Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-06-17
the yield 80 per cent over that from the broadcast

'hie oiiteiehee III Vne ylelu anu quallty DetWee
drilling and broadcast sowing has not been sui
iciently noted, and therefore can not give i
to you. Owing to the additional amount O
moisture held in suspension in our atmosphere
and the Transportation water which may be KEEP
in our soil, the rice plant will not need mucl
flowing here, provided the ground be we'll tillet
to keep the weeds and grass down. Som,
flowing, however, should be regarded as indis
pensable, and most of it after the plant ha.
jonted and as the grain advances to maturity
The harvesting is done altogether with the
reaping hook, and half an acre per day is the
task for each hand. 1 should advise the cradle
to be used in preference wherever the grain
stood upright and not tangled or too luxurient
in its growth. Care should be taken to cut at
the right time which is just before the bottom
kernels are fully ripe. ...., -s5
The Creoles do not stack in the barn yard be-
fore the last of the season; until then the sheaves
remain collected into large shocks in the field
where the curing takes place; when the ground
is dry and hard the hauling is done with carts
having standards. On many of the plantations
in the Carolinas and Georgia all the grain is
carried on the heads of the negroes Immediately
to the barn yard. This regard as an exceed
ingly bad plan, for much of the grain gets shaken
from the stalk and trampled into the soft ground
thereby causing volunteer, and too much time
is needlessly consumed when most wanted for
cutting The shocks should be put on cross
poles or skids at least eighteen inches above the
ground, and piled and topped to resist the action
of strong winds and rain.
The thrashing may be done with the common
fail, but in this State horses and mules are
generally used to tramp out, and the winnowing
is done with the common wheat fan. In the
Carolinas and Georgia thrashing machines are
used, some of which are large enough to thrash
and winnow two or three thousand bushels n
day. They are driven by steam and cost, ex-
elusive of the engine and buildings, from one to
three or four thousand dollars. r'
It is the opinion of some of the oldest eastern
rice planters that the further south the grain is
grown, the softer it becomes, and therefore the
less valuable because of the loss in milling, and
more perishable nature Of the rice after milling.
hence seed from the northern part of South
Carolina and the Cape Fear River in North
Carolina, is preferred. This opinion may be
correct so far as the Atlantic States are concerned
but there is rice grown near the Equator as hard
as any found in colder or northern climates;
and my own opinion is that Southern Louisiana
will produce harder, tougher and larger grain
than has yet been obtained in the Carolinas, and
in fact that the rice grown there will be improved
by culture on our own batture soil if equal care
be bestowed I have come to this conclusion
after numerous examinations and comparisons
of specimens of rice, from each of the states
mentioned The popularity Of our soil, and Of
the Mississippi water, and the moisture in our
doubtless are the chief causes of the
difference have not been able to procure an
analysis of any of our swamps, but give you
below one of the sediment of the river made by
Professor Riddell, in 1846, as published in De
Bows Review for December of that year, also
one Of the soil of Waverly Island in s. c.,
famous for its fine rice, together with several of
the different parts of the rice plant all made by
DIR. Shepperd Of s. C. unpublished in pamphlet
form about the same time, 1846.
In 100 grains Of the Mississippi sediment taken
from the margin of the river and dried at 2l20