Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-07-18
Rice Growing in Louisiana.


Modern rice growing commenced
with the advent of settings from the
northern and northwestern states.
These men saw vast prairie and tim.
ber country, beautiful to look upon,
covered with waving grass and innam-
cradle herds of loving kline and grace
full Creole ponies, majestic forests of
timber bordering all the numerous
rivers, bayous and lakes that furnish
beautiful and most valuable border and
division for tho many prairies in South
west Louisiana.
These men, in looking about fer 9
living, at first hit upon fruit growing.
A semi tropical climate admitting
great variety of products must be
good fruit country, and so it proves.
But northwestern farmers are not ex-
pert fruit raisers and none bnt experts
succeed in fruit, or in anything else.
We we're expert grain raisers, entirely
familiar with latest improved farm
machinery, but were failures in the
trait business. We saw the Acadian
farmers growing small patches of rice
in low spots on the prairies, trcdden in
to the soft ground by the cattle and
horses, watered by the rains of heaven,
and still the crop was profitable one.
Seeing this the wheat farmer compared
notes. Wheat gives ten bushels per
acre, rice averages forty. Wheat aver
ages fifty cents bushel at place Of
production, rice averages seventy-five
cents bushel. The cost of growing
the forty bushels of rice was from ten
to fifteen dollars, and On an acre of
wheat from five to seven dollars, leav-
ing the advantage largely with the rice
farmer.
But could rice be grown on large
scale? How could the land be flooded
Would the land support the harvesting
and other heavy machinery? Also the
question of market, mills and roads
levees, and drainage after flooding. All
these must be answered favorably and
they have been.
The soil of the prairies is q heavy
clay underlaid at q depth of one te
three feet with sub-soil of heavier
clay 10 to $50 feet, and all nearly imper
yious to water, easily flooded and sup
porting easily the heaviest farming
machinery, thus differing from all othe
rice lands Of which we have any his
tory. But sixty inches of rain is no
sufficient to flood lands under all cir
cumstances, therefore this must be SUP
plemented with artificial irrigation
canals fed from rivers, lakes and bay
Gus running over the surface of a.
almost level prairie with fumes upol
either side to put water upon the field
Of rice. Nearly one hundred of thea
from one mile to fifty in length floc
the land with water and our peopl
with wealth.
These were started some six yerl
ago. Three years ago some entelpri
| ing farmers conceived tho idea of pu
ting down wells. This was attemptt
and attended with many ditlicultie
! The soil was made up of alternate la.
/. ers of clay and quicksand and the diI
ging of wells was unsuccessful unit
t accomplished by hydraulic pressure, (
D that now we have one hundred to OF
hundred and fifty successful wells.
six inch well $50 to 200 feet in depth,
Eve inch pump and ten horse pow
engine will flood one hundred acr
; successfully, at a cost of one to tbr
dollars per acre, which is always i
cluded as part of the cost per acre
the crop.
II Nearly all the prairie country can
;. flooded by canals or wells. Each M
~ of canal can flood one thousand acr'
= each well from one to three hundre
Wells are generally $50 to $50 feet dee
y the water rises to the surface or near
- and can be united at water level o
J 70 one large pump and engine may do
~ q dozen wells, more or less. The
seems to be an unlimited supply
water in the earth at q general depth
T., $50 feet, rising to or near the surfs
ut as soon as reached.
n Fifteen years ago mills and mari
It. were at New Orlesns-Southwest Ii
n. isiana was an unknown. quantity
of country. The Carolinas grew the r
d. of the United States "a very little v
of grown along the Mississippi river W
he Mississippi water from fumes or
m phon. At this time, 1884, one Maur
he Bfyne, of Delaware county, To-
Ii. brought twlne Mccormick harves