28 THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 



THE VALUE OF WELLS. 



WHAT A SIX-INCH WELL AND I2O ACRES WILL PRODUCE. 



[Written expressly for Jennings Times by S. L. Gary.] 



In the childhood of the old century (just passed away) a 

 great writer, one Horace Greely of agricultural memory, wrote 

 a famous book entitled "Five Acres Enough." Another writer, 

 after a hard, practical trial, wrote a humorous article entitled 

 "Five Acres Too Much," in which he seemed to have the better 

 of the man who said, "Go West, young man, and grow up with 

 the country." And now in the early infancy of the twentieth cen- 

 tury we are telling young and old to go South and get a farm 

 in the rice belt, and a very common question is, "What can be 

 done with 120 acres of rice land to support a family and a home?" 



The 120 acres cost $20 per acre; buildings and fencing $500; 

 one 6-inch deep well, 180 feet, $360; 5-inch pump, $125, making 

 a permanent investment of $3,485, at 6 per cent, $209.10; taxes, 

 $20; seed, $125, and sacks, $70; $600 for fuel and engineers for 

 pumping would represent the cash outlay, to which must be 

 added the use of machinery and labor to put in, care for, harvest, 

 thresh and market the crop. 



Now what can be reasonably expected from a rice crop of 

 120 acres, well put in with clean seed and plenty of water at the 

 proper time ? There should be harvested in good condition at 

 least ten sacks per acre of good grade clean rice, making 1,200 

 sacks, which for the past 18 years has averaged $3.50 per sack 

 say $3.00 per sack; from this deduct $1,024 for interest, seed 

 taxes, fuel, engineer, sacks and twine, leaving for labor and profit 

 $2.576; from this deduct for plowing $120, seeding $60, watch- 

 ing levees $50, harvesting $250, threshing $300, marketing $120, 

 making a total for labor of $1,000, leaving $1,576 to the profit 

 side of the account, being over 40 per cent on the permanent capi- 

 tal invested, which if land is worth all it pays, 5 per cent, will 

 be 5 per cent upon $250 per acre. 



Such a home, with this climate and the most favorable con- 

 ditions, would not be on sale. Homes can be made in the rice 

 belt more attractive and profitable than elsewhere, more cheaply, 

 easily and in less time. Nature is more generous ; humanity is 

 at its best. It is the last best work of the great Creator of all 

 things, and to be a land-owner, a freeholder, with such surround- 

 ings, is a position to be proud of ; and such is the position of hun- 

 dreds of families in the rice belt at the begining of the twentieth 

 century, to be followed by thousands more. 



Why there is so great a difference between prices and the 

 value of land in the rice belt is easily accounted for. Early teach- 

 ing and a lack of correct knowledge of this country by our only 

 customer, the man of the far-away northwest, coupled with the 

 traditions of the Acadian settler, who was perfectly happy and 



