The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1892-02-06
WATER PLKN III IN THE
? RAISING gsREAL.
An Industry Ia That Ia Very
RICE.

~ ""e ""'Oi
Is Still In Its Infancy - How Rio,
Fields Are Kept Flooded.
"Tell You something about rice IN
louisiana" repeated Andrew @. WillSin
son, the owner of a large rice mill in
New Orleans, where the rice grown on
his plantation is cleaned, at the Gilsey
House 81 see that the papers have just
found out that Englishmen are trying
to buy up and form a trust of the rice
ml.is in the south, although the agents
have been down there for something
over six months, Nobody is quicker
than John Bull TO scent bargain.
New Orleans is the chief rice milling
city of America, Fifty years ago we
did not have such thing as a rice mill,
but now we have sixteen, working 22O
rice Founders and employing more than
1000 men. Louisiana has always been
known as the Sugar State, but we also
want to add to it that of the Rice State
of the Union.
"How is 1t cultivated Well. the
first necessity of profitable rice culture
is a 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 fume in the levee.a 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 ripening rice.
Before the ground is ready for the seed
1t is divided up by a system Of little
subleyees and watering bitches. 1t is
then planted in drills dug by machines
or rather | should say that the ma
chine is the proper way to do it, but the |
seed is 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
of 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
Dr. dried up by the least inattention in
the flow.
DRAWBACKS TO THE WORK.
On the other hand, with too much
water, crawfsh invade the fields and de-
Tour the delicate plants, while with none
It all, rice caterpillars cut them down
md Kill them. If you neglect the main
lume you not only risk the total loss of
our crop, but by permitting the water
0 get ahead of you there may come a
reak in the levee, and away go your
attic and crops. /,
"Ihe most expensive part of rice grow
1g comes when it is about foot high.
fter it has been literally watered; i
lean the grassing of the rice. You see.
ne laborers wade through the rice, pull
lg up and throwing into heaps ali the s
eeds and water grasses they find. This t
rasslng costs on an average about four t
pillars an acre, and after that is over
le rice planter has but little to do ex-
'pt to give it plenty of water. One pc
liar thing about irrigation is that the
,ads OF the rice plants never fill out.
matter how nuch water you give
EN- artificially, unless there are plenti-
! rains.
zone feature of rice cultivation would
great fun to city sportsmen, but is a
rrlble nuisance to us. | mean the
rds. Talk about your ducks and geese
ding the sun. Perfect clouds of rice
rds, English sparrows, summer ducks.
u and other fowl of the air and wa
:, come to see if they can't harvest our
BPS for us. From daybreak to dark a
rfect fnsilade from the guns and old
iskets is heard in hundreds of SQUARE I
les OF country. Over in this field you :
ar the shrill shouts Of creole farmers :
1eking out Sunday school language in
snch patols; from the next probably
deep chested whoop of negro field
IDS, and in another the hoarse yells "
the new American rice growers -
se who have come from the great
thern wheat fields. It is scream!-- -
\ ~ whoopl = bang! = boom!--in the -. =
siest battle from dawn to dark that stsr ass
ever heard. init
The rice birds are our worst enemies, fere sv,
while we kill millions of them, left 4.
manure the fields, other millions come
0 take their places. The ravages of ~
rice birds some years are fearful, %
crop being almost total loss. Per
$ now that the Yankees are coming
n to grow rice they may invent some
;hi1e that will either destroy the
s or keep them away.
PROFITS OF PIcE CULTURE.
As soon as pale yellow tint appears
the level heads of the opening 4
n the water is carefully drawn off, ~, :
fields being drained as thoroughly as .. so,l
lble, and the work of harvesting is you
IN The dried sheaves are carted oyr