Louisiana for the Settler

Of the 28,000,000 acres of land less then one-fifth is improved. The past year Louisiana produced on 5,500,000 acres:

Amount	Crop	Worth
820,000 Bales	Cotton	$51,652,000
327,000,000 Pounds	Sugar	$35,000,000
6,540,542 Gallons	Syrup	$1,848,140
17,783,017 Gallons	Molasses	$4,084,000
1,840,000 Bushels	Peanuts	$1,080,000
2,190,000 Bushels	Irish Potatoes	$3,263,000
7,110,000 Bushels	Sweet Potatoes	$10,000,000
798,000 Bushels	Oats	$875,000
19,722,000 Bushels	Corn	$21,848,000
16,088,000 Bushels	Rice	$22,000,000
400,000 Pounds	Tobacco	$158,000
325,000 Tons	Hay	$4,800,000
125,000 Boxes	Oranges	$165,000
3,700,000 Gallons	Milk	$1,125,000
185,000 Acres	Fruits and Vegetables	$13,000,000
35,000,000 Barrels	Oil	$48,000,000
6,000,000	Fur Pelts	$7,000,000
	Carbon Black	$8,000,000
	Seafoods	$12,000,000
	Timber Products	$17,000,000
	Miscellaneous Products	$20,000,000

“On the Old Spanish Trail.” Louisiana is spending $10,000, 000 annually for the good roads at practically no cost to people in direct taxes. Auto License, Gasoline Tax and division of the State Severance Tax on Natural Resources pays the bill. Within ten years Louisiana will lead in percentage of good roads.

The publication of this book has for its purpose the advertisement of some of the basic facts about the GULF COAST section of the great State of Louisiana. It has been written without any prejudice or partisanship, the facts being stated in moderation without the use of superlatives or even the appearance of exaggeration.

The day for inaccurate, overdrawn statements in writing of land and its productivity is past. The “TRUTH IS STRONG ENOUGH,” especially when writing of the marvelous fertility of the alluvial and coastal plains soils of Louisiana. No booklet can convey to you the charm of the Gulf Coast Country-only a personal visit can vivify its beauty, its charm, its wonderful possibilities.

Believing in the trade slogan, “Business is sensitive; it goes where it is INVITED and stays where it is WELL TREATED.” Louisiana invited you to come and look over its fertile lands its mild, pleasant climate and see for your self its many splendid opportunities and BE CONVINCED of the warm-hearted welcome that awaits the new settler.

For the sake of brevity and conciseness, much detailed information has been omitted here. Additional facts concerning any particular locality may be had upon application to any representative of the Southern Pacific Lines, or to representatives of Federal Farm Loan Banks, to County Agents, or Chamber of Commerce, a list of whom will be found in the back of this booklet.

“The first requisite,” said Carlyle “is to be a good animal.” Health is the corner stone of success. The out-of-doors, open-air style of living here is the Gulf Coast country, where the sun shines most of the time and changes of temperature are uncommon, contributes to the health and welfare of people of all ages. Pneumonia and tuberculosis are rare and less fatal then in those sections where open, airy homes and outdoor life are not so common.

Out door work is never retarded because of too much cold or too hot weather and heat prostrations and sunstrokes are practically unknown. Purer water can be found nowhere than that flowing from the artesian and deep water wells over the state and analysis of which shows it to be of the best quality. There is such a “balance” in nature here that it is truly a land of health, the superior of which is not to be found within the borders of the United States.

For the past three years the Southern Pacific Lines have sponsored the State Health Contest conducted by the Extension Department of the State University and those boys and girls who have gone as representatives of the National Health Contest at Chicago have attained a position among the leaders each year.

The intelligent home seeker, in considering a change of location, is likely to be influenced by the following conditions: First, Health. Second, Educational advantages. Third, Opportunities for bettering his financial condition.

