2248 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



and the camellia finds a congenial home throughout the 

 southern part of the state. In and around New Orleans 

 the finest ornamental plantings will be found. 



Although quantities of nursery stock are grown in 

 Louisiana, many trees, vines, shrubs, cuttings and seeds 

 are brought from other states and from abroad. Several 

 kinds of ornamental plants are imported mainly from 

 Europe, these being handled chiefly by florists in New 

 Orleans. Some florists specialize in growing certain 

 ornamentals, and have built up a large trade with such 

 plants as roses, ferns, orchids and cape jessamines, ship- 

 ping numbers of them to northern points. Outside of 

 New Orleans, but few florists do anything more than a 

 local business. 



Besides ornamental plants, including shade trees, the 

 principal nursery stock produced in the state consists 

 of deciduous fruit- and nut-trees, citrus and fig varie- 

 ties, and strawberry and grape-vines. Of the deciduous 

 fruits, peach is the leading one, being most generally 

 grown in the northern uplands. While blight is a serious 

 drawback to pear-growing, yet the Kieffer succeeds well 

 on nearly all kinds of soil. Plums and rarely apples are 

 planted in home yards, and sometimes the quince may 

 be seen. The mulberry is a common tree, being valued 

 mostly for its shade, while poultry or hogs are usually 

 allowed to feed on its fruit. Excepting the Japanese 

 walnut and chestnut, of which few trees are known to 

 be of bearing age, the pecan is almost the exclusive 

 nut produced as a crop. Numbers of trees grow prac- 

 tically wild as seedlings, yet the select varieties have 

 been widely planted in both yards and orchards, some 

 of the latter covering extensive areas. The chief 

 nurseries supplying all of these desirable trees and other 

 plants in general are located in the northwestern part 

 of the state. The largest producer of stock owns a place 

 near Shreveport and makes large shipments into adjoin- 

 ing states. A great abundance of young pecan trees 

 have been propagated in nurseries on or bordering the 

 alluvial lands along the Mississippi and lower Red 

 River. The propagation of citrous stock is practically 

 confined to the orange belt comprising the delta and 

 inner coastal lands. In the southwestern section about 

 Lake Charles, the fig has proved to be a profitable 

 crop, the Magnolia making a choice preserve, and 

 nurseries and orchards have been planted with this 

 kind of growth in particular. The pomegranate occa- 

 sionally occupies a place in the yard also. Strawberry 

 plants are sold by most of the leading crop-producers in 

 Tangipahoa Parish, the main region in which the fruit 

 is grown, but deliveries are generally local. A very few 

 growers in the central and southwestern parts attempt 

 to sell plants from their fields. In the north central 

 sections, grape-culture has showed possibilities of 

 expansion, and the established vineyardists supply stock 

 from their nurseries. Blackberries and dewberries run 

 wild to such an extent that little demand is made for 

 these plants. 



Public-service agencies for horticulture. 



The Louisiana State University and Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge has a depart- 

 ment of horticulture and forestry with one professor in 

 charge. The Agricultural Experiment Stations of the 

 University (founded 1887) have one member of the 

 staff at Baton Rouge who conducts the investigations 

 and extension work with truck crops, and another 

 member engaged in horticultural investigations at the 

 North Louisiana Experiment Station, Calhoun. 



The Louisiana Industrial Institute, at Ruston, the 

 Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute, at Lafay- 

 ette, and the State Normal, at Natchitoches, as well as 

 the agricultural high-schools, offer horticultural instruc- 

 tion in connection with the general agricultural courses. 



The entomologist of the experiment stations inspects 

 the nurseries of the state and imported plants for dan- 

 gerously injurious insects, diseases and other pests. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census}. 



