2 BULLETIN 1127, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
prairie region of southwestern Louisiana, where rice is the im- 
portant money crop. 
The soil of the experiment station is the Crowley silt loam. It 
is the typical rice soil of the prairies in this section of the State 
and contains approximately 4 per cent of very fine sand, 69 per cent 
of silt, and 23 per cent of clay. It is of a brown or ash-gray color 
and rather compact in structure, with a tendency to puddle when 
plowed in a wet state. The subsoil, which lies at an average depth 
of 16 inches, is a mottled blue and yellow clay which is so impervious 
that there is no vertical seepage through it. Levees that contain 
much of this clay are practically water-tight. 
The varietal experiments were made on tenth-acre plats, measur- 
ing 2 rods wide and 8 rods long. They were arranged side by side 
in series, each plat being 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 it was desired. The irrigation water was ob- 
tained from a deep well and conveyed to the series through ditches. 
These ditches also served for drainage purposes. 
The land used in testing these varieties was plowed in late 
autumn or early winter to the depth of 5 to 7 inches and well drained 
during the winter. Under these conditions, the necessary field op- 
erations for making a good seed bed in spring consisted usually of 
one double disking and one harrowing before seeding. A float al- 
ways was used after disking. As a rule, this preparation left the 
surface soil loose and finely divided to a depth of several inches and 
made a seed bed which retained moisture so well that irrigation was 
seldom used to promote germination. 
The varieties were grown each year on land that grew soy beans in 
the previous year. The beans were sown at the rate of 30 pounds per 
acre in rows 4J feet apart and were cultivated. The seed was har- 
vested and the stems and leaves plowed under. The vegetable matter 
thus added to the soil greatly improved its physical condition. The 
frequent cultivations of the soy beans served to control weeds, espe- 
cially red rice. By the use of this legume, plant food in the form 
of nitrogen was stored in the soil. No commercial fertilizers were 
applied to the plats. 
The rice seed was sown with a drill to a depth of 2 inches during 
the first week of May at the rate of 80 pounds per acre. 
The irrigation water was applied to the plats approximately 
30 days after the rice plants emerged. At this time the average height 
of the plants of the different varieties ranged from 8 to 13 inches. 
Throughout the remainder of the growing season an average depth 
of 5 inches of water was maintained. Fresh water was admitted to 
the plats when needed to equal the losses from seepage, evaporation, 
and transpiration. 
The plats were drained when the panicles were well turned down. 
The grain was harvested with a hand hook and put in large shocks, 
where it remained for weeks before it was thrashed. The shocks 
were strongly built to withstand the wind and so capped that the 
grain was protected from rain as well as sun. 
