Irrigating Rice 



Crops 



Prior to 1884 most of this area, like the prairie lands of Texas, was given 

 over to cattle grazing, although a small portion of it was devoted to the cultiva- 

 tion of cotton and corn in scattered locations. About that year, it was ascer- 

 tained these lands could be artificially irrigated and made available for the 

 growing of rice, the cultivation of which has spread rapidly throughout the 

 entire Prairie Land Region and is the largest area of land in the United States 

 devoted to raising of rice. 



The staple crops of cotton, corn, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes and all varieties 

 of garden truck, together with every variety of grass and clover do exceptionally 

 well and are grown in all parts of the Prairie Land Section. 



This is in reality Acadia — the part of Louisiana made famous by Longfellow's 

 "Evangeline" and is one of the most interesting and attractive sections in the 

 South. Nearly all of the native inhabitants are the descendants of those French- 

 Canadians, who, driven out of Nova Scotia by the English, came to Louisiana 

 and settled in this delightful country, "Where the grass grows more in a single 

 night than in a whole Canadian summer." 



Threshing Rice 

 13 



