LOUISIANA. 



with the hinrls adjacent to the Yazoo 

 ami Mississippi Valley Road, north of 

 Baton liouye, and the liill country on 

 the Viclisburg, Shreveport and I'aciHc 

 Railroad, west of Monroe, and on tne 

 Texas and I'acitic, above Alexandria. 

 Near Wilson, La., on the former road, 

 are larjje trnclj farms, which, though 

 recently estaiilished, promise to be v-ei\v 

 successful. On these farms Imsnonse 

 quantities of tomatoes were grown last 

 year and shipped to western marliets. 



Besides the vegeTables named, grown 

 In special localities for market, may be 

 mentioned tlie Irish potato, whicli has 

 become in this state a st.-iple cnm and 

 grown iu most every parish for marliet. 

 Planted from December to PVbruary, 

 they are harvested from March to June, 

 and reacli the marlcets in turii to com- 

 mand the highest prices of spring. By 

 planting again in July or August a second 

 crop is obtained in the fall, which can 

 be shipped or used for seed in the win- 

 ter or spring. Hundreds of thousands of 

 barrels of Irish potatoes are anu'iallr 

 shipped from this state to the marliet's 

 of tlie west and north, alwavs with fair 

 returns. New Orleans and Baton Rouge 

 are the chief centers of collection and 

 shiidnent. Watermelons of large size and 

 of delicious quality are raised all over 

 the state for home purposes and local 

 markets. Ijut as yet few are sliipped to 

 a distance. Apples are not grown exten- 

 sively anywhere in the state. Apricots 

 and nectarines are not a success anywhere 

 Peaches do well in the hills of north 

 Louisiana, and many varieties of tliis 

 luscious fruit are grown througliout this 

 section, both for home consumption and 

 for nmrkets. 



Grapes do well also in this section as 

 well as the hill country of east Louisiana. 

 Certain varieties, with i)roper use of 

 fungicides, can be made to grov/ any- 

 wdiere in the state, but the grape sec- 

 tions are those given. 



8tr;iwl)erries are wonderfully success- 

 ful in the hills and pine tla"ts of the 

 state, and are grown elsewhere also, but 

 with additional risk and cost of keeping 

 down the grasses and weeds through our 

 long summers. 



Blackberries and dewberries grow wild 

 In great profusion all over the state. 

 Raspberries, currants, gooseberries and 

 cherries are not successfully grown iu 

 this state. 



Of pears, only the Chinese type, Le 

 Conte, Smith. Garber, Von Seebold, Kei- 

 fer, etc., are extensively grown. The 

 French type, so lai'gely culti<vated in the 

 north, is not grown successfully there. 

 So, too. with plums, only the Japanese 

 varieties and our native plums will grow. 

 Some vai'ieties of the former are great 

 successes, l)otli in growth of trees and 

 si'/e and tiuality of the fruit. The Botan, 

 Burbank and several others are highly 

 esteemed. 



Figs of excellent quality are grown 

 througluKit the state. In south Louisiana 

 several preserving factories take annually 

 at good prices i'uv. product of many fig 

 orchards. 



Pomegranates and olives can easily be 

 grown in the southern part of the state, 

 while pecans, indigenous to the state, are 

 now grown in exttMisive groves all f)ver 

 the entire state. Many improved varieties 

 arc,' now being grafted or budded upon 

 the common pecan, and the fruit from 

 them is greatly imi)roved in quality and 

 fetches mucli higher prices. This nut is 

 Kow a source of a large income to manv 



of our people, and in the near future will 

 be one of the chief products of the state. 



SWEET POTATOE.S, CONVOLVULUS 



BAtItAS (LINN.) BATATAS 



EDULIS CHOISY. 



This crop is universally grown thro'igh- 

 out the south. It is a popular root, foimd 

 on the table of the rich and the poor. 

 The state of Louisiana is credited with 

 a crop of 3,000,000 bu.shels, large quanti- 

 ties being grown in every parish and 

 ni)on every variety of soil. While most 

 of this crop is consumed at home, in- 

 creasing quantities are annually finding 

 their way to northern mai'kets at re- 

 munerative figures. As much as lOOO 

 busliels per acre have been grown in tliis 

 state and crops of .300 to ^^6^) bushels are 

 frequent. It is also highly relished 1)V 

 stock of all kinds. The cattle and horses 

 are frequently fed upon the harvested 

 roots, while hogs are nearly always per- 

 mitted to root for those which are over- 

 looked in gathering. Thirty-six varieties, 

 including five new ones, recently received 

 from Java, have recently been tested by 

 the state experimenting station at Baton 

 Rouge and the following concluding re- 

 marks are taken from a bulletin re- 

 porting the results 



By far the greatest acquisition in sweet 

 potatoes obtained so far is the Vineloss. 

 It is \ery easily cultivated, prolilic, early, 

 keeps well, and has high table qualities, 

 mal'ing it one of the most desirable vari- 

 eties of our whole list. This is our 

 clioice for first place. The next variety 

 de.jianding especial attention is the Prov- 

 idence, noted above all others for being 

 prolific, and at the same time being well 

 suited for either the table or stock. It 

 does not keep so well as the Hayman or 

 the Southern Queen, but has better table 

 qualities. 



For late spring use the Hayman serves 

 well. There are other old sorts which are 

 ''eslrable and popular, namely, tlie Geor- 

 gia, Spanish yam and the Nansemonds 

 (for northern markets). But the Vineless, 

 Providence and Hayman offer such addi- 

 ticHial advantages that it seems in our 

 judgment they will give more and better 

 returns for labor expended. 



ORANGE-GROWING IN LOUISIANA. 



Formerly it was supposed that only the 

 extreme southern portion of Louisia.ia 

 could grow oranges. In fact, little or no 

 effort was made prior to l.SSO. Seeds 

 from sweet oranges were planted in 

 some corner of the yard, garden or lot, 

 and when germinated permitted to grow 

 unaided by cultivation, pruning or fer- 

 tilization. In the course of time the 

 straggling, neglected trees bore fruit- 

 delicious fruit— for home uses. Thus a 

 home knowledge was ol)lained of the 

 character of Louisiana fruit, but so few 

 found their way to the outside world that 

 the latter knew iilisolutely nothing of 

 their merits. The neglected, enfeel)led 

 trees were frecpiently lailled by (old. by 

 insects or by diseases. The :'api lity with 

 which orange trees under such adverse 

 conditions, were destroyed, ; oou engeii- 

 dereif h poi)ular sentiment ♦^hat oranges 

 could not be profltal)ly grown in I.oui.'^!- 

 ana. This oi)inion has. hdwever, been now 

 almost entirely dissipated. rnfitalde 

 orange groves are found ail a'o'ig the 

 gulf coast, and these groves receive care- 

 ful cnltiviitinn nfimiiiEr and r;'moV!.) 01 



