The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-13
Increase in Production.

CdoC III FtoobShtObs
 The remarkable change in the move ments into and out of the United States is due in part to the large increase in production which has recently developed in Louisiana and Texas and in part to the new relations of the United States with certain rice-consuming communities, especially those of Porto Rico, Hawaii, and Cuba the two former through an- nexation and the latter through the re- ciprocity treaty. Formerly rice was grown only in the coast counties of the Caro- linas and Georgia and the Mississippi delta but few years ago it was discov- cred through experiments made by the department of agriculture that certain prairie lands in south Louisiana and Texas, which had been formerly con sdered fit only for grazing, were pecu- liarly adapted to rice culture. These prai- ries are comparatively level, with a slight slope toward the gulf and have a num- Der of navigable rivers and numerous lakes and bayous from which irrigation, so necessary for rice culture, can be de- Veloped and conducted at comparatively small expense. The prairies are from 20 to 70 feet above the surface of the streams and bayous, and intersected by numerous ridges slightly higher than the rest of the land On these ridges canals are built on the surface level by throwing up paral- Tel levees, while pumping plants at the heads of the canals lift the water from the stream or lake into these canals. from which 1t is carried by gravity to the areas In Which 1t is required for irrigation.
 Artesian Wells Bored.
 In addition to this. the prairies in ques- ton are underlain at a depth of from 100 to 400 feet by a water-bearng gravel. rom which water supply is readily ob- tained by artesian wells. The discovery. through the joint work of the department or agriculture and the geological survey, that this area was especially available Tor rice production resulted in a large movement of population from the states or the middle west to the producing section, and, as consequence the pro- duction of rice in the United States has grown from less than 100, ,000 GOO pounds in 1880 and 137 900 in 1890 to nearly .O00.- OOO,OoO pounds in 1904, and the United States now takes rank among the rice producing countries of the Orient where this article is the chief food supply labor plentiful and climate specially suited to Its production, yet in point of quantity available for distribution to the worlds markets the United States even now holds quite an important rank. At present the United States apparently ranks fourth in the list of rice-producing countries of the world the figures of exports In the latest available years being: India, 5,533 100000
 
 Indo-China. 1,514, GOO pounds the United States, 204,S54,679 pounds, including ship ments to it's non-contiguous territory; Ja- pan. 103,000,000 pounds; Dutch East Indies, S5,O00,000 pounds; Italy, S2,Oo0OO0 pounds: Corea, 100000 pounds, and Spain, 30 OO0,- 900 pounds.
 Japan Is Big Importer.
 The list of rice-importing countries of the world is much larger than that of rice-exporting countries. Japan, which Is usually looked upon as so great d rice producer as to give a large surplus for exportation, fin fact imports much more than she exports. and to such an extent is this true that she was in 1904 the largest rice-mporting country of the world. her total imports of rice in that year being 1,964, 100000 pounds. against 1922, GOO. .0On pounds imported by the Straits Settle ments Qargely for re-exportation), 646.- 100000 by the United Kingdom, GO2.O0O,OO0 by Germany. 5s6O00,000 by the Philippine islands. 523,0 900 by the Netherlands, and 466,000,000 by France. The rice exports of the principal exporting countries of the world amount in the latest available years to about 10.0000O0 pounds, valued at over $1o0,oo0000 of which more than one half was from India and over one-fourth