From personal observations as State Health Officer, throughout twelve years, I do not hesitate to say that conditions in Louisiana are almost ideal, both as to climate and health, provided the people live in accordance with the ordinary rules of hygiene. The home seeker will make no mistake in coming to Louisiana to live. I would not be understood to claim that sanitary or health conditions throughout the South are all that could be desired, nor could I say the same concerning the North or any foreign country, but I do mean to say that, with is salubrious climate, one may settle in any of our Southern States and by observing for himself and his family, the sanitary laws and principles now so well understood, he will be under as favorable conditions for health and length of life as he could be anywhere.

With climatic and living conditions almost ideal; with education facilities second to none; with magnificent natural resources and most fertile soil, we know of no territory better qualified for bettering the financial and economic conditions of the home seeker than the State of Louisiana.

The lands along the Southern Pacific Lines in Louisiana present a great variety of soil types which may be grouped into series, the members of which have the same origin, and marked similarity in color, profile, arrangement and drainage conditions. The various members of each series differ texture and relative content of clay, silt and the several grades of sand, each member constituting a soil type. For general use, however, these soils may be grouped into four different divisions: (1) Upland or Sandy Loam; (2) Level Prairie; (3) Alluvial Lands or Iberia Clay; (4) Tidal Marsh.

The first mentioned type is found on the higher sections of the Southern Pacific territory and though not so rich, are well drained and readily adapted to fruit and truck crops. It responds well to aeration and deep tillage when supplied with humus or crops of legumes. The sandy, loamy texture of these lands with their clay subsoil makes them readily responsive to restorative crops and capable of being brought up to a high state of productivity in a short while.

The prairie lands constitute the coastal plains and are more productive generally than the uplands. In texture they run from silt loam to sandy loam and are under laid by a stiff subsoil. The latter is generally so impervious to water as to make irrigation in rice culture quite practical.

By deep plowing, which breaks up the “hard pan,” and the addition of humus, these lands produce most any other crop indigenous to this section. Alongside a rice field may be seen growing a splendid field of corn, cotton, sorghum, millet or some of the legume families.

“The Alluvial Lands” are found from New Orleans west to Iberia and Lafayette and as far north as Alexandria. This type of soil is one of the richest, most productive in the world, producing ten to thirty tons of sugar cane per acre with correspondingly large yields of corn, oats, potatoes and other grain crops. Plantations along the Bayou Black, the Teche and Lafourche are now producing ten to twenty tons cane and one hundred to two hundred bushels Irish potatoes after having been in cultivation for almost a hundred years. With proper rotation and cultivation it may be truthfully said of this land that it is inexhaustible.

The tidal or marsh lands are strictly made lands, having been built up by successive growth of grasses which decaying, through these thousands of years, produced finally a soil that is rich beyond belief. Thorough drainage is, of course, the first requisite of these lands, after which they become wonderfully productive.

Drainage is an important problem all over South Louisiana, but through the many years of progressive farm development extensive drainage canal systems have been constructed by which means perfect drainage has been established. The total mileage of these canals and drain ditches will run into thousands.

Bordering on the great Mexican Gulf, this section naturally has a mild, semi-tropical climate. The average temperature over a period of twenty years for the three winter months is 59.3 degrees; that for summer months, 81.5 and an annual mean of 68 degrees.

Killing frosts rarely occur and then hardly severe enough to do material damage to oranges and other tender fruits and vegetables. Snow is practically unknown, the last having come in 1901. Winter is little more than a name, as every month is planting time; a season of growth, of showers, of balmy days and life-giving sunshine.

The humidity of summer is largely dissipated by the Gulf breezes which fan the shores and sweep over the interior. The prevailing winds are from the Gulf and temper both the winter and summer seasons. Heat prostrations and sunstrokes are unknown, due to the constant supply of fresh, invigorating atmosphere.

Extremes such as are often recorded in other sections are unknown. There is such a "balance" in nature that change of temperature of more than a few degrees is unusual. The number of sunshiny days are a feature of this section.

The traveler coming South in midsummer and finding the temperature gradually getting higher naturally concludes that this rise will remain constant to the Gulf, but such is not the case. The winds blowing inland from the Gulf almost constantly, fan the hot winds from the interior and dissipate the heat to the extent that the immediate coast country if often cooler than a few hundred miles inland and entirely free from that oppressive heat and rarefied atmosphere so prevalent in the Northern and Western midsummers.

