Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-07-29

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culture work row carried
on in the new rice belt along the Gulf
Of Mexico, in Louisiana and Texas.
Conditions there have not been wholly
satisfactory during the last year, but
the Department is doing all ii can to
help the rice planters, and the indicN-
lions are that the growing of the white
cereal in comparatively short time
will be one of the principal industries
Of the Southwest.
The acreage devoted 10 rice in Louis
lana and Texas last year comprised
ninety-three per cent Of the entire rice
acreage of the United States, according
to figures published not long ago by
the Department. A total of 610,700
acres was planted in the two States,
and as the total five years ago, when
rice was first recognized as staple in
that SECTION, was only 210,396, 1t will
ne seen llluC Ittv s..-.,ao Sc was more
than 100 per cent. Louisiana now has
the largest acreage in rice. Last year
376,5O0 acres were planted. Texas Is
showing a much more rapid rate of in
crease, having gone from Sill acres
in 1899 to 234,2O0 in 1904. 1t is official
~ established that about 100000 acres
which have not yet been touched are
available for rice culture in the two
States, while individuals who are on
the ground and should know whereof
they speak, say that Texas alone has
at least 100000 acres of land on
which rice may be successfully grown.
The industry has plenty of room in
which to expand.
IRRIGATION OF RICE FIELDS.
The expertse of the Department say
that the prairie lands along the Gulf,
reaching from Bayou Tuche in Louis
lana to a point near the mouth of the
Rio Grande In Texas, are better adapt
ed to rice culture than those of any
other section of the country. Under
present conditions, these lands are the
only ones on which it can be prOfitably
cultivated. These praries for some
distance back from the Gulf are under
laid by a stratum of impervious clay.
AS it is absolutely necessary to have
the rice fields covered with water dur
ing the growing season, the clay sub
soil makes this possible. On ordinary
land the thousands Of gallons of irrlga-
ton water-and all the rice fields in the
new belt are iTrigated-wOuld soak in
almost Immediately, but on the prairies
where rice Is now grown so extensively
the underlying clay prevents this waste
of water, and the process Of irrigation
Is therefore comparatively inexpensive.
All of the big rice-growing concerns
have their own pumping plants located
along the banks of some river or bayou.
The pumps I'LL up the big main supply
canals, scores of miles of which are to
be found traversing the rice belt, and
from these lateral irrigation bitches
lead out across the field. The smaller
farmers either rent their water supply
i,,r,i ernt tla il,
fields from wells dug especially for the
purpose Artesan water Is easily OBJ
tainable in most parts of the Gulf re-
gion, so that this latter process is COM
paratively cheap.
The clay subsoil also makes it posi-
BILE for the farmers to drain their fields
thoroughly Mt harvest time. 1t is es-
sential that this be done, in order to
permit the use of heavy harvesting and
threshing machinery, the enforced alb
sence of which in the old rice growing
region in the South Atlantic States has
been so largely responsible for the
decadence of the rice industry there.
INCREASED PRODUCTION IN
LOUISIANA AND TEXAS.
The decrease of rice production in the
CarOlinas and Georgia, incidentally,
has been even more marked than the
increase in Texas and Louisiana.
There has been a siXty-fOur per cent.
loss in acreage in the last five years,
and reports made by the Bureau Of
Statistics indicate continuance of this
decrease and the ultimate extinction
Of the rice-growing industry in that
region, which, up to the time the value
Of the Gulf belt was discovered, was
supreme in the world of rice produc-
ton. None Of the three Atlantic States
has been harmed by the gradual dimi-
mutton of the acreage and yield of the
cereal, because in practically every
instance other crops have been found
more profitable. In the Gulf country,
on the other hand, great impetus
has been given general business, be-
cause the land now devoted to rice
was formerly held to be almost worth
less, and the cultivation of it under eX-
listing conditions is materially enhanc-
ing its value. A conservative unofficial
estimate places at $1S,O00,O00 the in
creased value Of the prairie lands, be-
cause CT the discovery that they are
peculiarly adapted to the culture of
rice.
The cheapness Of the Gulf lands, as
compared with those formerly devoted
to rice-growlng in the South Atlantic
cry can be used on the former and
not on the latter, and the unsatisfac-
tory prices recently received by the
Atlantic Coast product, arc the most
potent reasons for the transference
of the centre of the rice Industry to the
new section. Because North and South
Carolina and Georgia could not COM
pete with Louisiana and Texas, the
Atlantic lands formerly devoted to
rice have been gradually given over to
other crops.
IMMIGRATION ATTRACTED TO
SOUTHWEST.
One of the results of the satisfactory
developments in the Gulf region. ac-
cording to the Departments reports,
has been heavy stream of immigra-
ton toward the Southwest. The rail-
roads there have been very active in
inducing immigra don from other
States in the Union, and from other
countries. The comparative cheapness
of the rice lands has appealed to the
newcomers. and they have taken up the
growing of tho cprant The thing hns