The Opelousas courier., 1893-02-25
State Agricultural Department.

st. Landry Democrat.
COMMISSIONS Newsom, OF the Louisi-
ana Department of Agriculture, has sent
us his CROP report for December, dated
Baton Rouge, Jan. 30. 1t is an interest
ing document, and will be sent free to
any farmer who applies for it. 1t con-
talns, besides much valuable informa-
ton, this good advice:
This Bureau emphasizes it's protest
against an increased acreage in cotton
this year. Don't do it, unless you wish
to Te-enact the Genes and results of 81
and restore the prices of that disastrous
year. Let the light gathered by this sad
experience lllumine your future work,
and remember that he who has in album
dance all the necessary food crops for
man and beast is more independent than
the prince of cotton planters.
Ii another money crop be desired, try
TOBACCO. The very successful expert
ments III tobacco growing and curing,
made at the North Louisiana expert
ment station, Calhoun, La, indicate that
all of our hill and pine lands can profita-
bly, grow a fine yellow leaf. Perhaps
much of the a~lluvial lands of North and
the prairie and bluff lands of South Lou
isiana, could grow an excellent type of
cigar tobacco, and experiments now
being prosecuted will soon decide this
question.
Just here it may not be inappropriate
to emphasize the Importance of growing
more and better hogs. Under the slim
illus of increased expectation, made DOS
sible by recent removals of embargoes
upon American pork in foreign cOun-
tries, the prices of hog products have
advanced nearly 100 per cent, and that,
too, in the face Of largely increased re-
celpts. The consensus of opinion is that
this foreign demand will continue and
that the present prices will be maintain
ed or increased in the next few years.
With this view of the future, it behoOVes
our planters and farmers to grow their
own hogs, which they car do as cheaply
and as proftably as is done in the most
favored regions of the West.
The following are the crop estimates
of the Department:
The cotton crop has been greatly re-
duced from what it was last year. Our
estimate on the crop is about 400, 900
bales. =
The corn crop will go much above the
crop OF last year. We estimate the crop
at near Is, 000 900 bushels.
The rice crop is very much the largest
ever raised in Louisiana, and will come
very hedI Iou,uOU,VUU zone mare ara
million) pounds of clean rice. A
great portion of this crop is raised in the
parishes of st. Landry, Acadia and Cal
casieu.
Our estimate on the sugar crop is near
100000 hogsheads. 1t appears at this
date that we may have made our esti-
mate a little too low, however.
The crops of st. Landry are set down
as follows: Cotton, 14,437 bales; sugar,
1920 hogsheads molasses, 4446 barrels
of 80 gallons each ; corn, I'll, 1896 bushels;
rice, cleaned, 1882, $50 pounds; sweet
potatoes, 1878 bushels; irish potatoes
$4,000 bushels; oats, 5000 bushels.
Why will farmers pay 124 cents per
pound for bacon when they can have a
better and healthier meat at home for
one-fourth the cost, is a question hard
to W Instead of selling their cat
tie to butchers at two and three cents
per pound, farmers would find it greatly
to their advantage to pickle their beef
for the years supply.
The following recipe for picking beef
has been thoroughly tested, and is one
of the best ever discovered. It is good
at all times "Take two pounds of
sugar, two ounces of s~altpetre. one gal