The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-08-20
THE CULTIVATION OF RICE.

o Census Report Describes Irriga
tion Methods in South Car
. o1ina.
Q The census bulletin on agricultul
r in South Carolina has the followin
ON rice culture:
The beginning Of irrigation in Sout
: Carolina was contemporaneOus wit
the Introduction of rice growing, th
irrigation systems being similar t
those now IN use. Rice was fire
planted in 100, and from that tim
until 1861 South Carolina ranked frs
among the States in its production
Changed labor conditions since th
war, and the great expense Of main
tenance, due to the destructive dikes
and the total loss of crops by floods
which are frequent since the defores
tation of the mountain slopes, which
operated against the growth of this in
dustry and rice culture has not made
the progress here that it has in few
other States.
Rice is irrigated in South Caroline
by manipulating river waters through
trunks built in the dikes which protect
the low marsh lands from the rivers
The delta lands are selected with ref.
erence to the possibility of flooding
from the rivers with fresh water at
high tide, and of draining them at low
| tide. The reclamation of these lands
necessitates the building, parallel with
the river, of costly dikes, capable of
sot, 4, <>cf hn
also that of the river in time of fresh
cts. After the dikes are built, the
field is divided into sections and
squares by similar banks, called
"check" banks. These squares con-
tain from to 80 acres each, and in
turn are subdivided by bitches into
bed, usually about thifty-fve feet
wide and extending the length of the
square. Each of these squares has
wooden trunk with a door at each end,
through which the water is admit ed
TO the field. The trunks are from 80
TO 40 feet long, from 3 TO IL feet wide,
and about sixteen inches deep and are
built under the dikes on IL level with
the beds of the bitches. In flooding
the field the outer door is raised and
the inner closed. As the tide rises
the water comes In through the
trunk, pushes the field door open, and
passes through the bitches to the field.
When the tide falls in the river, the
pressure of the water in the field closes
the inner swinging door against the
muzzle of tho trunk, thus holding the
water. In draining the field this
method is reversed, the field door be-
ing raised at low tide and the outer
door dropped. The unlimited supply
of fresh water and its perfect control by
this system of flooding and draining,
account for the superior quality of rice
for which South Carolina is famous.
The practice of dumping the harbor
dredgings into the river above Savan-
nah has injured the system Of dram
age, causing the abandonment of a
number of rice plantations along the
Savannah River. On many planta-
tions, which formerly were readily
drained at low tide, pumping is now
resorted TO when the rivers are high, as
the fields can not properly be drained.
The pumps, which are mounted on
flats or lighters, are operated by steam
and shifted on the river from field TO
field. The suction pipe is dropped
over the dixie into any desired field and
the water pumped into the river.
Rice is grown inland on low,
swampy lands, which are flooded from
reservoirs or small streams. The cul-
tlvation of upland VI "Providence"
rice is attempted in many Of the in-
terror counties, but owing to the low
yiold and an occasional total failure
the results are not satisfactory.
Orangeburg County has the larges.
crop of upland rice, and in 1899 pro-
duced 2,2G6 ,1G2 pounds, an average
yield of 300 pounds per acre. The
irrigated crop is sure as compared with
that of the uplands, the average yield
per acre being much higher, and the
quality of rice far superior.
Tide water irrigation is generally
practiced in Beaufort, Berkeley, Collie
ton, Charleston, Georgetown, and
Hampton counties. In 1890 the rice
acreage of these counties, irrigated
and upland, was 700 per cent. of the
total, while the production, 40, ,651 ,GG4
pounds, was $50 per cent. Of the total
rice crop of the Stale. The average
yield per acre was 74S pounds. The
total product of all other counties was
G,708 AGA pounds, an average of 2SS
pounds per acre.
1t is impossible to ascertain the ex.
act cost of reclaiming these delta lands.
Rice irrigation was reported on 648
plantations; the average was 20 500,
and the yield, 3,467 ,101 pounds.
The average first cost per acre for
preparing rice lands for irrigation, in
elusive of cost of construction of dikes,
trunks, check banks and bitches, is es-
timated to be $28.68, and the systems
in use represent total Investment of