MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 613 



would be only 13.64 per cent. The present method of burning rice 

 hulls can not be too severely condemned, but doubtless will be con- 

 tinued as long as rice is sold in the paddy. Hulling is a process re- 

 quiring very simple and inexpensive machinery. It can be done prof- 

 itably up on the farm, and is done in most of the great rice-producing 

 countries. In addition to their fertilizing value, the removal of the 

 hull on the farm saves the expense for sacks and freight charge for 

 the extra bulk and weight, the hulls forming generally about 20 per 

 cent of the weight of the paddy. It also enables the farmer as well as 

 the miller to determine with greater exactness the quality of the 

 grain, thereby removing that element of uncertainty which always 

 operates to the detriment of the farmer. It should be mentioned, 

 however, that the hard husk of the rice tends to prevent attacks of 

 weevil on the grain, and that rice with all or a portion of the husks 

 on keeps better in storage or long shipment. 



Rice Polish. This is the fine flour resulting from the polishing 

 process. It is a valuable stock food, being rich in albuminoids as 

 well as carbohydrates. 



RICE CULTIVATION IN THE SOUTHWEST. 



It is necessary to treat of rice production in southwestern Lou- 

 isiana and southeastern Texas separately, because the methods are in 

 some respects different from those practiced in any other part of the 

 world. 



The soil and climatic conditions in southeastern Texas are al- 

 most precisely like those in southwestern Louisiana. Rice culture in 

 this section requires no separate treatment. There is a belt of prairie 

 well suited to rice extending from the Sabine River west for 250 miles 

 or more along the coast. Within a few years large farms have been 

 opened and devoted to this cereal with excellent returns. 



Irrigation. To provide a reliable supply of water, pumping 

 plants for raising water from the streams were gradually put in. The 

 elevation of the prairies above the streams varies from 6 to 38 feet, 

 the larger proportion being from 15 to 25 feet. At first, farms along 

 the streams and lakes were irrigated ; gradually large surface canals 

 were constructed. Laterals are run from the main canal to accommo- 

 date remote farms. Powerful pumping plants are erected on the bank 

 of the river at the head of the surface canal. These canals, where 

 well constructed and operated, prove entirely successful, and make 

 the rice crop a practical certainty over a large section of country. 

 They range in irrigating capacity from 1,000 to 30,000 acres. The 

 usual water rent charged the planter by the canal company is 324 

 pounds of rough rice per acre watered. 



Deep Wells for Irrigation. Scarcely had the surface canals been 

 accepted as a success when southwestern Louisiana was startled by 

 the announcement that there were strata of gravel under the surface 

 of the entire section, varying from 125 to 200 feet in some districts 

 to 400 to 600 feet in others, containing a large supply of water which 

 would, of its own pressure, either flow or come so near the surface 

 that it could be readily pumped. 



