The morning news., 1898-11-15
MONEY IN UPLAND RICE.
A Good Crop for Farmers to substi-
tute for Cotton.

A Good Crop for Farmers to substi-
tute for Cotton.
why don't the farmers of South Geor-
gia take up the growing Of upland rice2"
said prominent business man to Morn
ing News reporter yesterday. with cot
ton at the present low prices and little
prospect of improvement it is certainly
time that the farmers set about hitting
upon some new crop which is likely to
prove more remunerative.
Upland rice" the business man said,
lis a crop which should prove profitable
TO the farmers in this section. 1t was
formerly raised in large quantities in the
vicinity of Savannah. The price dropped
so low some years ago, however, that the
farmers gave up planting rice almost en-
tirely. This rs where they were mistaken
as prices have ruled much better since
and they would have found rice much
more profitable crop than cotton. This up
land rice brings 20 cents to dollar
bushel, according to quality, and is in
good demand. As from twenty to thirty
bushels per acre can be produced there is
good money in it for the farmers. This is
a good deal more than they can make per
acre from cotton and as the cost of pro-
ducing the rice Is much less than that of
producing cotton the argument is alto
gether in favor of the rice. Many of our
farmers, especially the small farmers in
this section of the state, are in very poor
condition due to the low prices of cotton
and the damage to the crop by the storms.
Cotton from the storm area Is selling as
low as 312 cents per pound. Many of these
farmers have no money with which to
pay for picking their cotton and are una
BILE to borrow because they are already
heavily In debt. In consequence much
cotton win be left unpicked in the fields"
The total amount of upland rice
brought TO Savannah this season will not
reach 5000 bushels said another business
man. when l was in business around
the market several years ago l bought as
high as 5000 bushels OF upland rice in one
year. When the price dropped to 40 to
As cents the farmers gave up planting rice.
They would have done better TO keep their
lands in shape as they would have found
ii TO pay them better than planting cot
ton. A first class article of upland rice
can be raised in this state The grain is
a little smaller than the upland rice and
consequently does not DflnB quite as hlSD
price. The upland rice can be raised
much cheaper than the lowland, however.
1t can be raised as cheaply as wheat or
oats. 1t is not necessary to use any fer
tilizer and there is less labor required than
in raising cotton. There is always a good
market for this rice and l know of no
crop so well suited 10 this section nnr one
to which the farmers can turn with the
least expense to themselves
An authority gives some figures on the
of rice throughout the world.
The United States is among the lowest
on the list. The consumption of this
country being only four pounds per capita
per annum, while that of Great Britain is
nine pounds and Italy fourteen pounds.
In Japan the consumption of rice is 300
pounds and In Bombay SAT pounds per
capita per aunum.
Outside of the Southern states rice is
but very little used in this country, being
regarded more as a delicacy in the North
than as a staple of article of food. Even
in the South il is not used as a daily arr
ticle of food, except along the coast and
in a few of the larger cities. Even with
the small consumption of four pounds per
capita the total annual consumption of
rice in the United States reaches the total
of 300, 10000 pounds annually. OF this a
large part is imported from Japan. The
present tariff is very favorable to the do
mestice rice growers and there is no rea-
son why the production should not be
greatly increased without materially af-
fecting the price