372 



La Faijetie, Arl\ — No raiu since Slay. ' 



Bradley, Ark. — No raiu since April 19. 



Ptilaslci, Ark. — On July 8 the only rain fell since April 20 ; tberiuometer, fro}u Jnly 

 15 to August 25, ranged from 92^ to 106^, with extremely hot winds ; cotton is as dead 

 as a November frost could make it ; one-twentieth of the oak timber in the hills dead. 



Prairie, Ark. — On the 10th August the thermometer was 108 J° in the shade. 



Sevier, Ark. — No rain since May. 



RICE. 



lu reply to letters of inquiry concerning tbe cultivation of rice, as to 

 its extent and increase, the Department has received several interesting- 

 statements from leading fields of production. 



South Carolina. — Dr. J. A. E. Sparkman writes from Georgetown 

 County, Soutli Carolina : The tide-lauds of this county, so particularly 

 adapted to the culture of rice, border several rivers — the Waccamaw, 

 Pee Dee, Black, and Sampit, (which unite to form Winyaw Bay,) and 

 the two Sautees, which empty into the ocean about twelve miles south 

 of Winyaw Bay. Up to the year 1800, there were about 46,000 acres 

 under regular cultivation, and, according to the census returns of that 

 decade, the crop of 1859, the largest eVer grown, yielded 95,127 tierces 

 of clean marketable rice. Estimated at 600 pounds to the tierce, the 

 product was 57,076,200 pounds, or upward of 1,200 pounds per acre. 

 From 1860 to 1868, no records of acreage or product have been preserved. 

 The area of cultivation for 1868 and 1869, but nut the product, has been 

 ascertained. During the four years succeeding, both product and acre- 

 age are known, as shown in the following statement, viz : 



1868 

 18G9 

 1870 

 1871 

 1672 

 1873 

 1874 



Acre.atre. 



12, 143 



16, 100 

 ]."), 133 



17, 439 

 16,900 

 17, 100 

 16, 232 



Is'o. of tierces. 



13, 636 

 13, 500 

 15, 175 

 13, 126 



Pounds per acre. 



5-10 

 464 

 562 

 460 



It will be seen that the area of cultivation in 1871 was greater than 

 in any one of the seven years cited, and 1,207 acres in excess of the 

 present year. Dr. Sparkman says : 



The diminished product of 1871 resulted from an almost unprecedented wet har- 

 vest, by reason of continued rains when the crop was on the stubble. The rice was 

 seriously damaged in quality, wasted in the fields, and made a very unsatisfactory 

 turn-out in the mills. So in 1873, a heavy and protracted freshet, from August to the 

 middle of October, proved most disastrous as to quality and quantity of rice, and the 

 crop, considered the best grown since 1865, sold at non-remunerative prices, causing 

 heavy disappointment and embarassment, pecuniarily, throughout our entire district, 

 not 5 per cent, of the rice-estates paying expenses of culrivation. Most of the plant- 

 ers had to give liens upon the present growing crop to cover deficiencies of the last 

 year, and the usurious rates of interest demanded by money-lenders, and by those who 

 furnish advances in the shape of plantation-supplies, leaves so small a margin of profit 

 for the iiroducer that no wonder need be expressed that the area of cultivation has 

 decreased. The additional cumulating difficulties in the management and control of 

 labor renders it highly improbable that au improved condition of things may be looked 

 for until the political and monetary affairs of the commonwealth assume a sounder 

 and healthier tone. 



As to the prospects of the crop fi)r the present year, (1874,) we may now speak under- 

 sfcandingly. The winter and spring mouths devoted to the preparation of the soil 

 were unusually wet and unfavorable. A series of freshets, up to the iidddle of April, 

 retarded field-wovk until beyond the usual time for seeding, and the preparations of 

 three to four months had to'be hurried through in as many weeks, late in the season, 

 when imperfect drainage and the heat of spring rendered the use of machinery with 



