Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/543

LOUISIANA. cent. by share tenants. The acreage operated by the colored farmers was 21.2 per cent. of the total, but less than 10 per cent. was actually owned by them.

Louisiana ranks below most of the Southern States in the production of the two leading crops of that region—cotton and corn. The acreage of these two crops is about the same, but the cotton crop is estimated at more than twice the value of the corn, and is of first importance in the State. The production of cotton, in pounds, was almost the same in 1899 as in 1859. The acreage of corn increased 60.4 per cent. in the last decade of the nineteenth century, and in the last census year amounted to 93.5 per cent. of that of the total cereal crop. The sugar-cane and rice culture of the United States is largely localized in Louisiana. The sugar crop rivals cotton in value, although the acreage devoted to it is incomparably smaller. This industry had become extensive by the middle of the nineteenth century, but after that period did not increase greatly until the last decade of the century. A very considerable portion of the crop in Louisiana must annually be kept for seed. This is not the case in Cuba or Hawaii. Louisiana is thus placed at a decided disadvantage in competition. The heavy expenditure incurred in the machinery required to conduct a sugar plantation successfully results in the establishment of large estates, the average size being much greater than that of farms which are primarily devoted to any other crop. In 1899, 56.7 per cent. of the crop was grown under the immediate management of the manufacturer, 8.6 per cent. on plantations by tenants, and 34.7 per cent. by others—the two last classes selling the harvested product to the manufacturer. Much damage occasionally results to the sugar crop from frosts.

The rice-growing industry had its period of greatest increase in the last five years of the nineteenth century. The delta parishes were formerly the most important rice-growing region, but they have recently been largely given up for the prairie coast region west of the delta. The parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, and Vermilion in 1889 contributed 68.3 per cent. of the crop, although in 1889 they had produced only 23.5 per cent. This change in the region of rice production resulted from the difficulty in using heavy modern machinery in the delta district, owing to the soft alluvial soil, and to the discovery that the prairie soil was unequaled for rice-growing. Heavy irrigation is required, and this is easily obtained on the prairies of Louisiana. Canals are constructed along the higher ridges of land, and pumping plants at the head of the canals lift the water from the streams. The region is underlaid with water-bearing gravel, so that water is also secured from wells. The crop is harvested the same as wheat in the Northwest.

In 1889, 63,098 acres were devoted to vegetables, 43.4 per cent. of which was in sweet potatoes. Peas are grown to some extent, and in the last decade of the nineteenth century there was a very significant increase in the cultivation of peanuts, but the area devoted to them is still small. Comparatively little attention is given to fruit. Of the 1,168,192 trees in 1900, 64.9 per cent. were peach trees, the number of which had much more than doubled in the decade ending with that year. Ninety-nine per cent. of the area devoted to small fruits was in strawberries. The following figures show the acreage of the leading crops for the census years indicated:

As is usual in a region where so little attention is given to cereals, stock-raising is of small importance. The number of horses on farms was, however, considerably more than twice, and the number of mules and asses more than three times, as great in 1900 as in 1850, and the increase in each of these was especially marked in the last decade of that period. The increase was much less for other varieties of domestic animals, although the number of dairy cows has increased rapidly since 1870, and milk and butter have become important sources of income.

The following table shows the number of domestic animals on farms, as reported by the censuses of 1890 and 1900:

. The value of manufactured products in Louisiana more than doubled in each of the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The total value of the product in 1900 was estimated at $121,181,000. The number of wage-earners increased from 12,160 in 1880 to 42,210 in 1900, or from 1.3 per cent. of the population to 3.1 per cent.

The sugar-cane, cotton, and rice fields supply the raw materials for the most important group of manufactures. The sugar and molasses refining products amount to 39.5 per cent. of the total value of the products of the State. The loss formerly sustained through the enforced idleness of the plants for a long period each year is now being obviated through the utilization of the machinery in the manufacture of paper from the waste product or woody fibre of the cane. Another flourishing industry is the manufacture of cottonseed oil and cake, which made a gain of 346 per cent. during the decade. While there were only two factories manufacturing cotton goods, there were a number of others in process of erection. The cleaning and polishing of rice, the manufacturing of foundry and machine-shop products, tobacco products, and of bags, are other important industries. Over one-half of all the products are accredited to New Orleans.