THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 19 



engine to thresh his crop or saw his fuel. He can deliver his 

 water on his land right where he needs it without expensive later- 

 als. If his land be early seeded and ready for water he need not 

 wait till his rice is suffering bcause the average planter Bunder" 

 the canal is not yet ready for water. He can feel certain if his 

 land be clean that no foul seeds are carried to him. And he is 

 pretty sure that his small plant, in case of break-down, can be 

 quickly repaired, while he knows of instances where a break in 

 the great pumps of the canal company have caused a calamitous 

 delay to farmers "under" it. The above are some of the causes 

 for self-congratulation the well man himself has given me. But 

 there is another reason for congratulating the coast country on 

 this important discovery. The great canal companies tend to in- 

 crease the landlord system to people the rice country with ten- 

 ants. Among people who are willing to be tenants there are many 

 excellent farmers and citizens, but as a class those who are will- 

 ing to become and remain tenants, are not as good farmers nor 

 citizens as those who insist upon owning and cultivating their 

 land. And the best class of citizens is none too good for us. 



To return to the wells; they were found to be such a good 

 thing that they have increased their number to over 160 in Louisi- 

 ana this year. Most of the later wells are eight and ten inches 

 in diameter. The California propeller pump seems to exceed the 

 centrifugal in popularity. Batteries of four and five wells have 

 been bored, operated by one fifty-horse power engine, and will 

 irrigate from 500 to 1,000 acres. 



We find it costs us in Southeast Texas about as follows: 

 Ten-inch well complete 200 feet deep, $650 ; California propeller 

 pump in place in well, $250; twenty horse-power engine, $700; 

 total for plant, $1,600. This should water 250 acres of rice land 

 for sixty days at a total cost for fuel, oil and engineers, of $400. 

 What is there in it? I had almost forgotten to tell you that, 

 Well, there's 'money in it. More money than in any other field 

 crop grown. The average yield is ten barrels per acre, and that 

 average is made when the crop of the ne'er-do-well, the fishing, 

 hunting farmer, who puts his crop in any old way, and leaves it 

 to take care of itself till it is ready for harvest, when his crop, I 

 say, is averaged with that of the careful farmer, it makes ten 

 barrels per acre. The better farmers get sixteen barrels. But 

 call it ten. The average price again is $3, or a gross average for 

 the crop of $30 per acre. It costs $3 per acre more to raise rice 

 than to raise wheat. A total of $10 per acre should cover all ex- 

 penses, including your work and that of your teams. One man 

 with a good team of four horses or mules can care for 100 acres 

 of rice. He should not try to do much more. So one man with 

 four mules should count safely on making $2,000 for his sum- 

 mer's work. If he is a good farmer, a careful, industrious farmer, 

 he is more likely to make $3,500 net than $2,000. I won't take up 

 your time to tell you all I know about rice of the number of peo- 

 ple of my acquaintances who have made little fortunes in rice 



