6 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



voirs covered too large a proportion of the arable land, and the 

 amount of water thus stored was not sufficient to carry the crop 

 through long periods of drought. It was not until 1885 that it was 

 demonstrated that water from the bayous which intersect the prairies 

 could be successfully used. Pumps were then installed in the vicinity 

 of Crowley, La., and the water from the bayous was lifted to higher 

 levels for the irrigation of the prairie land. At a later date im- 

 proved pumps were substituted, and the present system of rice culti- 

 vation in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas was begun. 

 In 1892 the first centrifugal pumps were installed, and since that 

 date rice growing has been widely extended over the coast prairie 

 section of southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. At present 

 over 400 miles of main canals and laterals have been built in Acadia 

 Parish alone, and the water thus supplied is sufficient to irrigate up- 

 ward of 100.000 acres of rice land. Both rotary and centrifugal 

 pumps are used. The engines employed usually range from 100 to 

 400 horsepower, burning crude oil as the most economical fuel. The 

 canals are constructed somewhat above the level of the prairie by 

 throwing up broad embankments and excavating the canal upon 

 their surface. From these high-level, main lines of canals the laterals 

 are extended to the various farms and rice plantations. Frequently 

 it is necessary to install secondary pumps at some points in the main 

 canal to give the water an additional lift for gravity distribution 

 over more remote systems covered by the canal. 



In addition to these changes in the method of irrigation a vast 

 change has been brought about in the actual method of seeding and 

 harvesting the crop. In place of the old hand method, which differed 

 little from that employed in oriental countries, the rice crop is now 

 seeded with modern grain drills and harvested with binders. Even 

 the threshing machinery of the more northern grain-growing States 

 has been adapted to the conditions necessary for the threshing of the 

 rice crop. In this way the crop has passed from a stage of small 

 areas, grown by primitive methods by a few small farmers, to a great 

 industry involving the investment of millions of dollars in pumping 

 plants, machinery, and the embankment of the land. 



The yields of rice upon the Crowley silt loam range from 6 to 15 

 sacks per acre under ordinary conditions. Larger yields are fre- 

 quently reported, but it is thought that the average. yield through- 

 out a long period of j^ears is not far from 10 sacks per acre. 



Although rice is the dominant crop upon this soil type, corn, oats, 

 cowpeas, potatoes, and other vegetables are also grown, particularly 

 in east-central Arkansas. The type yields from 30 to 50 bushels per 

 acre of oats, and about 15 to 20 bushels of corn for an average yield. 

 Irish potatoes give yields ranging from 100 to 150 bushels per acre, 

 and sweet potatoes from 200 to 300 bushels. A considerable quantity 



