Ginn, Guy 1983-09-29

Guy Ginn reminisces about his career in farming in Hale County. Includes discussion of early days of Southwestern Public Service, and the beginning of electrical service to rural areas on the South Plains and the significance of irrigation.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Guy Ginn

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: September 29, 1983

Location: Petersburg, Texas

Interviewer: Richard Mason

Length: 1 hour

Abstract

Tape 1, Side 1: Ginn Guy, Sales with Southwestern Public Service (SPS), Modern appliances, Electric bills, Primitive lighting in farm houses, Appliances (again), Living conditions, Engine technology important, Irrigation, Areas with early irrigation, Electric motors, SPS promotion of settlement, Irrigation, Mr. Chris - Floydada, Rural Electrification Administration (REA), Farmers organize - 1936, Ginn Guy (again), Selling appliances (again), Financing , Texas-New Mexico Utility Company, Electricity on South Plains, Irrigation (again), Engines (again), Drop in water table, Submersible electric motors, Crop choice affected, Alfalfa, Less wheat, 'Cooked head maize', Combines, Diversification - cash crops, Fertilizer - 1960s, Energy sources, Butane, Propane, Natural gas, Land fertility, Cotton varieties, Early cotton strippers, 'Slide', Storm proof cotton, High Plains Underground Water Conservation District (HPUWCD).

Tape 1, Side 2: Irrigation (continued), HPUWCD (continued), Hale County support and opposition, Hail Suppression Program, Benefits and questions about , Affect on rainfall, Opposition to Guy Ginn opinion, Neighbor's pressure, Littlefield Texas lawsuit, Farm expenses Energy largest, Change in last ten years, Equipment cost change, Energy cost and effect on water use, Furrow dikes, Spacing watering, Diminishing water supply, Measuring water to cotton, New Mexico farms, Ginn Guy (again), Prospects for future, Cycles, Depression/Inflation, Cooperatives, 1930s more effective, Irrigation - early days (again), Les Stringer's earth tanks, Vegetable farming, Origins, Profitability, Vegetable sheds, Migrants workers, Farmers at mercy of market, Weather.

Range Dates: 1920s-1983

Bulk Dates: 1950s

Access Information

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