This same Gulf breeze fans the shores of Louisiana in winter and drives back the cold air currents that would otherwise sweep down from the North, thus providing a mild, temperate climate the year round. Those who have never enjoyed them will never know the pleasure and exhilaration of a Gulf Coast breeze till they have actually lived in the Gulf Coast country.

Confirming the above statement, comparative temperatures over a period of ten years for a number of cities for the dates July 15 and August 15 are here given:

RAINFALL. The rainfall of the Gulf Coast country averages 62.4 inches, and while there is considerable variation from year to year, the total is generally well distributed over the seasons.

The soil and climate are especially adapted to truck and vegetable crops, which can be grown throughout the year. Winter vegetables, those “out of season” crops that bring a premium, are successfully grown and this class of farming has made a phenomenal increase within the past few years, so that this section is destined to become “America’s Winter Garden.” The soil is warm and quick. Crops, fortunately, adapt themselves to seasons and this along with the extraordinary climatic conditions; make it possible to farm the land continuously. Most crops mature in ninety days, thus three to four crops are produced from the same lands in a year. This ability to have cash crops, grazing crops, forage and feed crops growing every month in the year adds a real value to these lands.

Rain, sunshine and soil are essential to successful farming and in the Gulf Coast country you have them all in a well balanced combination. Ample moisture is essential to plant life, and truck and vegetable crops require a greater amount than other classes of farm crops. There is always sufficient moisture for the truck grower and yet not too much for the well regulated, well drained farm.

Field Crops-Corn, Cotton, Rice, Sugar Cane, Oats, Rye, Broom Corn, Millet, Soy Beans, Velvet Beans, Cow Peas (14 varieties), Peanuts, Chufas, Sorghums (9 varieties), Tobacco, Alfalfa, Melalotus, White Clover, Sugar Beets, Mangel Wurzel, Sudan.

Fruits and Nuts-Oranges (Louisiana Sweet Navels, Ruby, Satsuma, Mandarin, Tangerine), Grapefruit (Duncan, Pomelo, Pernambuco), Kumquats, Lemons, Limes, Tung Oil, Pecans (22 varieties), Walnuts, Peaches, Pears, Plumbs, Grapes, Quinces, Figs, Pomegranates.

Vegetables-Cabbage, Cauliflower, Carrots, Celery, Cress, Cantaloupes, Cucumbers, Beets, Beans (many varieties), Garlic, Onion, Lettuce, Leek, Peppers (Sweet, Tabasco), Radishes, Tomatoes, Potatoes (Irish, Sweet), Strawberries, Asparagus and many others.

Adam Smith said, “All wealth comes from labor applied to the soil.” We would paraphrase this in the statement that INTELLIGENT labor applied to the land will bring wealth, for besides labor we must have initiative, enterprise, courage.

With the rich, alluvial soil as his workshop, aided by a genial climate and ample rainfall, the farmer should be able to turn out a veritable wealth of products from his lands here. Beyond this he must have TRANSPORTATION. The southern Pacific Lines are proud of the territory they serve and are striving at all times to be a factor in promoting the welfare and prosperity of the people along the Gulf Coast country. With a trunk line and complete network of branch lines making connections to all leading markets of the North and East, the matter of transportation is assured. It is the policy of the “Sunset Route” to do its full share in the promotion of all lines of agriculture and industry, and all products originating in its territory are sure of reaching the markets in the shortest possible time.

Produce loaded at any of the stations from Schriever to Lake Charles, including branch line stations at Deridder, Longville, Lake Arthur, Abbeville, Eunice, Opelousas, Houma, Napoleonville, Thibodaux, Lockport are booked for delivery at Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington on third morning, and Omaha, Chicago, Pittsburg, Cleveland and New York on fourth morning.

Louisiana presents favorable conditions for the development of the greatest diversity of forage, hay and pasture crops, staple among which are soy beans, velvet beans, cow peas, alfalfa, melatlous, red and white clover and lespedeza. The clovers are all winter crops, with the exception of lespedeza, which is a summer crop.

