St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1909-06-05
ST. LANDRY SHOWS THE
BEST CORN
CROP.

According to the Picayune crop
summary for last week, st. Landry
shows we'll in crop conditions, parti-
cularly as regards corn.
The worst report comes from the
Chicot country, but even that is not
bad as compared with reports from
other parishes.
The general summary Of crop con
ditions in Louisiana and Mississippi is
as follows:
Pessimistic are the reports from
correspondents on weather and crop
conditions in Louisiana and Missis-
sippi for the week ending May 20.
Torrential rains have visited almost
every section of farming country and
the excessive precipitation has be-
yond doubt worked a measure of in
jury that will be hard to overcome.
Cotton generally had just been scrap
ed, leaving the plant on a narrow
ridge without dirt thrown to it. In
this unprotected state, rain after rain,
driven BY high winds and accom
panied in some cases by severe hail
storms. made an easy victim Of cot
ton. The lowlands, of course, suf-
fered the most, for the reason that
some of the cotton stands were sub
merged. AS a result, NO field opera
stions can be prosecuted for several
days, or until the soil dries out. In
the meantime there is the danger of
weeds and grass choking out what
ever was left Of the tender plant. It
is considered TOO late to do any re-
planting, and some sections report
that where cotton has been so dam
aged as to destroy all hopes of a
crop, corn will be put in.
The 0pelousas report is as follows:
Opelousas, La, May 30.-The
weather for the past week has been
excellent for all crops, rains having
fallen several days during the week
and the past two days being fair and
warm. The boil WeeYil is already re-
ported in some localities, and some
of the farmers are blowing up the
cotton and planting corn in its place.
The warm weather has hurried the
growth of cotton as well as corn, and
the former looks better now than at
any time before this season. Rice is
doing nicely, and the farmers are
planting sweet potatoes now.
The Chicot report is as follows:
Bayou Chicot, La, May 30.-This
section has had entirely too much
rain all the week for all growing
crops, and a good many farmers are
blowing and laying BY corn in the
mud for fear when the rain stops It
will be Zoo dry. Gardens are becom-
ing very grassy and weedy, and vege-
tables are all growing too fast for the
season. Several farmers are laying
by corn with its complement Of peas.
The farmers as a rule are pretty well
up with their crops. Very little cot
ton is planted in this section, although
the acreage is about is per cent
more than last year. The boil wee
vii question just at the present time
is very little talked Of, but the pest
is being watched witha great deal Of
interest to see what damage it will
do with the cotton this season. There
has been a large acreage planted
here in Irish potatoes, and while there
is q truck growers association here
and all farmers planted at the same
time and used the same kind Of fer
%tilizers, the yield on some farms was
much larger than others. The sec
ond carload from this immediate sec
tion was shipped to Alexandra this
week. The heaviest rain Of the sea
son fell last Wednesday and should
the rains continue . good deal Of
damage will be caused to all crops
and garden truck.