St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-02-16

to get all the gooo OF the Denlgn stsSo an'
United States land law, with the least pos
sible expenditure of money.
"With the assistance of hired ma,
three months, he can build his cabin, die
| q well Fifteen feet deep, fence in twent,
acres, plant rice, corn, potatoes, peas
pumpkins and five acres in cotton,s and I
patch of sugar cane for the children.
''The emigrant's farm house is bull
very quickly and with little cost, of thu
trunks of small, straight pines or cypress
cut close by. The body of the house il
made of the logs, like pen-the end!
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.
eft is supposed that milk, butter and
eggs, with vegetables which grow quickly,
will add materially to the fare of the fam.
lily; fish and game will also help to feed
the family. Potatoes will be ready TO,
the table in April; mustard, radishes, peas
anG corn six 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 1s4 bar
rels, worth, 81 per barrel, amounting to
$500 net, which, together with the pro.
oeeds of hif cotton, would give the settler
larger capital than that expended to OBJ
tain horae and 480 acres of land. The
rice straw Is also valuable forage, and
with the cotton seed saved will keep the
sheep il 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, Injuries
are added, and it does not require pro-
phet to foretell that in twenty years time
the poor emigrant will become q rich and
farmer.
FENCING IN THE PRAIRIEs
'The prairies of Louisiana are divided
from one another by many streams, large
and small, bordered with heavy growth
Of timber, and the traveller is never out of
sight of forests; thus the problem of fenc-
ing large tracts is not so difficult as in the
boundless, naked prairies of the west.
Many new corners use the barbed wire on
posts, or plant Cherokee rose hedge; the
rose hedge can be contracted for at the
rate of sixteen dollars per mile. 1t will
urn stock in three years. The material
Tor double wire fence will cost about 800
per mile Five cypress pickets will make
line feet of fence; they can be bought for
our dollars per hundred, and will last for
fifty years. ...
HE ADVANTAGES OF THE PRAIRIEs OFLoU-
IsIANA OVER THE WESTERN PRAIRIEs.
'The farmer here can work every day
n the year. In the west he can only work
ix months of the year.
'eThe season is SO long that meadows
nay be cut four times year. The eli
nate Is SO mild that it does not require
lalf the expenditure for clothing and
louses as in the west.
ssStock requires no shelter, and will
hrive on the wild range of natural grasses,
living greater and more regular increase
han in colder climates.
Vegetables are in season every month
q the year.
s"The Louisiana prairie is not subject to
'northers" in winter, drought in summer,
or to the devastation of grasshoppsrs, po-
Ito bugs or chintz bugs.
'sThere is ample forest growth near at
and for building, fencing and fire wood,
nd frequent navigable streams competing
18th the railroads and keeping down the
ost of transportation Of produce to market.
THAT A MAN CAN MAKE ON A LOUISIANA
FARM.
"Aftsr farm has been fenced and i'm
royed and machinery bought, it is almost
lcredible svhat man can make of agri.
1ltural products in this state.
zone hand with screw pulverizer and
,wer attached can put in two hundred
Tres of rice. At 12a bbls. per acre, this
ould yield $500 hundred barrels, worth
4 per barrel. Total value, $4,000. OF
PURSE this crop could not be harvested by
10 man, but the headers and binders are
,w being adapted to the harvesting of
CO. and 1t need not cost more to harvest
i'd prepare for market than wheat. Nearly
Of the state lands, being low, are emf
,ntly suitable for the cultivation Of rice.
there convenient to water, rice fields are
rigated, and no cultivation is required
"a farmer with the aid of new improved
achinery might easily put in one hundred