Soy beans, velvet beans and the great variety of cow peas are generally grown as secondary crops, following earlier crops such as corn, sorghums, sugar cane and potatoes, and produce a large tonnage of forage of high feeding value.

The soy bean is comparatively a new crop in Louisiana, but it has proved of such worth to farmers and stockmen both as a forage crop and soil builder that there is hardly a farm to be found now that has not its full quota of bean acreage. Through the work of forage crop specialists, the five or six varieties best suited to the Gulf Coast have been designated, some of which have the three-fold qualities of adapting themselves to either wet or dry seasons, producing a fine quantity and quality of forage and adding tilth and fertility to the soil. From a few acres a few years ago the soy bean has jumped into a very prominent place in Gulf Coast agriculture, superseding in many instances the cow pea, which has heretofore been recognized as the clover crop of the South. Lands upon which soy beans or cow peas have been previously grown invariably show an increased yield, when planted to other crops.

The Honorable John J. Ingalls said: “Forest decay, harvests parish, flowers vanish, but grass is immortal. It yields no fruit in earth or air, and yet should it fail for a single year, famine would depopulate the earth.”

Grass is green and growing every month in the year in South Louisiana. Bermuda grass thrives in every portion of the state and furnishes pasturage throughout the year in the Gulf Coast country, producing as much beef and milk and pork as the Northern Blue Grass. Carpet grass, paspalum, “Gazan” grass and a great variety of other native grasses also afford excellent grazing, and these mixed with white clover or lespedeza make an almost perpetual pasture.

At the time the farmers of the corn belt are planting corn the Gulf Coast is shipping green corn to market, this same corn land matured a crop of potatoes between February 1^st and May 1^st.

The corn, maturing for market in June, leaves the land vacant in time for a third crop. The latter is usually a leguminous forage crop of cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, peanuts or sweet potatoes and can be utilized for forage or grazing. Alfalfa can also be seeded in late fall.

Louisiana is naturally a livestock state. Her mild climate and green fields afford the best inducements to the stockman. Due to open, mild weather it is not necessary to barn the livestock more than a few days or parts of days during the whole winter, nor is it necessary to feed hay or other roughage a great portion of the time. Grazing lands may be provided and grazing weather is always at hand. This open, outdoor life of the herds almost wholly precludes the contraction and spread of that dread disease, TUBERCULOSIS, which is annually taking such heavy tolls, from those herds where log periods in barns are necessary. All classes of livestock do well here where the investor is a worker and a manager.

Some of the most beautiful herds containing some of the best blood lines in the country are to be found here in Southwest Louisiana. The Herefords, Aberdeen-Angus, Short horns and Red Polled cattle are seen everywhere, and with the constantly increasing interest in better blood lines and grading up of the native cattle this section is destined to become one of the most prosperous beef-producing sections of the country.

Dairying is diversified farming in the truest sense of the word. It is farming on a cash basis. It is the gateway to prosperity in the Gulf Coast country where splendid opportunities obtain. The ability to grow feed and grazing crops in the winter when the northern country is “snowed under” should appeal to the dairyman and stockman. A plentiful supply of home-grown feedstuffs, an all-year-round grazing season and the proximity to large markets like New Orleans and other nearby cities where the supply has never equaled the demand, with prices averaging higher than that of the dairy states of the North, should be sufficient assurance of success.

The Southern Pacific Lines stand ready to sponsor the development of more dairying by providing every facility for handling and marketing the products, and there has already been developed a number of high-class herds with creameries and ice-cream factories established at Houma, New Iberia, Lafayette, Alexandria, Crowley, Lake Charles and Deridder. Milk and cream receiving stations have been located at several other points in the territory so that a ready market can be had for every pound of milk and cream produced. New herds are being established and some wonderful records have recently been made with both native and northern bred cows of Jersey and Holstein strains. Our only problem is that we need more of them along with experienced dairymen who know cows and the production end of the business to take advantage of the many splendid opportunities here.

