181 



is similar to that used elsewhere for wheat, so also is the threshing' 

 outfit. Mills are large and form an industry by themselves, not being 

 in any way connected with the separate plantations, as is the case in 

 the Carolinas. 



Several things will have to be done before the rice industry of 

 Louisiana and Texas will be placed on as good a basis as that of the 

 Atlantic seaboard in the matter of water supply. At present magni- 

 ficent operations are going on, and great ventures are being pushed 

 forward under state and national sanction. At present in many locali- 

 ties the bayou supplies are being overdrawn, that many acres have had 

 to be abandoned on account of Inck of water, and in some instances 

 brackish water has backed up from the sea because the bayou supplies 

 have been so depleted. There seems to be no recognition of water 

 rights on some of these supply streams and bayous, and as a conse- 

 quence there are too many pumping plants on some, all of them being 

 supplied in dry seasons. In Texas where artesian irrigation is used to 

 a greater extent, the flow can be readily measured, the duty of water 

 calculated, and only enough ground planted to be sufficiently irrigated ; 

 but development for the present threatens to be too rapid for present 

 institutions to keep pace with it, and some radical departures will have 

 to be made to secure all water needed and to protect users in their 

 rights to that water. 



THE STORY OF THE PAP AW. 



By F. B. Kilmer.* 



" The slim papaya ripens its yellow fruit for thee." — Bryant. 



Grant Allen tells us that no plant can be properly understood apart 

 from its native place. Therefore we begin our study of the Carica 

 Papaya in its tropical home. 



The Carica Papaya is accredited as indigenous in Central America. 

 Observations and correspondence lead me lo conclude that it has be- 

 come acclimated in the hot regions of three continents. The zone of 

 most abundant growth seems to lie between the isothermal lines of 77° 

 wherever soil and rainfall are favourable. It is grown by cultivation 

 north and south of these lines. (The papaw is seen as far north as 

 Jacksonville, Fla., and in Southern California). 



In these tropical lands, where every tree or plant has its peculiar 

 legends and myths, the views of the natives upon plant life are con- 

 sidered unscientific and valueless, but I have found that, when stripped 

 of the terms of superstition, some of their observations, compared with 

 our scientific knowledge, are not far apart. Their app;;rent veneration 

 for trees and plants is based upon intimate association wherein 

 they have come to a knowledge that plants eat, drink, marry, propa- 

 gate, care for their offspring, and bestow blessings or curses upon all 

 living things, including man. This is about all that anybody can 

 know about them. 



Many trees are famous in these lands, none more so than the papaw.- 

 Conflicting stories as to its powers and properties are due somewhat 



•Reprinted from the " American Journal of Pharmacy." 



