Rice is a staple food for a majority of the world's people. Americans, however, traditionally have consumed corn and potatoes rather than rice. It thus may come as a surprise to some Americans that rice has been produced in America for more than three centuries and during that time has accounted for much of the world's trade. Most rice is consumed where it is produced, with little entering foreign markets. American rice has been primarily a product for the international export trade, but changing technology and political environments at home and abroad have made it a volatile commodity....

Texas and wildcatters--they go together. And Pattillo Higgins was the granddaddy of them all. Without him Spindletop, Texas' first gusher, would never have been drilled, and the history of the modern oil industry might have been far different. Here for the first time is his dramatic, almost mystifying story, based on his personal papers and told by his grandnephew.
It was Pattillo Higgins who showed the more famous Captain Anthony Lucas where to drill at Spindletop. He organized the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company in 1892, and he located oil fields all over Texas and...

These essays, based on the 1980 Agricultural History Symposium held at Texas A&M University, spotlight the long-neglected area of agricultural development in the Southwest. Focusing on Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, the book traces the history of farming from the point of view of novelists, businessmen, archaeologists, cattlemen, scientists, and politicians.
The twenty-six contributing authors lucidly discuss issues ranging from the secrets of pre-Columbian agriculture to the dilemmas of the county extension agent; from the thriving rice industry to the versatility of the chili...

The story of veterinary medicine is a story of the human-animal bond and of a very special kind of doctor who works at that interface. It is a story of science, of professionalism, of practical experience. In Texas--with the longest international boundary of any state, with a larger and more diverse animal population than most, and with one of the highest per capita level of pet ownership--the challenges and opportunities have been especially great.
Whether dosing a herd of three-hundred-pound calves with oral medication or treating a baboon in a local zoo for a ruptured disk, the...