Growing of corn on a commercial scale in the South has always been confined to a few of the richer sections. Louisiana has a large area of such lands and from the alluvial section along the Gulf Coast country hundreds of cars of corn are shipped annually.

Louisiana corn has a lower percentage of moisture and therefore is superior to northern corn for export purposes. Dr. W. R. Dodson, Dean of the College of Agriculture, speaking from a knowledge gained from many years of experience and study in the cultivation of corn, says: “Louisiana corn is thoroughly sun-dried, contains only 12 to 15 percent moisture, and this dryness gives it a special advantage in European markets, as it is the principal factor in preventing deterioration in ocean shipments.” The market is usually 10 to 15 cents higher on native corn, and this, considered along with the freight that must be added to northern-grown corn, makes a difference of 35 to 50 cents per bushel and should insure a profit in corn raising. In these rich alluvial soils corn produces much more stalk and fodder than in the northern corn belt, which comes from the fact that the very nature of things here is to GROW. The average yield of grain, however, is 30 to 50 bushels with many farmers making 75 and over.

Louisiana agriculture has been largely centered in the past upon cotton, sugar cane and rice, and while a few acres of corn could be found on nearly every farm, it has always occupied a position of secondary importance. A few acres were generally planted; just enough to feed the work stock during the harvest period and often this was neglected for the major crops, so that the average yield for the state has naturally been low, which in turn has carried with it the erroneous impression that Louisiana could not grow corn successfully. The same story would be true of the famous corn belt, were farmers to neglect their seed and cultivation in the same way.

With the gospel of diversification gradually finding its way into the cropping system here, corn has taken a place among the other crops in the rotation, verifying the fact that with proper preparation and cultivation corn can be made one of the most successful crops of the Gulf Coast section.

Another profitable phase of the crop is the production of early green corn for the market. The crop being planted in February is ready for shipment as “roasting ears” in May and early June. Many cars of green corn are being sent to northern markets each year. Speaking conservatively, there is not an acre along the Gulf Coast country but which with proper preparation and cultivation will raise 30 to 50 bushels of corn. Many farmers is this section are now raising 30 to 50 bushels and do not consider this an extraordinary yield. This is one of many crops that insures the future supremacy of agriculture in the South.

The mention of sugar cane is almost synonymous with mention of Louisiana, this being the only state in the Union where sugar cane is grown to any extent in the production of sugar. Previous to the introduction of the sugar beet industry, Louisiana produced practically the whole of American sugars outside of Cuba, and though the crop is confined almost wholly to the alluvial and coastal lands, it stands as the second largest crop in value in the state. Sugar cane being the giant of all tropical grasses is the largest crop, when measured in tons, in the country. It therefore makes heavy drafts upon the land, and yet these lands are so marvelously rich that 100 years of constant cropping with sugar cane has not exhausted them; in fact, where a reasonable rotation has been practiced in keeping up the humus and bacterial contents of the soil, no depreciation of fertility is appreciable. Aside from the tropics, Louisiana ranks fourth among the sugar-producing countries of the world, employing over 100 sugar houses in manufacture of the cane crop.

Due to the semi-tropical climate, the section is well adapted to sugar-cane culture and 74 percent of the sugar produced in the United States is grown in the state.

The general conception of sugar lands is that they are fitted only for growing sugar cane, but on the other hand they are probably adapted to the greatest range of crops of any lands in the South. Some of the largest corn yields in the state, and in fact the United States, are recorded from the sugar lands.

Through the gospel of diversification other crops have been introduced into the cane country and now almost every sugar plantation has its quota of acres planted to truck and vegetable crops, such as cabbage, onions, cauliflower, potatoes and a like amount of lands to alfalfa, soy beans clovers and other forage and hay crops. Melons and fruits are indigenous to the soil and grow to perfection here. Pecans, figs, oranges, pomegranates, grapes and plums are found on every well arranged farm, and while this section has been “America’s Sugar Bowl,” it is destined to be “America’s Winter Vegetable Garden.”

