THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



411 



make rice-growing equally successful. The 

 result is the existence of a practically new 

 industry in Louisiana and Texas, with a 

 capital of $5,000,000 invested in 100 

 canals, 1500 miles in extent, and now 

 capable, under present water conditions, 

 of flooding 900,000 acres, and increasing 

 each year. 



After securing a location possessing the 

 soil and economical lay of the land requis- 

 ite to an economical irrigation, it will re- 

 quire approximately $10 per acre to equip 

 an irrigating plant and prepare the fields 

 for seeding. As local conditions and re- 

 quirements differ, an accurate estimate 

 cannot be given that will govern all locali- 

 ties, but the prospective farmer can figure 

 on this amount. 



The cost of producing a crop of rice is 

 approximately the same as a crop of 

 wheat with the cost of irrigation added, 

 which is one-fifth of the crop. This is 

 the price charged by canal companies for 

 the use of water. 



The average value per acre of rice is 

 $30. less the water rental of $6, leaving 

 $24 to the grower. 



A moment's comparison with the great 

 cereal crop of the United States will show 

 how fortunate the rice grower is. The 

 average value per acre in 1900 was: Corn 

 $9.02, wheat $7.61, oats $7.63. Then an 

 acre of rice paid the farmer as much as 

 three acres over each of corn, wheat and 

 oats. 



Next to the production, milling the rice 

 is very profitable, and is a subject of suf- 

 ficient importance for an extended dis- 

 cussion. 



Learing out the value of the plant, the 

 capital invested and operating expenses, 

 we can give the gross profits of milling. 



In milling 100,000 bags of rice of an av- 

 erage weight of 183 pounds, for which the 

 farmer received $3.35 per barrel, making 

 a total of $325,000; would give, merchant- 

 able rice 10,273,000 pounds, valued at 

 $335 per 100 pounds, $395,520; brewers' 



rice, 875,000 pounds, $15.400; polish, 

 $5,300; bran $90.22; gross value of milled 

 product $425,242; gross profit $90.242. 



To those interested it will be easy to 

 ascertain the net profits in milling. 



Rice is the m^st profit ible commodity 

 handled by the railroads. It pays about 

 four times as much as cotton in revenue. 

 The most vital question to the human race 

 is that of food. Next to having food is 

 that of its cost. The cost of food applies 

 not alone in dollars and cents. In other 

 words, it is of the highest importance that 

 we obtain the greatest amount of the life- 

 sustaining energy from our food with the 

 least tax upon our systems. 



There is no one article that will supply 

 all the demands of our body. There is no 

 complete food in any one article. We re- 

 quire a variety. At the same time the 

 laws of life demand this variety at the 

 least expense of vital energy and in this 

 rice excels all other articles of food. It 

 contains more nutriment than beefsteak 

 and potatoes with a less tax on the human 

 system for digestion. Its commercial price 

 places it in the reach of any one. It is no 

 new food. The very fact that 56 per cent 

 of the population of the globe use it make 

 its reputation secure. 



We believe that die production of rice 

 in the United States is in its infancy. 

 With the exception of Mexico, our crop is 

 a mere bagatelle of the world's production. 



We believe that rice will be grown all 

 over the southern states wherever man can 

 control irrigation. 



We have the soil, the climate and, bat- 

 ter than any Oriental country, we have 

 American skill and labor. Today the rice 

 farmer of Louisiana and Texas is cuiti- 

 vating 100 acres to the Oriental's one acre 



Will there be overproduction? We think 

 not. The Oriental countries show but a 

 slight increase in the past five years, not 

 as great as the population has grown. 



Again, we are opening up an immense 

 territory of rice eaters in our island pos- 



