2 Bulletin 1356, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
lifting of water by steam pumps from a bayou near Crowley in 
1885 was the first step in developing the rice industrj^ of south- 
western Louisiana. The canal systems which were soon organized 
enlarged the possibilities and contributed greatly toward making 
rice the money crop of this section of the State. 
In 1887 rice culture began to assume some importance in this part 
of Louisiana. In 1889 Louisiana became the leading rice-producing 
State, with a total area of 84,377 acres, of which 25,637 acres 
were located in the southwestern prairie region. As early as 1899 
the rice area of this section had increased to 146,735 acres, and since 
Fig. 1. — Outline map of southwestern Louisiana, showing the parishes in which rice was 
grown in 1923. The shaded portion of the map shows the distribution of the rice 
acreage within these parishes. Inset: Outline map of Louisiana, showing in black 
the rice-producing parishes of southwestern Louisiana 
then this area has led all sections of the Linked States in the acreage 
and production of this crop. 
The center of rice production in southwestern Louisiana has been 
Acadia Parish, the eastern part of Calcasieu, now known as Jeffer- 
son Davis Parish, and the northern and eastern parts of Vermilion 
Parish. In 1889 Acadia Parish had 15,352 acres of rice, Calcasieu 
Parish 8,655 acres, and Vermilion Parish 1,507 acres. The rice acre- 
age of these parishes steadily increased during each succeeding dec- 
ade, reaching the maximum in 1920. In this year there were in 
Acadia Parish 156,089 acres, Calcasieu Parish 90,060 acres, and 
Vermilion Parish 132,793 acres. 
