breeders and other breeders, Texas A & M University, Appropriate role of research stations, Changes, Seed Company, Lorraine, Texas, Dr. Luther Byrd, Financing, Hybrid cotton, Genetic feasibility, Polination, Cost, Need for hybridization, Superiority of natural selection.

Tape 3, Side 2: Irrigation, Effect on cotton breeding, Soil texture and fertility, Disease resistance, Problems absorbing trace minerals, Necessity for disease resistant plants, Requirements of high production, Seed promotion and sales, Farmer acceptance of new breeds, Mechanization, Effect on cotton industry, Labor requirements, Storm-proof characteristics, First Mechanical strippers available (c. 1955), Suitable cotton varieties, Breeders’ response to demand, Enablers of mechanization, Mill demands, Storm proof cotton, Disease resistance, Drought resistance, Farming methods, Relationship between farmer and ginner, Trash content, Varieties available to help with trash grade, equivalent, Farmer acceptance, Insect resistance, Lint index, Seed count, Ability of breeder to judge plants in field, Staple length, South Plains, Seed source for breeding program, Available long staple varieties, Mill demand.

Range Dates: 1909-1983

Bulk Dates: 1930-1983

Access Information

Original Recording Format: audio cassette

Recording Format Notes: digitized October 2017, Audio CDs available in Reading Room

Transcript: no

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