The Washington times., 1913-03-16
n ROM the time of Alvarez de

1913 was the first white man
to visit its shores, Louisiana
has been prominent in American
history.
Louisiana was explored by De Soto,
with his Spanish troopers, in May,
1541, who located the site of the
present city Of New Orleans.
the noted trader. Joliet, on journey
from the St Lawrence, explored the
Mississippi river almost to the present
northern boundary of Louisiana.
On April 9th, in 16S2. La Sale COM
pleted the trip down the Mississippi to
its mouth, and named the province
Louisiana in honor of Ie grand
Ssonurque, Louis Fourteenth.
To France. therefore. belongs the
- honor OF evokins from the unknown
a colossal empire extending from the
and from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Canadian boundary. Her explorers
discovered the mighty lakes of the
North. and blazed the trails which
forever link them to the rivers and
plains of the great Southland.
In 1886, Louis Fourteenth sent D'Iber-
willie to colonize Louisiana, and a fort
was built at the mouth of the Mississippi
in 1899
Two or three small settlements were
made before the city of New Orleans
was founded in III by Bienville known
as The Father of Louisiana
In 171S, John Law, "the Scottish
dreamer" organized in France the
Joint Stock Mississippi COMPANY" ="
covering the entire Mississippi valley,
which ill-fated venture came to he
known as the mississippi Bubble
From earliest days the soil of this
great area, enriched for ages by the
aliuvial deposits of its WATERWAYS, was
famed for its fertility and productive-
ness. Upon its scores of navigabIe
lakes. rivers. bayous. and canals are
millions of acres of highlands and other
millions of lowlands capable of support
ing population half as great as that
OF the entire United States.
Ex-President Taft, in recent address
before the Southern Commercial Con-
gress said:
I'VE used TO think that we could not
learn anything about agriculture from
the other side: but now we are
reaching point where we can calculate
that unless we do something in the way
OF improving our methods Of agricuI-
ture, we shall be at a point where We
shall have to import what we eat"
Twelve centuries ago a large part of
Europe was lowlands, unfit for use,
but they are today supporting over two
fifths of its population
The lowlands of Holland and Belgium
and the fens of England sustain a great
er population and yield more revenue
than any other lands in Europe
The very names. Holland Chollow
land) and NetherIand (beneath Iand),
describe the fight and victory Of the
people over the wafer God made the
Sea. We made the Land" says the Hol-
lander.
More than one-third of Holla nd's area
lies at or below sea level, with a soil
somewhat similar but less fertile, and
a less genial climate than Louisiana;
these lands are intensively cultivated,
valued at from $1,000 to 5000 per acre,
and support a population at the rate of
fifteen persons to each ten acres. Such
a ratio would give the State of Louisi-
ana population of 100000 people.
As early as the fourteenth century,
Holland was known as the flower gar
den Of Europe. and a book published In
the sixteenth century by Obel, the bot
anist of James First, King of England
stated that Holland contained more rare
plants than any other country in
Europe.
In addition to plants, bulbs and fiow-
srs. for which the country is world