The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-25
BIG INCREASE
IN RICE PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED
 STATES.
Importations Fall Off--Louisiana and Tex as Arc in tho Lead-Big Field Yet
 Available.


 Washington Correspondence to the New
 York Journal of Commerce
 The cultivation of rice is rapidly becoming an important agricultural industry in all of those parts of the United States adapted to the growing of this grain. and if the production continues to increase for few years as rapidly as it has in the past rive years this country will soon cease to he an importer of rice in any considerable auanti- ties and will have a large surplus for ex- port.
 Rice has been raised along the South Atlantic seacoast of the United States since a century before the American Revolution. but 1t is only since modern farming meth- ods have been adopted in Southwestern Louisiana and Southeastern Texas within comparatively recent years that the indus try has made much headway. The intro duction of improved methods in the South western territory began about twenty years ago and since then the industry has ad- yanced very rapidly The census of lsoO showed that for the crop year of 1899 the total area devoted to rice culture in the United States was 342214 acres and the to- tai production was 25O. 227 pounds.
 preliminary report by the special agent of the Bureau of Statistics in the Agricul- turaI Department assigned to the rice crop shows that this year the total area amounts to 400 acres, an increase in five years of eighty eight per cent. Assuming that the average production per acre will be about the same this year as was shown by the census figures the total rice crop of the United states will be about Fo,32s'ioo pounds.
 The growing importance of the South western rice fields Is shown by the division of the total acreage among the States. North Carolina has 1.s00 acres in rice; South Carolina. 33.30o: Georgia, 5000: Louisiana. 3s5.1oo. and Texas, 2342oo. Tn the census year Louisiana and Texas had but 5s per cent of the total rice acreage of the country. This year they have SSl per cent of the total.
 The natural tendency of this increased domestic production would be to increase consumption and to decrease importations. and there are evidences that both these results are being brought about. For the fiscal year ending June 30., 1899. the total imports of rice into the United States amounted to 53.s37.o2s pounds. and of rice flour and broken rice to 50340, ,267 pounds making A total for rice and rice products of 2O4.177.293 pounds. For the fiscal year ending June 30 this year. the importations of rice amounted to I5,323,l57 pounds and of rice flour and broken rice to 7s.Sas.615 pounds. making the total i'm ports of rice and rice products4for the year i54221,772 pounds. This shows marked decline In imports.
 The increase in consumption is shown hy the fact that the aggregate of domestic production and of imports of rice and rice products is much greater now than five years ago This total for the census year amounted to 454,45751O pounds. Assuming that the imports for the current year will reach a total of 125.000. 900 pounds-and as- sumption that Is warranted by the fact that many consumers especially the Chinese and Japanese on the Pacific coast, insist on having imported rice-the total of pro- duction and importation will amount to 595 326 zoo pounds, an increase over 1899 of no S6S, ,s90 pounds.
 consumption in the United States however become an exporter of rice and rice prod ucts on a small scale. The total of these exports during the past fiscal year amount ed to 99I1I.793 pounds. valued at $2sS. 7@s. and the total for the current fiscal year will probably be considerably larger
 IT the devcOpmentof the rice industry in the Southwest is to continue until all of the area suitable for this grain is devoted to fl, cons derable foreign market will hae 10 he built up. as Dr'' B. T. Galloway chicf Of tho Bureau of Plant Industry in the Agr,cuitural Department estimates that there are still 30O0.OO0 acres of land in Louisiana and Texas suitable for growing rice At the average rate Of production for the census year, this would add 2.l93. 900 0GO pounds to the crop of the United