St. Landry democrat., 1889-05-11
$4,000

"ThiS is q statement of the needs OF an
immigrant to Louisiana who is determined
to get all the good of the benign State and
United States land laws, with the least pos
sible expenditure of money.
"With the assistance of hired man
three months he can build his cabin, dig
well Fifteen feet deep, fence in twenty
acres, plant rice, corn, potatoes, peas,
pumpkins and five acres in cotton, and
patch of sugar cane for the children.
1.-The immigrants farm house is built
very quickly and with little cost, of the
trunks Of small, straight pines or cypress
cut close by. The body of the house is
made of the logs, like pen-the ends
notched so as to fit, and the openings be-
tween the logs plastered with clay. The
rafters are made of green poles and the
roof covered with clap board split from
oak, cypress or pine. A temporary chin
ney may be made by plastering skeleton
wooden frame with clay mixed with moss.
Lumber for floor, doors and shutters may
be split from cypress or bought at the
nearest saw mill, and bricks may be bought
or made.
milk, butter and eggs, with the vegeta-
bles which grow quickly, will add mate
rally to the fare of the family; fish and
Potatoes will be ready for the table in
weeks after planting.
''Rice will be harvested in August, and
cotton picking will commence. This crop
can be picked by the good wife and chill
dren and the yield will probably be three
bales to five acres, worth $135. Ten acres
of rice would yield an average of 12t bar
rels, worth 81 per barrel, amounting to
$500 net, which, together with the pro-
ceeds of his cotton, would give the settler
q larger capital than that expended to OBJ
tain home and 320 acres of land. The
rice straw is also a valuable forage, snd
with the cotton seed saved will keep the
sheep in good order during the winter.
''The wool and lambs and calves will
also add to the profits of the year. The
farmer finds himself in a good position to
enlarge his fields and extend his operations
for another year. Thus, from year to
year, with the natural increase of stock,
and with industry, prudence and economy
added to the growing value of his farm,
comforts gather around his home, luxuries
are added, and it does not require pro-
phet to foretell that in twenty years time
the poor immigrant will become rich and
prosperous farmer.
WHAT MAN CAN MAKE ON A LOUISIANA
FARM.
CATER farm has been fenced and i'm
proved and machinery bought, it is almost
Incredible what man can make off agri
cultural products in this state
cone hand with a screw pulverizer and
sower attached can put in two hundred
acres of rice At 124 bbls. per acre, this
would yield $500 hundred barrels, worth
81 per barrel. Total value, $4,000. Of
course this crop could not be harvested by
one man, but the headers and binders are
now being adapted to the harvesting of
rice and it need not cost more to harvest
and prepare for market than wheat Nearly
all of the state lands, being low, are emf
nently suitable for the cultivation of rice.
Where convenient to water, rice fields are
irrigated, and no cultivation is required.
CA farmer with the aid of new improved
machinery might easily put in one hundred
acres in rice, ten acres in corn and five
acres in cotton, without having the Guilt
walton and harvesting interfere with one
another"