The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-11-28

known as the Sugar State, but we also
want to add to it that Of the Rice State
Of the Union.
Chow is it cultivated? Well, the
first necessity Of profitable rice culture
is comparatively level piece Of land,
properly prepared for the seed. This field
must be located so as to be conveniently
irrigated from the prairie reservoir or
the hume in the levee. Highland rice
does not pay in Louisiana, the only
profitable rice being that grown IN
water. Water is the first and last want
of sprouting, growing and r1pening rice.
Before the ground is ready for the seed
it is divided up by a system of little
sublovee5 and watering bitches. It is
then planted in drills dug by machines
or rather 1 should say that the ma
chine is the proper way to do it, but the
seed ia frequently broadcasted with us in
Louisiana.
"Then comes the most delicate part,
in the water manipulation. After the
seed Is planted the soil is thoroughly
saturated with water to sProut it, but
the water is at once taken off when the
seeds have evenly germinated. and kept
off until the tender shoots Of the plant
rise two or three inches above the
ground. You can easily see that the
young plants may be either drowned out
or dried up by the least inattention in
regulating the flow.
DRAWBACKS TO THE WORK.
On the other hand, with too much
rs-avr~f'e1, sv,z~oI, A1,a As1lr ov,1 do
your the delicate plants, while with none
at all, rice caterpilars cut them down
and kill them. If you neglect the main
hume you not only risk the total loss Of
your crop, but'by permitting the water
to get ahead Of you there may come a
break in the levee, and away 20 your
cattle and crops.
"The most expensive part of rice grow
ing comes when It is about foot high,
after it has been literally watered; 1
mean the grassing Of the rice. You see,
the laboreTs wade through the rice, pull
ing up and throwing into heaps all the
weeds and water grasses they find. This
grassing costs on an average about four
dollars an acre, and after that is over
the rice planter has but little to do ex-
cept to give it plenty Of water. One pc
culiar thing about irrigation is that the
heads Of the rice plants never fill out,
no matter how much water you give
them artifcially, unless there are plenti-
full rains
zone feature of rice cultivation would
be great fun to city sport5men, but is a
terrible nuisance TO us. l mean the
birds. Talk about your ducks and geese
hiding the sun. Perfect clouds OF rice
birds, English sparrows, summer ducks,
| rail and other fowl Of the air and wa
ter, come to see If they can't harvest our
crops for us. From daybreak to dark a
perfect fusilade from the guns and old
muskets is heard in hundreds of square
miles Of country. Over in this field you
hear tine shTiu shouts Of creole farmers
shrieking out Sunday school language in
| French patOls; from the next probably
the deep chested whoop of negro field
hands, and in another the hoarse yells
of the new American rice growers
those who have come from the great
northern wheat fields. 1t is screaml-
pop!- whoopl bangl- booml-in the
noisiest battle from dawn to dark that
| you ever heard.
! "The rice birds are our worst enemies,
and while we kill millions of them, left
to manure the fields, other millions come
in TO take their places. The ravages Of
the rice birds some years are fearful,
the crop being almos total loss. Per.
haps now that the Yaukees are coming
down TO grow rice they may invent some
machine that viii either destroy the
birds or keep them away.
PROFITS OF RICE CULTURE.
As soon as a pale yellow tint appeari
over the level heads of the opening
grain the water is carefully drawn of
the fields being drained as thoroughly az
possible, and the work of harvesting il
begun. The dried sheaves are carted
direct from the field to the steam
thresher, where the grain is prepared fol
market.
"The profits in rice planting, with good
luck, viii in a few years make any mar
rich. The yields on good lands In Lou
isiana give from fifty to seventy-fivt
bushels to the acre. Rice is a plant
which is generous 10 the attentive and
industrious farmer, but it resents neg
lect more than any other cereal. A mar
can cultivate fifteen TO twenty acres ot
rice land and if strong and industrious
he can easily secure from 1000 to 1,5Ol
bushels Of rice, worth at present price
about q dollar a bushel. The work il
not hard, except during grassiug time
and, as good living is cheap with us, 4
small nee farmer can easily save one
half Of his gross income.
"The cultivation of rice in Louisiani
is still IN its infancy. Many Of the hun
dreds Of immigrants are yearly turning
their attention 20 rice, and at the pres
ent rate Of increased acreage Louisiana
will be able to supply the entire countr!
with this most valuable cereal. New
York Telegram.
Il has been frequently noticed tina
there are epidemics of robberies as vel
as Of suiCide1 and other crimes. A Grim
ind epidemic, peculiar 10 a half dozel
larg. cities of the United States tina
have @ large and vicious population, i
that Of Sunday murders, which are tn
results Of q day of idleness. Then
again, murders with peculiar feature
often occur in groups in all parts.of tn
country In France there is a tradition
centuries old, that epidemics Of suicid
return in regular cycles, at each recur
renee of tho suicidal furor the succes
ive victims of their own murderou
> hands yiaiug with one another in tn
greater Elastliness OF the tragedy tina
they enact.
Stories Of wife murders in yariou
parts Of the country, relieved by a fey
exceptional murders of husbands b
by their wives, reach the press simul
tmeously from many different sources
Murder is in the air" has become
stere0typed expression among newspape
men and detectives, who know from ez
perieuCe that such epidemics viii ru
their cycles and cause many blood
records TO be made before they hav
spent their fury.
With bank robberies it is the SAINT
Il is not often that a single robbery
made-one is sure TO breed others; "the
come not singly, but in whole batta
ions" This is not because the sam
gang engages In many different entei
prises, but because a universal Eimila
impulse permeates the minds Of Ii
Glasses devoted 10 that form of guilt.
ST. Louis Republic.