Rice Production in Southwestern Louisiana 3 
The acreage, acre yield, and production of rice in southwestern 
Louisiana from 1911 to 1923, inclusive, are compared in Table 1 with 
the acreage, acre yield, and production in Louisiana and in the 
United States for the same period. 
Table 1. — Acreage, acre yield, and production of rice in southwestern Louisi- 
ana, 1 in Louisiana, 1 and in the United States 2 during the 13-year period from 
1911 to 1923, inclusive 
Southwestern Louisiana 
Louisiana 
United States 
Year 
Acreage 
Production 
(bushels) 
Acreage 
Production 
(bushels) 
Acreage 
Production 
(bushels) 
Per 
acre 
Total 
Per 
acre 
Total 
Per 
acre 
Total 
1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
271, 897 
291, 094 
333, 922 
287, 215 
336, 088 
371, 766 
429, 315 
491, 893 
500, 669 
611, 036 
416, 162 
483, 694 
426, 640 
34.7 
33.0 
29.4 
33.4 
30.7 
42.4 
33.5 
32.3 
34.3 
32.8 
35.5 
35.0 
31.4 
9, 428, 319 
9, 600, 820 
9, 815, 902 
9, 588, 031 
10, 315, 750 
15, 753, 398 
14, 363, 218 
15, 903, 814 
17, 183, 829 
20, 063, 206 
14, 780, 758 
16, 930, 386 
13, 395, 089 
359, 616 
352, 549 
400, 222 
333, 824 
397, 498 
446, 571 
506, 399 
580, 920 
560, 724 
754, 081 
483, 644 
557, 912 
473, 003 
36.4 
36.2 
30.6 
35.6 
32.7 
43.2 
34.7 
33.5 
34.7 
34.5 
36.9 
36.8 
32.4 
13, 079, 706 
12, 773, 657 
12, 244, 008 
11, 872, 752 
12, 983, 796 
19, 297, 839 
17, 594, 823 
19, 484, 566 
19, 481, 342 
26, 052, 320 
17, 838, 180 
20, 547, 349 
15, 325, 367 
696, 000 
723, 000 
827, 000 
694, 000 
803, 000 
869, 000 
981, 000 
1, 119, 000 
1, 063, 000 
1, 336, 000 
921, 000 
1, 055, 000 
892, 000 
33.0 
34.7 
31.1 
34.1 
36.1 
47.0 
35.4 
34.5 
39.5 
39.0 
40.8 
39.8 
37.2 
22, 934, 000 
25, 054, 000 
25, 744, 000 
23, 649, 000 
28, 947, 000 
40, 861, 000 
34, 739, 000 
38, 606, 000 
41, 985, 000 
52, 066, 000 
37,612,000 
41, 965, 000 
33, 256, 000 
Average .. 
403, 953 
33.7 
13, 624, 809 
477, 459 
35.2 
16, 813, 516 
921, 462 
37.1 
34, 416, 769 
1 Compiled from the records of the Louisiana State Rice Milling Co. (Inc.), Crowley, La. 
2 Compiled from the reports of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
NATURAL FACTORS AFFECTING RICE PRODUCTION 
Rice produces well in regions of high seasonal temperatures where 
its requirements for water can be supplied either directly or indi- 
rectly by precipitation. It grows on many types of soils, though the 
crop is usually more productive on clay than on soils of lighter 
texture. These natural factors, especially temperature and water, 
limit the extension of the rice area. 
The important natural factors which have contributed to the suc- 
cessful development of rice culture in southwestern Louisiana are 
suitable soils underlain by an impervious subsoil, topography, pre- 
cipitation, and temperature. 
SOILS 
There are several types of soils in this region which because of 
topography, texture, and character of subsoil are well adapted to the 
growing of rice. The most typical of these is the Crowley silt loam. 
This soil is the predominating type in Acadia Parish, with 244,160 
acres of the total area of 407,168 acres. It also is found in other 
parishes of southwestern Louisiana and in the rice-producing section 
of Arkansas. 
The Crowley silt loam ranges in depth from 10 to 25 inches, with 
an average depth of approximately 16 inches. It is a brown or ash- 
gray loam containing from 22.92 to 27.92 per cent of clay, 55.20 to 
68.84 per cent of silt, 4.20 to 12.52 per cent of very fine sand, and 
0.77 to 2.06 per cent of organic matter. There is a sufficient propor- 
