THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 23 



GREAT ARE RICE AND SUGAR^ 



On the Wing, in the Coast Country of Texas, Dec. 28, 1900. 

 To The News : In traveling over and through the counties of 

 Wharton, Matagorda and Colorado, we find that hope is fast 

 taking the place of disappointment with the people in the counties 

 named. While there was no loss of life during the severe storm 

 in these counties, there was considerable damage done to property, 

 also to crops. However, the rice and sugar crops came through 

 the storm much better than was expected. Quite a good percent- 

 age of the rice was planted late, and this was very much in its 

 favor, as the early rice was more damaged than the late. There 

 was little or no damage to the sugar cane, and those who were 

 fortunate enough to have a sugar cane crop came out very well. 

 As high as $50 per acre has been paid this fall in Wharton and 

 Matagorda counties for sugar cane standing in the fields by those 

 who own the sugar mills. They have paid the growers this sum 

 per acre and then harvested the crop at their own expense. I 

 have met and talked with a number of people who have received 

 from $50 to $65 per acre for their sugar cane after paying all ex- 

 penses. It has been demonstrated beyond a doubt that the best 

 of our prairie lands will produce sugar cane profitably, and it is 

 said that the cane grown in the prairie lands has a greater amount 

 of sweetness to the acre than that grown on the valley lands. 

 In a dry year it would probably be necessary to have water to ir- 

 rigate the cane on the prairie lands. This past year there was 

 plenty of rainfall, and cane did well where it has been tried on 

 the prairie lands. 



Caney Valley, as you know, is said to be as rich land as there 

 is in or out of Texas, and I don't think there is room for an argu- 

 ment on this question. 



In going over the new extension south from Wharton to Van 

 Vleck, the terminus of this branch of the New York, Texas and 

 Mexican, we cross the Caney Creek eleven times, passing through 

 sugar cane plantations, corn fields, cotton fields and big patches 

 of sweet potatoes, The cotton crop this year in this section of 

 the State was what might be called a failure. Many men who in 

 a good season marketed from 1,800 to 2,000 bales of cotton, this 

 year did not market over 18 to 100 bales. This, of course, was a 

 great disappointment. But like many other disappointments in 

 life, it looks very much as though the people of the coast country 

 were going to profit by the failure of the cotton crops during the 

 past few years. Their attention is now turned to the growing of 

 rice and sugar cane, and many are of the opinion that the raising 

 of good stock will mix well with the culture of rice. Rice straw 

 rice bran, rice polish and rice stubble make excellent feed for 

 stock. On the Lovell farm, convenient to Crowley, La., Mr. 

 Lovell has thoroughly tested the raising of good stock of all kinds, 

 and feeding them on the by-products of rice and pasturmg- them 

 on the rice stubble. Mr. Lovell has an excellent grade of cattle, 



