528 AGPJCCLTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



Mr. Buchanan. About how much is that in acres ^ Just guess at 

 it in acres or square miles. 



Senator Bkoussard. In the parish i 



Mr. Buchanan. In the parisn and in the State. 



Senator Broussard. I would not know about the State, but in 

 the parisli I have given the proportion of that character as one-third 

 or one-fourth. 



Mr. Buchanan. Would that be 1,000 acres? 



Senator Broussard. There are something like — I do not recall 

 now tiie exact acreage of that county. 



Senator Ransdell. Are there not a great many acres of land of 

 that character in adjoming parishes ? 



Senator Broussard. Yes, sir. 



Senator Ransdell. Thousands and thousands of acres of the same 

 general character? 



Senator Broussard. All through the State, but I would not know 

 the proportion in the different parishes. 



^U'. Buchanan. You can readily see our idea. You want to have 

 an experimental farm on a certain character of land in oi-der to see 

 what it will develop, and it is necessary for us to know about how 

 much land there is. 



Senator Broussard. I think Mr. Martin has already testified that 

 there are about 300 acres of this land, that is, sandy land, and that 

 the other 200 acres are black lands. Now then, I would say that 

 possibly one-third or one-fourth of the lands of that parish are just 

 of that character, I mean, of the character of the ])la('K lands. 



Mr. Buchanan. How. large is the parish ? 



Senator Broussard. It is about ten miles long and about eight 

 miles wide. 



Senator Ransdell. May I say that fully one-third of the lands of 

 the State of Louisiana are of this same character, and the same 

 problem you have in raising cattle on jthis farm is the same problem 

 they ha\^e all over southern Louisiana. 



Senator Broussard. Not only as to the black lands but it is the 

 same problem they have on the Gulf coast. We have different types 

 of land; we have these alluvial lands and then we have hill lands, of 

 course, which are not included and they are red clay, l)ut this character 

 of land would apply to all the land along the Gulf coast. 



Senator Ransdell. Taking this section as a whole, is it not a fair 

 type of the sugar-cane lands throughout Louisiana ? 



Senator Broussard. As I said before, I have known this land for 

 years, my father-in-law having owned it, and he made crops on the 

 land which now forms this farm. These 500 acres were taken out 

 of the Hope farm, and the State has given it over to the United 

 States Government fice of charge. This is the best paying farm the 

 State has and these are just 500 acres taken off (he western portion 

 of that j)lantation; there was no selection made but just a line drawn 

 and dial many acres given ovei' to the Govei'nment. However, the 

 Slate is cultivating lands nuich farther back than this farm land, 

 lands that have been reclaimed since the convincts were there. When 

 thcie is nothing else to do they go out in the woods and clear this 

 land; it is then j)ut undei" cnltivation and it is productive. 



Mr. lk-cjiA.\A.\. Docs this land extend to the sea or the Gulf ^ 



