614 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



Pipes of 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 inch size have been sunk to the gravel 

 and pumped continuously for months without serious diminution of 

 the supply. The water is soft, at a constant temperature of about 70 

 F., and absolutely free from injurious seeds or minerals. Such is the 

 facility with which these wells are made that a 6-inch tube has been 

 put down to the full depth required 200 feet in fourteen hours. 

 Thus far it has been found that a 6-inch pipe will furnish sufficient 

 water to flood 60 to 80 acres. Such wells are used for the irrigation 

 of other crops than rice. 



A 6-inch well will furnish a constant stream for a 4 to 5 inch 

 pump. A system of such wells may be put down 30 to 40 feet apart. 

 Such a combination of wells may be united just below water level, 

 and all be run by one engine and pump. Water rises naturally in 

 these wells to within 20 feet of the surface, and a number of flowing 

 wells have been secured. The lift is not greater than from rivers, 

 lakes, or bayous into canals. Eight 4-inch wells united at the top can 

 be run by one 16-inch pump and a 50-hor.sepower engine, and will 

 flood 500 or more acres of rice. The total cost of an irrigating plant 

 sufficient for flooding 200 acres is from $2,000 to $3,000. It requires 

 about seventy days' pumping for the rice season. 



Harvesting and Thrashing. The operations of harvesting and 

 thrashing the rice crop in southwestern Louisiana are performed with 

 the self-binder and the steam thrasher. The use of the former is 

 favored by the size of the fields, and by the character of the soil. The 

 use of the latter, while it frequently involves the breakage of consid- 

 erable grain, is a cheap, rapid, and effective method of separating the 

 rice from the straw. Without the use of such machines the large cul- 

 tural operations of this section would be impossible. 



Prospects for Extension of Rice Industry. The outlook for the 

 further extension of the industry is very promising. According to 

 the best estimates there are about 10,000,000 acres of land in the five 

 States bordering the Gulf of Mexico well suited to rice cultivation. 

 The amount which can be successfully irrigated by present methods, 

 using the available surface and artesian flows, does not exceed 3,000,- 

 000 acres. The balance of the land could probably be brought into 

 cultivation were it necessary, but the cost would, perhaps, be prohibi- 

 tive at present prices. Three million acres is a conservative estimate 

 of the amount which can be successfully irrigated. The best results 

 require rotation of crops ; consequently only one-half of that amount, 

 or 1,500,000 acres, would be in rice at any one time. At an average 

 yield of 10 barrels (of 162 pounds) per acre, 1,500,000 acres of rice 

 would produce nearly 2,500,000,000 pounds of cleaned rice, nearly 

 six times the amount of our present consumption. There is no sat- 

 isfactory reason why the United States should not grow and mill all 

 of its own rice and become an exporter. 



The employment of machinery in the rice fields of the Southwest 

 similar to that used in the great wheat fields of California and the 

 Dakotas is revolutionizing the methods of cultivation and greatly re- 

 ducing the cost. The American rice grower, employing higher-priced 

 labor than any other rice grower of the world, will ultimately be able 



