The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-01-14
The Cultivation of Rice.

the largest in America.
The Cultivation of Rice.
| The census bulletin on agriculture
in South Carolina has the following
on rice culture:
The beginning of irrigation in
South Carolina was contemporaneoas
with the introduction Of rice growing,
the irrigation systems being similar
to those now in use. Rice was first
planted in 1700, and from that time
until 1861 South Carolina ranked first
| among the states in it's production.
Changed labor conditions since the
war, the greater expense Of malnten-
ance, due to the destruction OF dikes,
and the total loss of crops by foods,
which are frequent since the deforest-
alton of the mountain slopes, have
operated against the growth Of this
industry and rice culture has not made
the progress here that it has in few
other states.
Rice is irrigated in South Carolina
by manipulating river waters through
trnL KS built in the dikes which pro-
tect the low marsh lands from the NV
ers. The delta lands are selected with
reference to the posi- bility 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, paral-
lei with the river, Of costly dikes,
capable of resisting the force of the
food tide, and also that of the river
in time Of freshets. After the dikes
ara built, the field is divided into Sec
tions and squares by similar banks,
called check banks. These squares
contain from i've to thirty acres each,
and in turn arc subdivided by bitches
into beds, usually about thirty-fFe feet
wide and extending the length Of : the
square. Each of these squares has
wooden trunk with door at each end,
through which the water is admitted
to the field. The trunks are from
thirty to forty feet long, from three to
twelve feet wide, and about sixteen
inches deep and are built under the
dikes on level with the beds of the
bitches. In flooding the fields 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 ditches to the field. When the
tide fails in the river, the pressure
Of the water in the field closes the in
ner swinging door against the muzzle of
the trunk, thus holding the water.
In draining the field this method is re-
versed, the field door being raised at
low tide and the outer door dropped.
The unlimited supply of fresh water
and It's perfect control by this system
of flooding and draining, accounts for
the superior quality Of rice for which
South Carolina is famous.
=: The praeticeso3. .dumpSag,th the harbor
dredgings into the river above SaVan-
nah has Injured the system OF drain
age, causing the abandonment OF
number Of rice plantations along the
Savannah River. On many plantations,
which formerly were readily drained
at low tide, pumping. is now Eesrted
to when the rivers are high, as the
fields can not be properly drained. The
pumps, which are mounted on fats or
lighters, are operated by steam and
shifted on the river from field to field.
The suction dip 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-
tiyation of upland or Providence
rice is attempted in many Of The in.
terror counties, but owing to the low
yield and an occasional total failure
the results are not satisfactory.
Orapgeburg County has the largest
crop of upland rice, and III 1899 pro-
duced 2,266, 1872 pounds, an average
yield of 800 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 generall..'
practiced in Beaufort, Berkeley, Col
Teton, Charleston, Georgetown, and
Hampton Counties. In 1899 the rice
acreage Of these counties, ifriagted and
upland, was 20 per cent of tho total,
while the production, 4o,65l, 664
pounds, was 96 per cent of the total
rice crop of tie state. The average
Weld per acre was 74S pounds. The
total product of all other counties was
| 6, T09, 464 pounds, an average Of 2S9
pounds per acre.
1t is impossible to ascertain the ex-
act cost of reclaiming these deltalands.
Rice irrigation was reported on GAS
plantations: the average was %, $50,
and the yield, 30, 467, 19l pounds. The
average first cost per acre for prepar-
ing rice lands for irrigation, inclusive
of cost of construction of dikes,
trunks, check banks and bitches, is
estimated to be S28. 68, and the sys-
TENS in use represent total invest
ment of over 1851, 800.