Lower coast gazette., 1909-05-29
Our Staple Crops.
court.

Tho farmers and planters OF the Lower COdSI VI soHAe WV -
oont,r;osh have heen engaged in rice culture. A century ago some ~
WAC doing in INDIGO, but that culture has been abandoned 81
A century ago, or slightly more than that, a RAPID development Oh S
cane sugar industry occurred and many or the great planta- v
On tho Lower Coast were then organized into going concerns,
in the beginning by some special partnerships ana la1er Oh ny y
individual effort. OYSTERS are unquestionably one OF our great
stable crops and now the Game Commission tells US that we may
add to them the shrimp industry and perhaps those OF tarfapln
and clans. Orange culture has given us its halt million collars OF
2 crop and our miniature beaver, the flat tailed muskrat, mas come
into such high favor as a fur bearing animal that 1t has added a
hundred thousand dollars to the wealth Of the parish of Plaque
mines in the half million pelts sold this past season. When 1t
comes to garden truck, our lettuce and cucumbers are known from
the Gulf practically up to Hudson Bay, the great interior getting
these staple Plaquemenes Parish products by the car ioaos. 1ol
snecialize, we might say that on Tuesday morning, May 70, two
thousand bnshe]s of cucumbers were shipped from the Wood
lawn plantation alone, in refrigerator cars, through to chicago.
Thus the good work goes on and what we are doing today we be-
ieye will be tripled or %quadrupled during the next ten years along
all of these lines.
GENTLY exploited, but it has its future just as have all the staple
crons hereinbefore recited. We refer to the products OF the
Great American Hen. We think that the parish of Plaquemines
has failed in doing it's duty towards the American hen and that
the parish of Lafayette is today the leader IN such prodocuon'
We have every facility in the parish Of Plaquemines for develop
ing the American hen in a very high degree. We have grass
enough and bugs enough and can raise corn enough 10 supply a
world Of hens and resources enough to supply the world with
hens.
Verv few persons appreciate the value of the poultry industry
7 to anv given community. The American hen produced, according
to our official reports ten years ago, in 1899, in eggs alone, $lA,
4 296, ooy 90. Since that time the prices of eggs have nearly doubl'
a ed throughout the whole country and prices for eggs in st. Louis
0 have ranged from 16 to 40 cents a dozen. From these data it Will
) be seen at once that ii s fair to say that the American men now
adds to the income OF the farm IN eggs alone ho iesS 'Aa" g"
= millions of dollars a year.
" The trouble will the hen industry is that it involves a great
deal of plain, hard work and that is what many people do not like
It to engage in. Poultry houses must be kept clean and free iron
e vermin and also be capable of excluding the attack OF rats ane
y minks. which. on the Lower Coast, are particularly inlmcal to tn
noultrv industry, Even the somewhat maligned opossum fire
re ouently seeks our hen yards to get a square meal If some OF tn
m enterprising women of the Parish of Plaquemines would take hoe
ST of the chicken industry they would find themselves astonisned a
Z, the results therefrom. The chickens, however, must be watche
III viQilantly and Matched out at the proper time so as to be as ire
from attacks of MOSQUITOES as may be possible and must also b
p protected from our very heavy showers Of rain. Anyone Willing
il to do the work can surely reap the reward.