New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1904-08-13

LOUISIANA LEADS.

|
sugar cane culture i'm Louisiana as {
result of the reciprocity treaty Will
Cuba, some of the planters and farm
ersl of South Louisiana are already
cons idering the character of crops thai
might he most protitablv substituted
for sugar cane. A considerable quaint,
of the land last year devoted to sugar
cane was this year put down in rice
and cotton, and there seems to he
growing opinion that cane cultivation
in Louisiana will decline from yeal
to year until in the not distant future
| it will be limited to perhaps a half
dozen large plantations owned aud
operated by powerful syndicates.
1t is we'll, therefore, that the plant
ers aud farmers whose means are
limited should put themselves in a
state of preparedness to meet the
emergency when it arrives. Discuss
ing this subject, the Franklin Watch
man, published in what is known as
| the Sugar Bowl of the State, has
the following interesting information
in recent issue:
THE fellow who said that cotton
would not fruit in this country is
very poorly informed Just after the
war, when seed was very scarce
article, the people here raised cotton,
and plenty Of it too. The staple was
high in price and few crops of cotton
enabled and the sugar planters to again
embark in he cultivation of cane.
The gin was situated where the Han
son factory now stands. Where cotton
is now planted in this parish the yield
will be larger than the rich bottom
lands of North Louisiana
1t is frequently asserted by thos e
who are not conversant with the sub
ject, that the fertile land now devoted
to sugar production are untitled to
produce profitably any other sort of
crop The historical fact stated by
our Franklin contemporary shows the
inaccuracy of these assertions while
the success of rice and cotton Oh some
of the finest Mississippi lands this
year, shows that these lands will pro-
duce profitably greater variety of
products than any other lands i'm the
South. In st. James Parish. for in
stance, the finest tobacco in the world
has been successfully cultivated for
century, while up the river rs far as
Lutcher, and ont in the parishes of
Assumption, Terrebonne and La
fourche, st. Charles, st. John, ST.
Bernard and Plaquemines are to be
found some of the most profitable truck
farms in the entire country.
1t will be remembered that prior to
the period when sugar cane came to
be generally cultivated in South Lou
isiana, indigo was the crop planted
and this sectin became famous for it's
indigo. Gradually with changed con-
ditions, indigo became less profitable
than sugar cane and to-day not an acre
of indigo can be found in the State.
And so, with the diminishing profits
arising from sugar cane, we may rea-
look for that industry to pass
away, as was the case with indigo cul-
ture. When that happens, as happen
it will, it must not be supposed that
the splendid sugar fields will be aban-
doned and their broad and fertile acres
lie fallow and desolate. On the con-
trary, the change will come about so
as to be practically imper-
,eptible, and without producing any
thing like shock to the owners of |
hese valuable plantations. Gradual |
" one planter after another will |
'hange from sugar cane to cotton, rice,
obacco, hay, potatoes, stock breeding,
ruck farming, fruit growing, ETC.,
Until almot before we know 1t the
will have taken place.
Nor do we look upon this inevitable
of great and wealthy
agricultural district as being in any
ense an nnmixed evil. As matter
t fact we are convinced that it will
ot be without its distinct advantage
0 the State. 1t will mean smaller
arms and better titled fields 1t will
lean intensive, instead of extensive
arming. It will mean more white
armers and higher level of intelli-
ence among orr rural populations.
will mean more schools, and
more equitable taxation,
etter roads, better society and greater
nd more profitable returns from agri-
iltural effort. It will mean, in
,ort, q wider diversity of products,
broader field for effort, individual
I'd corporate, and . greatly elevated
andard of citizenship.
It is great mistake to suppose, as |