72 



4 or 5 feet. Very few interior ditches were made for drainage. The 

 land was so level that fields of 40 and 80 acres were common. Large 

 crops were produced, the prairies were practically frew trom injurious 

 grasses, and the creek or river water was soft and bore no damagining 

 seeds to the fields. The rice fields were handled like the bonanza 

 wheat farms of Dakota, and fortunes were made. Levees were cheaply 

 constructed ; little attention was paid to drainage more than to remove 

 the surface water; shocking, stacking and threshing wcro done in a very 

 careless tnanner; the main object being apparently to plant a large 

 acreage and secure a certain number of bushels, regardless of quantity. 

 Ult'mate failure was certain, but it was liasten d by drought. A suc- 

 cession of dry years followed. The creeks failed, and reservoirs were 

 found to be expensive and unreliable. 



Ttie soil and climatic conditions in south eastern Texas are almost 

 precisely like those in southwestern Louisiana. Kico culture in this 

 section requires no separate treatment. What is applicable to the one 

 applies also to the other. There is a belt of prairie well suited to rice 

 extending from the Sabine River west for 100 miles along the coast. 

 AVithin a few years laro:e farms have been opened and devoted to this 

 cereul with excellent returns. 



IRRIGATION. 



Pumping plants. — To provide a reliable supply of water, plants for 

 pumping were gradually substituted for the natural irriga- 

 tion relied on to produce a crop on the so-called " providenci rice 

 farms." Footcnately the water in the rivers is soft, abundant, and free 

 from silt and damaging weed seeds. The elevation of the prairies above 

 the streams varies from 6 to 38 feet, the larger portion being from 15 

 to 25 faet. At first farms along the streams and lakes were irrigated ; 

 gradually large surface canals w«re constructed. 



Canals for irrigation. — Irrigating canals were started in a small 

 way in Acadia Parish in 1890. In 189i a canal 40 feet wide was built 

 for 15 miles with 10 miles of laterals. This was followed by the Orow- 

 ley Canal, which is now 35 feet wide and 8 miles in length, and has 10 

 miles of lateral lines. The Riverside Canal was the next, and now has 

 several miles in operation. These enterprises have grown steadily until 

 there are now 9 canals in Acadia Parish, with an approximate length of 

 115 miles. There are about 25 irrigating canals in Acadia, Calcasieu, 

 Cameron, and Veemilion parishes, with a total length of over 400 miles 

 of mains and probal)ly twice that extent of laterals, built at a total cost 

 of about $1,500,000. In nearly evey township there are one or more 

 ridges slightly above the surrounding land. On these surface canals 

 are built from 20 to 150 feet in width, according to the area to be 

 watered. The sides of the canal are raised from 4 to 5 feet with plows 

 and scrapers ar with grading machinery. Grading machines work very 

 well, as the soil is a loam or a clay loam free from stones. Side gates 

 are inserted in the embankment as frequently as necessary. Laterals 

 are run from the main canal. These canals, where well constructed 

 and operated, prove entirely successful and make the rice crop a prac- 

 tical certainty over a large section of country. They range in irrigat- 

 ing capacity from 1,000 to 30,000 acres. The usual water rent charged 

 the planter b}^ the canal company is 324 pounds of rough rice per acre 

 watered. 



