UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



595S 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



cent years caused great damage in the Carolina 

 rice fields. Some time after the War of Seces- 

 sion rice cultivation spread to well-drained prai- 

 ries in Eastern Texas and Louisiana. On such 

 land the harvester and steam thresher couKl be 

 :id by 1885 these had replaced the scythe 

 and the flail. Nothing so revolutionary had 

 ever before happened in rice growing. Using 

 such machinery, one man produced sixty-four 

 times as much rice as a laborer in India. At 

 the present time the greater part of the rice 

 crop in the United States comes from this fur 

 Southern district, though only a small portion 

 of the land in that region suitable for rice 

 growing, is under cultivation. For more than a 

 century, that is, since 1795, sugar cane has been 

 the principal crop of Louisiana, and it has 

 spread to some extent along other parts of the 



rising from 1,200 feet in Virginia to 3,000 feet 

 in South Carolina. That such perishable prod- 

 ucts can be grown successfully so far from the 

 market is due to special fast trains and special 

 cars equipped to maintain an even tempera- 

 ture, summer and winter. In order to avoid 

 loss from overstocking the market and not to 

 be at the mercy of the middlemen, the fruit 

 and vegetable growers in the older districts 

 have organized cooperative companies which 

 employ expert agents to oversee the shipping 

 and marketing of their stock. 



Other important crops in the South are pea- 

 nuts, oranges and grapejru.it. Norfolk, Vir- 

 ginia, has long been the leading market for 

 peanuts, but the crop is now grown extensively 

 as far west as Oklahoma. Orange and grape- 

 fruit orchards east of the Rocky Mountains are 



a -Area in improued farms. 6-Area in unimproved farms. c-Area not in farms. 



RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF LAND, IMPROVED AND UNIMPROVED 



Gulf coast. In the latitude of Louisiana it de- 

 mands for success a great expenditure of capi- 

 tal and labor, since the cane must be replanted 

 each year, whereas in Cuba and Hawaii it 

 grows for several years without replanting. 



Throughout the South corn is the principal 

 crop for local consumption. Corn bread and 

 pork are the staple food for farm laborers. On 

 the Appalachian uplands and the central black 

 prairie of Texas and Oklahoma, winter wheat 

 and oats are also grown to some extent. These 

 winter crops have a decided advantage in the 

 South compared to corn, since they do not re- 

 quire attention during the season when other 

 crops must be harvested, and they protect the 

 soil during the winter. In many parts of the 

 South, especially in the Atlantic coastal plain 

 where the mountains on the west keep off the 

 winds from the interior and the Gulf stream 

 flows close in shore, early fruits and vegetables 

 are largely planted for northern markets. In 

 the Piedmont Region, and also in the Ozark 

 district, peaches and other soft fruits are ex- 

 tensively grown on the hillsides, while along 

 the mountain side runs a belt of apple orchards 



mostly confined to Florida. Severe frosts have 

 damaged them several times in the northern 

 section of that state, but they have been re- 

 planted, and the crop is now larger than ever 

 before. In the extreme South the cocoanut. 

 pineapple and mango also reach maturity. 



Stock raising in the South is largely for local 

 use; on most plantations hogs are raised for 

 this purpose. These are in part of the half- 

 wild razorback variety, and they forage in the 

 woods for their living. More could easily be 

 raised, except that they would require to be 

 fed, and the South hardly grows enough corn 

 for other uses, because corn requires cultivation 

 at the same time as cotton. In spite of the 

 warm, damp climate, some sheep are raised, 

 partly in the uplands and partly in the pine 

 forests on the coastal plains. In Western Texas 

 sheep raising attains real importance, and the 

 same district pastures great herds of cattle. 

 Cattle raising has, however, been somewhat 

 limited by the presence of the tick which causes 

 Texas fever. Owing to the danger of infection 

 there is usually a quarantine against Southern 

 cattle in Northern markets until late autumn, 