In 1910 the approximate land area of Louisiana was 

 29,061,760 acres. Of this acreage, 35.9 per cent or 

 10,439,481 was land in farms. Of the land in farms, 

 5,276,016 acres were improved; 4,316,561 acres were in 

 woodland; and 846,904 was the acreage of other unim- 

 proved land in farms. The number of all the farms in 

 1910 was 120,546, the average acreage being 86.6 to a 

 farm. [The total area is 48,506 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops of the state are cereals, 

 cotton, sugar crops, and hay and forage. The cereals 

 are by far the most important. In 1909, the acreage 

 devoted to cereals was 1,938,357 and the value of 

 cereal products, $24,786,984, or 32 per cent of the total 

 value of all the crops. The acreage occupied by cotton 

 decreased from 1,376,254 in 1899 to 957,011 in 1909, 

 when the value of the cotton produced was $20,274,747. 

 The acreage of sugar crops increased from 277,903 in 

 1899 to 331,375 in 1909, when the valus of the products 

 was $17,787,054. Hay and forage increased in acreage 

 from 97,136 in 1899 to 180,811 in 1909, an increase of 

 86.1 per cent, when their value was $2,433,101. The 

 value of the forest products of the farms was $3,584,340 

 in 1909, as compared with $1,381,867 in 1899. 



Horticultural crops of the state are fruits and nuts, 

 potatoes and other vegetables, small-fruits, flowers and 

 plants and nursery products. The value of the fruits 

 and nuts produced in 1909 was $714,269, as compared 

 with $291,587 in 1899. In 1909 the total acreage of 

 potatoes and other vegetables, the most important of 

 the horticultural crops, was 114,829, as compared with 

 63,098 in 1899, and their value in 1909 was $6,282,904. 

 Small-fruits increased in acreage from 1,408 in 1899 to 

 3,587 in 1909, when their value was $486,988. Flowers 

 and plants and nursery products increased in acreage 

 from 365 in 1899 to 729 in 1909, an increase of 99.7 per 

 cent, when their value was $213,855. 



The total quantity of orchard-fruits produced in 1909 

 was 392,607 bushels, valued at $314,027, an increase 

 over the value and production in 1899. In 1909 the 

 most important of the orchard-fruits were the peach and 

 nectarine which contributed about three-fourths of the 

 production; pears, apples, and plums and prunes pro- 

 ducing most of the remainder. The number of peach 

 and nectarine trees of bearing age in 1910 was 903,352; 

 those not of bearing age, 316,132. The production in 

 1909 was 290,623 bushels, valued at $228,084. The 

 pear trees of bearing age in 1910 numbered 57,630; those 

 not of bearing age numbered 38,242. The production 

 in 1909 was 35,554 bushels, valued at $31,069. The 

 number of apples trees of bearing age in 1910 was 

 93,304; those not of bearing age numbered 96,544. The 

 production in 1909 was 33,875 bushels, valued at 

 $28,744. The production of plums and prunes for the 

 same year was 31,473 bushels, valued at $24,641. Small 

 amounts of cherries, quinces, apricots, and mulberries 

 were also produced. 



The grape-vines of bearing age in 1910 numbered 

 31,041; those not of bearing age numbered 20,936. The 

 production in 1909 was 106,595 pounds, valued at 

 $6,099, as compared with $5,927, their value in 1899. 



The total production of nuts in 1909 was 796,925 

 pounds, valued at $73,169. The most important of the 

 nuts are the pecans. In 1910 the pecan trees of bearing 

 age numbered 36,527; those not of bearing age, 119,547. 

 The production of pecans in 1909 was 723,578 pounds, 

 valued at $70,635; that of Persian or English walnuts, 

 15,173 pounds, valued at $1,446; that of black walnuts, 

 54,624 pounds, valued at $970; and a small amount of 

 almonds. 



Tropical fruits increased in value from $8,727 in 1899 

 to $320,974 in 1909. The most important of the tropical 

 fruits is the orange, of which, in 1909, there were pro- 

 duced 149,979 boxes, valued at $222,339. The number 

 of orange trees of bearing age numbered 266,116 in 1910; 

 those not of bearing age, 155,016. The fig trees of bear- 



