Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-10
Development of the Coumtry's Great New Rice Fiel

Copyright. 1917. by Frank C. Carpenter)
LAKE CHARLES. La
q AXE CHARLES is one of the cen
tiers of a new industry that can
do much toward increasing our
81 food supply in this great war
with Germany. 1t is surrounded by
thousands of acres of rice fields. and
the territory tributary to it is now
growing more than a million sacks OF
rice every year. Just now the rice is
standing high out OF the water. like
countless emeralds sprouting out of a
basin Of silver. There are great beds
of these emeralds all the way from
here to the Mississippi river. and they
extend westward and southwark along
the Gulf of Mexico to below the Brazos
river in Texas. They are part of the
great rice farm which runs along the
hat Louisiana prairies above the Gulf
of Mexico and extends far down into
The gulf strip Of rice land is four or
I'VE hundred miles long and from TWEEN
~ to nifty miles wide. and it is now
producing large part of the crop OF
the United States. Its area can be
greatly extended and can be made to
include much of the land running
northward from here to Arkansas.
In the Arkansas prairies there are
other rice lands which yield even more
to the acre than those of the gulf; and
1 hs. sprnn ns sa in es ssera
nento- and San Joaquin valleys. in Cali
fornia. In 1912 the rice of California
ns strp Of was
planted near Biggs. in the sacra.
mento valley Il succeeded SO well
pounds Of rice TO the acre. In 1914 the
area Jumped to 5000 acres. and last
year It covered $1,000 acres. In 1916
more than 100000. 900 pounds. 1t was
equal to one pound for every man.
woman and child in the United States.
pch Of our citizens.
To, show that this Is not an extrava-
CANT estimate. here give you some
figures supplied by the Manual for
Army Cooks" gotten up by the War
department for the troops in the field
contains directions for the rations to
be supplied to the soldiers. and how to
7 cook them. Among the recipes are
several for rice. One of these tells
for sixty men. The ingredients are
I've pounds of rice and three gallons
of water. The recipe reads: when
the water comes to boil add the rice.
w men Inc rice mas GROWN sou enough
TO be mashed with the fingers pour into
Q colander and drain well. After that
each rice grain should be whole and
separate" The dish should. of course,
Five pounds of rice for so men. That
means 81 pounds for 1o2 men 1t
means that IS pounds would furnish a
meal for 1000 soldiers. At that rate
on less than $4,000 pounds Of rice, an
amount that could easily stored in a
single box car. Four such cars would
supply a meal of rice for 1000, 900 men.
and the food would form the best nour-
] ishment we could supply.
This brings me to the food value of
Nice. How warm will II keep the SOL
| diers in the trenches and how much
work can one do on such a diet?
| have been in Manchuria in winter. 1t
is bitterly cold. and there is nowhere
that one needs more food to keep warm
Nevertheless. it was upon a diet OF
rice and hsh that the Japanese soldiers
endured all their hardships and sue
ceeded in defeating the meat-fed Cos
sacks from Russia. Every soldier in
the japanese army had a little lac
auefed tin case about as big an old
fashioned cartridge box This con-
tafned a pound or so of raw rice. and
that was sufficient to sustain his life
and fighting strength for two or three
days The rice could be cooked any
whete. that a IRE could be made and
water obtained. II was used both In
the camps and on the march.
Az to the value Of rice for our people
at home ii is equally good. IT forms the
chief bread Of Asia. and about half Of the
paople Of the whole world make II tjeir
principal food. The Filipino keeps fat
upon rice and the Chinese coolie works
twelve hours a day upon his scanty sup
ply have had japanese Jinrikisha men
carry me over the country at six miles an
hour, running all day. on nothing but
Rice and have seen Korean porters car
Tying loads Of 800 pounds on the same
food.
Our Department OF Agriculture says
that pound for pound. rice ranks higher
Khan corn, wheat or oats in the amount
nutrition contained. and that II has
three times as much food energy as the
same weight Of potatoes and more than
twice that of fat beef. 1t has a higher
SAet-produc1ng- power than rye. barley or