The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-11-20
CULTIVdR6D WITH WATER.


HOW RJouxa nLouD ZOE HARKET
~ xsLANA.
water a shel TIE and Last Want
OF Hice H5n<korS--Grsssing the
Crop4f The kisaucs Of the fsi..-
"TeIi sou fdnsthipg shout rice In
LouisisiaY { ssposted Andrew q.
WiikinSoS tie owBsr OF large rice mill
In New a(2<1eaIs. where the rice grown
on his pIkatatfsas Is cleaned, ct the Gil.
sey Houta s,Is THAT tho papers have
lust found Ga fbsf glishmen are try
ing to buy up srx96r > trust Of the
rice mills In thsf South, aithough the
agents have beed down there for some.
thing over sixS months.s Nobody is
quicker than JobnBull to scent bargain
and when the South began i,s march on
the road Of its present marvellous growth
he simply poured his money In golden
stream into our Southsrp States. He
bought our coal aud iron mines, our
timberlands. the phosphate beds and now
he is trying to form trust in the rice
mills. While it will take several mil
lion dollars to in any way give them ths
controll OF the rice market, II they do
succeed in getting it q mighty good pay.
ing investment it will be.
"New Orleans Is the chief rice mill
ing city In America. Fifty years ago
we did not have such thing as rice
mill, bat now we have sixteen, working
220 rice Founders and employing more
than twelve hundred men. Working
these sixteen mills all the year and
helped by four other large steam mills,
we in New OrleSxs, will be hard pressed
to harH9SssHG3E seasons, rice crop.
Louisjapa has alw.sys been known 90 tls
Sugar State. but we also want to add tc
it that Of the Rice State OF the Union.
chow Is It cultivated2 Well, the first
necessity of profitable rice culture Is a
comparatively level piece OF land, prop
erly 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 rlpening rice. Before the
ground is ready for the seed it is divided
up by system of little levees and water
ing bitches. 1t is then planted in drills
duy by machines--or, rather, l should
say that the machine is the proper way
to do it, but the seed is frequently broad
casted with us iu Louisiana.
'Theu 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
| toly off u,ho no
seeds have evenly germinated, and kept
oil 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 ia
regulating the dow. On the other hand ,
with too much water, crawfsh invade
tie fields and devour the delicate plants,
while with none at all, rice caterpillarj
cut them down and kill them. II you
neglect the main tiume you not only risk
the total loss of your crop, but by per-
mitting the water to get ahead of you
there may como a break in the leve1 aud
away 60 your cattle and crops.
"'rhe most expensive part OF rias
growing comes when it is about FOOT
high, after it has been literally watered
mean tue grussing Of the rice. Iol
see, the laborers wade through the rice,
~ - Fcec5 7'7aT 81 'Tns into uenps q!
This grassing costs on IN average abou
81 an acre, ana after that is over the rict
planter has but little to do except tc
give it plenty Of water. One peculiar
thing about irrigation i, that the heads
of the rice plants never ill out, no mat.
ter how much water you give them arti.
hcially, unless there are plentiful rains.
Zone feature Of rice cultivation woulC
be great fun to city sportSmcn, but it's 4;
terrible nuisance to us. mean the birds
Talk about your ducks and geese hiding
the sun. Perfect clouds of rice birds
English sparrows, summer ducks, raj
and other fowl of the air and water
come to see if they can't harvest ou
crops for us. From daybreak TO dark
perfect fusillade from the guns and ole
muskets is heard in hundreds of squar
miles of country. Over in this field yo,
hear the shril shouts of Creole farmer
shriekiug in Ere&sa-patois; from tn,
next probably the deep chested whoop o
negro field hands, and in another tn
hoar.c yells of the new American rie
growers VINO have come trom the
great Nori hsrn wheat fields. 1t Is scream
--pop!- whccr!-- naugi-- boom!-
boom in the noisiest battle from dawl
to dark that you ever hear. The ric
birds are Cur worst enemies, aud while
we Kill millions Of them, lett to manure
the fields, other millions come in to tax,
their places. The ravages OF the ric,
birds some years are fearful, the crol
beng almost II total loss.
AS soon as pale yellow tint appear.
over tho level heads OF the opening
grain the water is carefully drawn off,
the fields being drained as thoroughly as
possible, and the work of harvesting i.
begun. The dried sheave; are carted
direct from the field to the steam
thresher, where the grain is prepared for
market
"Iho profits IL rice planting, with
good luck, will in few years make any
man rich. The yields on good lands in
Louisiana give from. fifty to seventy five
bushels 10 the acre. iiice is a plant
which is generous to the attentive and