The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-12
ouIHERN PROGRESS
n1kxeATIoN or LouIsIAMA AND
 TEXAS RICE LANDS.
x< Cary, in The Manufacturers' , 1scord, Tells o8 the Work That
 Has Been Accomplished
 1eAumont Oil Fields.

o1timore. May 1i.-(Special.l l-Dur-
 2 the past ten years 2e.o00 persons
 5t1n the North and West have been
 <trncted to a couple of parishes in
 5u<hwest Louisiana by the demon
 kraticng of the fact that Irrigation in 5Gogl1unction with methods successfully ADrlied years ago to wheat-growing in mn Prairie State would make rice xxoNing equally successful. The result " tho existence of a practically new 1n1uatry in Louisiana and Texas with ' capital of s5,o0o.ooo invested in one 0uIdfed canals. l,500 miles in extent. An6 now capable. under present water 0ouditions, of flooding 300000 acres,
 54yeo0 invested in wells, which. in 1Aree years, have increased from twen- IT ~ 500. and the necessary machinery, u1d A,75o.o eco invested in thirty rice
 o1up ntted with the latest and most
 nrfered machinery. These facts are W1aght cut in an article by MT. s. l.. 0Ary of Jennings, La. q leader in the ElDt development. in this weeks Man.
 kneturers' Record, who, commenting
 uen the changes wrought since the in-
 teduction of modern methods and ma 4htnery into the rice fields by wheat EArmers of Iowa in 1884. says:
 xe4 'xoday in the rice belt we have found 3ha largest reservoir of irrigating wa- 1or in the world. the best possible for Uooding growing vegetation, and all 1hia without money or price. Then add to this the recent discovery of oil q the same belt, giving us the largest reservoirs of water for flooding and Dil for fuel in the world. The yield ~fsS< xnnp hoe hnaY1 innrQaead kl Der cent by flooding. The cost of wa Ter is one-fifth of the crop: the aver are xield is ten sacks of rough rice, Inc whole range is from nothing to fhirty-five sacks. 132 bushels per acre. Xhe price has had a range of $1 up to W q barrel of 162 pounds of rough rice, D1vfng fair average of 8 q: barrel. 4'Aiss would give an average of $30 Ter acre at . cost of $15 net This would mean s per cent upon $500 an n1cre: and. as good rice land can be bought at from s25 to s5e an acre, the preAts are certainly very satisfactory"
 As MT. Cary points out, the coinci- 1enee of fuel oil and rice mills in the sxyouisiana.Texas belt Is likely to re- duces the cost of handling the rice, and, consequently. to increase the profits of those Interested in this industry. At <h& Beaumont centre of oil production the wild speculation which character ixcd the situation for two or three weeks Is declining, though the excite .6ment sis maintained by the advent at Irregular intervals of new gushers, ten of them now having been brought in. Though there are now probably 200 der ricks in the Beaumont region. the in <ezest in oil is not confinsds to thai p6iz3x but has extended overthe SSt&te ana Into Louisiana. In thessRfrming. ham district, too. there is strong de. sire to find oil. while development fe steadily progressing in the Kentucky field. and Missouri authorities are in- vestigating prospects in one section of the State.
 With agriculture becoming the basis for rice mills in the Southwest, with plans for broom factories in Virginia. for sugar mills and starch factories in 1eoyKia and Florida, the quiet growth H0f other industries is indicated in va %xfons ways. One of these. pefhaps, ls the large number of projects for cleo fric roads in the South. The Manufac frrers' Record calls attention to the activity in this direction. particularly where within the past year as many companies have been organized to build electric lines connecting various com munities as in the rest of the South. Louisville is the terminus of several of these lines aggregating 175 miles in length, and one of them proposes to connect by a 50-n1ile stretch of ' rails three neighboring county seats. Sim liar activity Is manifested in West Vir ginia. Western Maryland. the Eastern Shore of the latter State, Virginia where construction has begun of road between Manchester and Petersburg and d plan to connect Roanoke and Eincastle has been revived, in Soutf Carolina for the benefit of a number uf mill icenters. in Louisiana, Georgia,