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States has grown but little, and only the present time sees any great 

 advance in production over the crop in 1850, for the decline in the 

 Atlantic States has offset the advance in the Grulf States. It is possi- 

 ble that the former may adopt some of the methods of use in the latter 

 and thus regain the prestige held before the civil war, but until they 

 do so they cannot easily compete with improved machinery at home or 

 cheap labour abroad. The production could and should be doubled, as^ 

 we now produce less than half of the rice consumed in this country, 

 and the use of rice as a staple article of food is constantly increasing. 



Acadian success with Providence rice, intermittent as crops were, 

 showed that, with proper methods of cultivation and irrigation, 

 Louisiana was particularly fitted for this crop. At first, the only at- 

 tempt at irrigation was the raising of levees above the rice fields ta 

 reserve some of the heavy rainfall, instead of allowing it to waste into- 

 the bayous. When water was needed to flood the fields, the levees 

 were cut and the water allowed to flow on the plants, but in dry 

 seasons this method of irrigation was worthless, and something more 

 dependable had to be devised. Later it was discovered that upland 

 soil was especially suited to the growing of rice, good crops being ob- 

 tained in wet seasons, and it became only a matter of getting water tO' 

 them when large areas could be cultivated and the industry could fur- 

 nish a profitable commercial venture, worthy of the enlistment of 

 capital. 



The introduction of the steam -pump furnished the impetus which 

 was needed. After some failures with pumps of wrong type or limited 

 capacity, large centrifugal pumps were introduced to raise the water 

 from bayous to canals From these canals the water was pumped di- 

 rectly on the fields, and the problem was practically solved. 



Yet there were a number of local conditions which made irrigation 

 very different from what it was elsewhere. For example, it might be 

 said that the only point of similarity between the Louisiana rice canal 

 and the irrigation canal of the western States is that both are filled 

 with water for the purpose of irrigation. Beyond that the comparisons 

 are contrasts, to use a Hibernianism. For instance, water flows in the 

 western ditch and stands at a level in the rice canal ; the source of 

 supply in the west is above the fields to be irrigated, and below it in 

 Louisiana ; the canal of the west is dug below the surface of the land 

 through which it passes, while the rice canal is built up on the surface 

 of the ground, and on the highest ground to be had ; the western 

 canal holds water poorly, losing much through seepage through the 

 soil, and the levees of the rice canal are impervious. 



The proper construction of the§e levees, however, is of prime impor- 

 tance. The surface of the ground upon which the levees are to rest 

 must be absolutely clour of all vegetation, and must then be ploughed 

 and pulverized, so that the earth embankment placed above will make 

 a good " joint." To aid in this, deep furrows are ploughed in the 

 foundation earth, and the levee banks are built up firmly and of good 

 material. This has to be done to prevent devastating breaks, as some 

 of the canals are so large that they appear to be rivers of no inconsid- 

 erable size. Indeed, it is proposed to navigate some of them with 

 lighters and barges for ihe transportation of "paddy" from the 

 threshers to the mills which turn out the finished product. For 



