Lower coast gazette., 1909-06-19
Louisiana Corn For Export.

The invasion of much, or most, of the cot
ton sections of Louisiana by the Mexican boil
weeyil is producing some surprising results, II we
may Judge of the same from the present attitude
of the New Orleans Board of Trade. For a CEN
tury past the culture Of sugar cane and the pro-
duction of cane sugar has been an absorbing IN
dustry in the Gulf parishes of the state and fur
Their up in the state nearly a century ago cotton
culture became dominent. The invasion OF the
cotton country by the boil weevil has turned the
attention of the planters to some other crop that
could be made Immediately available and with
which they were more or less familiar. The corn
crop, which has always been a staple crop in this
state, but subordinated entirely to the other lead
ing crops and utilized almost exclusively for home
purposes, offering to our planters and farmers an
export crop that, owing to the present high prices
for this cereal, promises in some degree at least,
to relieve the loss arising from the non-production
of cotton.
The grain committee of the New Orleans
Board of Trade has had in view the probability OF
a large crop Of corn available for export this sea-
son and has already been looking into the question
of rates, with a view of endeavoring to secure its
shipment to and export through this port as far
as possible. AS but little attention has been given
to this crop from the exporters point OF view, thus
far, the question of railroad rates upon it has not
been worked out. In the state of Texas the Rail-
road Commission there has a maximum rate OF
IL IL cents, which we presume means II IL
cents per bushel of Sc pounds and not per
GENITAL or per hundred of weight. In car load lots
of shelled corn IL IL cents per bushel' would GER
tainly seem to be an excessively high rate, but
doubtless our New Orleans Board of Trade will
endeavor to secure as favorable rates for the far
mer as can be had and endeavor to secure such
rates as will bring the corn through the city of
New Orleans.
There is no doubt at all but there are some
surprises in store for US in the matter of corn cul.
ture in Louisiana. Years ago a committee OF gen,
tlemen, of whom Gov. Foster was one, was ap
pointed to measure the land and weigh the corr
produced in a field near the Calhoun Experiment
Station in Ouachita parish. 1t was found from
test made Of a fraction of the field, fairly chosen
that the hill lands there, under favorable condi
tons, produced 100 bushels to the acre. 1t is Ger
tainly a fact that the alluvial lands of the state O.
Louisiana could readily produce 40 to SO bushels
per acre if they had the same attention given t.
them that produce a bale of cotton per acre, or q
? tons of sugar cane per acre on our alluVial lands
; AS the matter has stood in Louisiana thus far
!, corn culture has been an incidental, but at tn
same time disagreeabIe necessity to the averag
2 planter, or farmer, he raising more or less of it a
r a rotation crop and generally under protest, pre-
5 ferring to reserve his good lands for his mail
staple crop of cotton, sugar cane or rice. Tn
pestiverious Mexican boil weevil is apparently
teaching our tillers of the soil some new lessons i
: agriculture and it is stated that in all probabilit
n in many thousands of acres of land in the Vale
S of the Red River and in the %alluvial lands Of tn
upper part of the state, the relations of cotton cu
t ture and corn culture will this year be reverse
e and that there will probably be five times as man
Ii acres in corn as in cotton.