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The Luling Foundation 80 Years of Service

Agriculture Demonstration Farm, Established by Edgar B. Davis in 1927

OUR HISTORY:

The Luling Foundation was established in 1927 by Edgar B. Davis, to teach diversity in agriculture and improve the lives of farm and ranch families in Caldwell, Gonzales, and Guadalupe Counties. These three counties are the Foundation's service area by Charter; however, over the last seventy five years, the Foundation's services have expanded throughout the state and even brought visitors from other countries.

Edgar B. Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1897. By the age of thirty-five, he was an active official in the Walk Over Shoe Company and a millionaire. By 1910 Mr. Davis had half interest in the United States Rubber Company. By 1919 he was the largest individual stockholder in the U.S. Rubber Company and it's estimated that he had made in the area of three and one half million dollars in the rubber industry. In 1920 Mr. Davis retired from the rubber business. When his brother, Oscar, invested in oil leases in Caldwell County, Texas, Edgar was persuaded to travel to Texas and assume management for one-third interest in the profits. Thus, it was that Edgar B. Davis came to Luling, Texas and forever changed the course of the small, dusty town, strung along the railroad.

One of the things that distressed Mr. Davis upon coming to Luling was the fact that the local farmers seemed to be at the mercy of all the evils associated with a one-crop agricultural system. So, Edgar B. Davis established a trust to set up a model farm and show, by example, what could be accomplished through diversified farming. This was probably the very first farm of its kind ever established. The farm was given, Mr. Davis said, "in spirit of gratitude to the Giver of all good" so that farmers "without distinction of race, party, sex, creed, poverty or riches" might learn to better themselves by practical education and example. The Luling Foundation was therefore created by charter as an institution of free public learning and of public charity. The charter was issued on June 6, 1927. Dr. Francis, the first Chairman of The Luling Foundation, made the statement, "Let us not build a showplace, but only do what any enterprising farmer can do on his own land." This is a credo The Foundation still represents.

For more than seventy-five years, The Luling Foundation has demonstrated both good and bad agriculture practices. Perhaps the most important lesson The Foundation has offered has been to show the economic volatility in agriculture as demonstrations have come and gone.

Current demonstrations and activities at The Luling Foundation include Multi-year Conservation Tillage Trials, Row Crops, Sunflowers, USDA Continuous Conservation Reserve Program, Improved Grasses and Forage Demonstrations, Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration, Native and Improved Pecan Bottoms, Wildlife Food Plots, Truck Farming, Vegetable Garden, Rainwater Harvesting Demonstration, Low Stress Design Cattle Facility, Registered Angus & Commercial Cattle Operations, AI and Embryo Transfer Work, AI Short Course, Master Naturalist Demonstration and Topic Specific Field Days. Youth Programs at the farm include Agriculture and Healthcare Scholarships, Agricultural Loan Programs, Facilities for 4-H and FFA Projects, 4-H & FFA Livestock Judging Contest, and Youth Farm Tours and Leadership Courses.

The Luling Foundation donated a portion of land that was used to build the new Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center here in Luling. Through cooperative efforts with the private sector and major universities, The Luling Foundation will continue demonstrating ideas for profitable agriculture through educational opportunities and community service.

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523 South Mulberry Avenue
Luling, Texas 78648
Phone: 830-875-2438 Fax 830-875-3138
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