Lower coast gazette., 1913-07-26
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1912.
The Increasing Difficulties in Rice
Irrigation on the Lower Coast.

For considerably more than a century the
rice crop has been a favorite one on the Lower
Coast. taking in the two banks of the Mlssls-
sinni River from New Orleans to the sea, thus
making a coast line Of some two hundred miles.
Before the development Of the sugar industry
in Louisiana, rice and indigo cultures were the
dominant ones, the annual rise in the river be-
ginning ordinarily in January and reaching It's
maximum height generally in April and then
gradually falling during the following three or
four months, which gave the rice planters OF
the Lower Coast an opportunity to carry on
their wet culture with the early rise in the river
in February and March and active planting IN
March and April, in this way securing rapid
termination with the warm weather OF April
and Nav and a finished harvest in August and
September.
We now find that with the increasing excel
lence of the levee system in Louisiana, and IN
fact all the way up the river to Cairo, the flood
waters of the river have gradually increased
their surface height we at the same time IN
creasing the heights of our levees that protect
our lands. In this way the flood waters OF the
interior, beginning their rise early IN January
and reaching their maximum early In April, are
carried on out to the sea and unless some breaks
occur to turn the water in on the vast area OF,
low lands higher up the river. We find that
our water supply for irrigation gives out earlier
than usual and that we do not have that sus-
tanned water level in the river several feet
above the level of the land that we formerly
lad, which enabled the rice planters of the
EyWer Coast to carry on their irrigation until
lie crops sgesa. ready for harvesting. This has
been markedly the case this season, the river
at this present writing being nearly down to the
low water mark a month or two in advance OF
what would have been the case two or three de-
cades ago.
This is leading to an MORMON expenditure
of money for the irrigation Of rice in elevating
the water from the river to ponds on the batture
whence the rice symptoms are made to carry the
water over the top Of the levee. The low prices
for the rice during recent years make this IN
creased cost Of production quite a serious mat
ter and the Lower Coast that years ago was the
chief rice producing parishin Louisiana, because
Of its facilities in the way OF irrigation, has now
come to be one Of the smaller rice producing
parishes. This fact would suggest a careful In
quiry into any possible remedy connected with
our physical conditions. The planting Of sprout-
ed rice can only be satisfactorily done on the
assumption that the water conditions so far as
temperature at least is concerned will be propit.
ious to the rapid growth Of this rice already
terminated. Cold weather would interfere with
this termination and at times result in the loss
of the seed rice. This kind of a loss from slow
termination is frequent with us in corn culture.
If the lands were free of grasses, then the
so-called dry culture Of rice, that is its planting
termination and starting without irrigation
water would seem to be desirable. In this wa.
the moisture ordinarily in the land would b
sufficient to start termination and as the ric.