The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-07-12
RICE MADE CROWLEY.
The Marvellous Development of
a Louisiana City Through
Irrigation.
MANY MILES OF CANALS HERE
1t Was Built On a Prairie Few
Years Ago, and Has
Grown Apace.

| moreover. where the w>rk OF deveio,
| ment, including the digging OF scores
| miles or irrlgating canals, has been pc
Formed by men who live, labor and ha,
invested their capital here.
Many Northern Men Here,
The rice Industry OF Acadia parisi
which has an area of GAO square mile
and embraces as fine prairie lands q
exist In the South, has opened an avenu
TO wealth that 1900 or more Western an
Northern people have sought within
rev years. and the most OF them hav
prospered by coming here. Rice cultur
In this region was begun many years az
by Acadians. the descendants Of the paS
toral people who were expatriated fror
Nova Scotia between the years 1855 {
lIIo by the British government, and 70
generations was pursued only TO suppl
local wants. The Acadians were kindly
simple folk, who used primitive agricul
tural methods and were content with tn
oounties which nature yielded almost a
gratuities In this Eden-like land. The
did not seek great wealth, and let In
golden opportunities OF years slip by un
needed. When tho present wave OF immi
over the South. and men from the Mort
and West began 20 examine into tn
southern country. the profits OF rice rails
Ing attracted their attention, and IN
the interest this embryonic Industry ex
fourlshed.
The excellent quality OF the rice raise,
the county seat. gained for Il a read,
market, and the yield per acre was st
large that the farmers made big profits
many or them acquiring a competenc,
expense Of growing rice in Crowley /.
ABOUT the same as the Cost OF raisinl
wheat In the North and the yield 4
from 10 10 IS barrels per acre. Good rice
IN Acadia, while rice is worth from 81 tc
IS or more barrel. Since South.
west Louisiana produces two-thirds
St tne rice grown in the Unitec
states the revenue 20 this sec.
ton from this staple can easily h,
appreciated as enormous even-by ths
stranger The increasing demand for
son tor the production OF the crop has, II
Is sald doubled the price OF lands each
year since they were put upon the mar
ket, the reason being that a clear prof,
OF sto an acre has not been unusual. The
sea level, and gradually slope 10 The
Gulf or Mexico upon the south. They arc
too high for overflow either from the
rivers or sea, and IN their natural state
are covered with grasses which AFFORD AS
good pssturage as any stock breeder
could wish for fattening purposes.
The Soil f. Rich,
The soil IL rich brown or black loaru
underlaid with heavy. dry subsoil. and
b easily broken up and TILED. II has IN,
virtue besides OF being retentative of fer
tiiizers, IL the latter be used. Farmers
from the West who have located hero say
that the longer this soil is worked the
more fertile It becomes. and in many in
stances rice has been raised in the same
Held for from 10 TO IA consecutive Yea re-
without fertilization, and vet the LAST
srop would be the largest OF all. More
- cahIa INFANT nj IN n growth OF vegetation. the
The best OF the level bottom-lands OF iIi~
nois, and are not only adapted 10 the
cultivation or rice, but will produce su-
tobacco and vegetables and
'ruit OF every kind. As large orops of
.ither can be raised on farms sold around
Crowley at s25 an acre as can be grown
sast, where plantation land brings from
100 to 500 an acre.
Sugar growing yies with rice raising for
precedence as the most profitable OF
,rops, and these prairies are Thoroughly
lifted for the former branch OF aRrlcui
ure. Acadia parish has sugar lands
which win yield from 20 to 80 tons an
ere, ,o ahd the crop finds a ready sale
ounding Crowley not only includes som.
n the most fertile tracts Of land in thi,
vonderful state. but is finely drained.
'rowiDg season is OF extreme length. The
ear Of crop failure does not haunt ths
.griculturist OF Southwestern Louisiana
such mishaps are not Indigenous to this
'lizzards and cyclones do not devas tata
where chintz bugs and grasshoppers do
'ot ravage. and whore labor in the OMEN
ar Is not prevented by temperature at