THE TEXAS RICE BOOK. 41 



increase their acreage to 10,000 next year. They are going to 

 dig a slack water ditch from Lake Charlotte to Turtle Bayou. 



"Stagg Brothers (four families of them, eight miles west of 

 Winnie, under Trinity Canal, were rice planters for twenty-two 

 years at Crowley, La. They had 1,100 acres of rice in 1900 

 and are well satisfied with their new crop and location. They will 

 plant i, 600 acres next year. 



"John Stewardson, six miles west of Stowell, had 100 acres, 

 all Honduras. Not hurt at all by storm; yielded u 1-2 barrels 

 per acre. His rice took the first premium at the Houston fruit 

 and flower festival. He will double his acreage in 1901. 



"J. S. Jordan, 120 acres, one mile north of Hamshire, on 

 Gulf and Interstate Railroad. Water furnishd by one 8-inch well. 

 Not damaged at all by storm. Yielded 1 1 barrels per acre. He 

 will plant 250 acres next season. 



"Governor H. C. Wheeler, 100 acres, two miles south of 

 Hamshire, watered by one 8-inch well, yielded n barrels per acre 

 of fine rice. He will bore six more wells and plant 1,000 acres 

 on his old dairy farm next year. 



"George Gill, 700 acres, four miles east of Hamshire, under 

 canal from Taylor's Bayou. Not damaged over 10 per cent by 

 wind. Yielded over 10 barrels per acre. Will plant 1,200 acres 

 next season. 



A few important lessons may be learned from the experience 

 of our farmers this year. 



1. Seeding can not be too early done. It is desirable to fin- 

 ish by April 15 to 30 if possible. Sow Honduras rice for the 

 earlier crop and if forced to seed later than April, sow Japan rice 

 last, as it stands autumnal storms, late summer drouth and gen- 

 eral "grief" better than Honduras. 



2. To be sure of water for irrigation is not the only desider- 

 atum. Perhaps drainage is absolutely necessary -twice in the life- 

 time of each rice crop, at seed time and at harvest. Very few rice 

 farmers have the perfection of drainage necessary, but it can be 

 obtained in every instance with as great certainty as irrigation. 

 A dyke can be built around boundaries of each farm high enough 

 to surely exclude all storm or back-waters. This would not usu- 

 ally need to be more than three of four feet high at its highest 

 point. All levels on the farm could then be readily made to drain 

 to the lowest point along the dyke, where an ordinary 

 pump, lifting three or four feet driven by a portion threshing 

 engine, could be made to pump out in every few hours all the 

 water that might fall on the farm or any seepage the result of 

 crawfish holes or imperfect dykes. 



3. In case of storm, which has heretofore and no doubt will 

 again beat down, or lodge grain, so that a binder may not get it 

 all, we should remember that the crop is valuable enough to pay 

 for extraordinary methods of saving it. If it can not be cut and 

 bound by binders cutting the field on one side only, then it can 

 be cut with ordinary mowers, cutting field on one side only, witk 



