Rice Production in Southwestern Louisiana 9 
PLATS 
The soil of the Rice Experiment Station farm is the Crowley silt 
loam, which, as stated elsewhere, is the typical rice soil of south- 
western Louisiana. The experiments, except the irrigation tests, 
were made on tenth-acre plats (fig. 4) measuring 2 rods wide and 8 
rods long. The irrigation experiments were made on square-rod 
plats. The plats were arranged side by side in series, each plat be- 
ing separated from that on either side by a 5-foot alley. The series 
were inclosed by levees in which were located gates that could be 
operated to discharge water into or from the plats whenever desired. 
The irrigation water was obtained from a deep well and conveyed to 
Fig. 4. — General view of plats at the Rice Experiment Station, Crowley, La., during 
submergence. The land is covered with approximately 6 inches of water 
the series through ditches. These ditches also served for drainage 
purposes. 
GENERAL CULTURAL METHODS 
The land used in the experiments was cropped during the previous 
year to soybeans, except for fertilizer and irrigation experiments. 
The beans were sown in early June at the rate of 30 pounds per 
acre in rows 4 feet apart and were cultivated. The seed was har- 
vested and the stems and leaves plowed under. The vegetable mat- 
ter thus added to the soil greatly improved its physical condition, 
the frequent cultivations served to control weeds, especially red rice, 
and plant food in the form of nitrogen was added to the soil. No 
commercial fertilizers were applied to the plats except those used 
for the fertilizer experiments. 
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