The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-08-08
RQO51 FROM COLORADO.

o.,isiana Most Greatly Misrepre-
sented State in Union, Says Ed
itor Of Ranch and Ranse-WiII
Write the Facts as He Saw Them.
nv n. S. GROVES in Ranch and Range,
Denver, Colorado.
IN the latter part of May the state
of Louisiana invited 20 editors OF
the leading agricultural journals Of
M central states to make a three
weeks tour of this great southern
state, as her guests. Recogn1z-
ing the rapid advance that Colorado
has made in the development Of her
aoriculturas resources and the in
fluence of Ranch and Range, the
loading agricultural journal of the
vest the managing editor of this
;ournal vas included among the in
yitad guests and met the other ag-
r;oult,lral editors and hosts from
Iouisiana in Chicago on June 22,
where we took a special Pullman for
Iouisiana, reaching that great COM
monwealth on the morning of June
%.
want to say in the beginning
that I am going to write the facts
as they were given me and as l &C
tua1lv saw. Some Of them will ap-
near as exaggerations to the casual
reader but everything l may say
can easily be verified. There is
no object in making any misrepre-
sentation, this series of articles
will he written voluntarily without
any compensation with the view OF
furnishing something exclusive. very
interesting and instructive to our
readers and of correcting the opin-
inn commonly held by the general
public regarding the great state Of
Louisiana.
Louisiana is the most greatly mis-
represented state in the union dtio
the editors who made this delight
full trip and who reach more imam
5000 900 paid subscribers with thelr
combined journals, will endeaVor 10
correct this error. We came down
with the opinion held by 95 per cent
of the general public. e., shat LOU
isiana is a state of swamps, MOS
quitoes and alligators, and her pro-
ducts confined to cane, rice and
cotton. It is also the impression
that her summers are unbearably
warm and that her people are very
clannish. These opinions as ap-
piled to the Louisiana of today are
erroneous. In former years her pro-
ducts were confined almost exclus-
lively to cane, rice and cotton, but
the ravages of the boil Weevil in
the cotton and the reduction of the
tariff on sugar have greatly reduced
the acreage of these crops and di-
versified farming is becoming pop
uIar.
AS to swamps, they are there
100000 acres of them-but they are
being drained and when RECLAIMED
they are the richest soil in the
world. The humus or vegetable molo
ON these lands is "a inches deep,
which means they are practically in
exhaustibIe. / saw 43 varieties of
crops growing on one place and the
corn was 12 to 18 feet high and in
full roasting ears, the last of June
The same land is put in crops three
tc four times year and produces
hountlful harvests
| was in the state for nearly three
weeks and did not see a mosquito,
and | have seen more flies in one
day in any one of the central states
than | saw in Louisiana on my en-
tire trip. | was advised, however,
that in some parts of Louisiana the
mosquitoes are somewhat annoying,
out not more SO than in many parts
OF Colorado and other western states.
Louisiana perhaps has the most
temperate climate the year round of
any state. A prostration from heat
Is unknown in the history of the
state. We were there during the
Warmest season they have ex-
perlenced for many years and our
party did not suffer nearly so much
as one would in any of the central
states. The gulf breeze tempers the
neat in the southern half of the
state, while the climate in the north
efn part is not unbearabIe in the
summer, by any means.
me temperate climate adapts the
country especially to the live stock
industry, for the succulent grasses
can be grazed almost the entire year.
- saw one alligator swimming at
lafse and one in captivity and learn
eu OIL no cases of malaria. In fact,
& psople are strong down there at 80.