Southwest Louisiana is the best rice-producing area in the South and, indeed, in the world, and, with the coming of the careful, conservative methods of raising this cereal, the future of this industry rests upon a secure foundation. It is an established fact that with careful management and good equipment no agricultural pursuit promises so large returns upon the money invested as the culture of rice.

The usual methods pursued in the cultivation of rice are to have the lands well broken with riding plows and pulverized with large harrows, and the rice seeded with broadcast seeders or drills. After germination the fields are flooded and the water kept on them until the rice is nearly ready for harvest, when it is drawn off and the fields permitted to dry. When dry, the rice is quickly harvested with self-binding reapers. Steam threshers convert the rice into marketable form (rough rice), which is sold to one of the numerous mills of the state where the finished rice of commerce is prepared with its accompanying by-products of rice bran, rice polish and screenings.

Any man who can raise wheat can raise rice; in fact, throughout the rice belt 50 percent or more of the rice farmers are northern wheat and corn farmers who have come South, bought cheap rice lands and grown rich. Lands can still be bought cheap in the rice section, as much of it is not yet taken up and there is not an acre in the section that will not pay for itself within two years gross return.

Rice production had its very modest beginning near Lake Charles a few years ago, but has gown to such proportions that the rice country now stretches from the Bayou Teche on the east to Galveston, Texas on the west, with a perfect network of irrigation and drainage canals and producing a per acre value of crops that is not equaled by any other grain crop in the nation.

Rice culture appeals to the large farmer; the corn and wheat growers who have been accustomed to planting and harvesting large acreages by use of seeder and binder. The average acreage for one man and a tractor or four mules (the mule is the animal power for the South) is 80 to 100 acres. And it may be of interest to note here that 50 to 60 percent of rice farmers of this section are northern men who have come South and finding this crop so nearly related to wheat in its requirements of seeding and harvesting they at once became rice farmers.

To the farmer who likes to cultivate large acreage and use power machinery, rice farming will appeal.

Cotton is a cash crop and as staple as currency in any market of the world. The powerful influence it exerts on trade, its absorption of capital, both as to production and manufacture, place it high in the scale of commercial economics. There is not section of the world more fortunately situated for the production of cotton than Southwest Louisiana, having a soil and climate particularly fitted to its growth and culture and with gins, compresses and oil mills within the borders of the state and the largest exporting cotton trade in the world, New Orleans, at its doors.

With the influx of new settlers, many of whom come from cotton-growing sections and take naturally to cotton culture, a large acreage has been developed, the Southern Pacific Lines meanwhile meeting this development through the building of trackage, sheds and other shipping facilities.

Cotton is rather tedious plant in the early stages of its growth and requires quite a bit of hand labor to cultivate, but the returns are generally about one-half to a bale to the acre, which, at the present price of lint and seed, brings about $125 per bale, a rather good compensation for the labor and costs expended.

A country that will produce growing crops each of the twelve months and three to four crops a year on the same land should command the serious attention of the home seeker. That is just what the Gulf Coast country is doing on hundreds of farms.

These rich, loamy soils planted to potatoes in January or February and harvested in April and May, produce 100 to 200 bushels of marketable spuds; and these going to market at a time when the northern consumers are just emerging from the winter anxious for new potatoes and other greens, command a good price.

Growers in Southern Pacific territory are using only the best of “certified” seed and the crop has advanced from 13 cars in 1922 to over 900 cars the past spring. Bliss Triumph is the popular strain here, as it is early and a favorite with the buyers.

Sweet Potatoes-Climate is one of the greatest assets a farmer can have, and in this section of flooding sunshine, with a soil matching the richness of sunlight, and with ample moisture at all times, nothing is needed to insure a maximum yield but good seed and cultivation. The sweet potato is indigenous to the South and is produced at less cost than any crop known to southern agriculture. It reaches its best perfection in the sandy loam soils and selected market stock brings a good price on the markets, of which the North is becoming one of the large consumers. Culls and unusable stock make good stock feed and are relished by all livestock.

The commercial crop of sweets amount to over $10,000,000 annually, and due to the new storage and curing process potatoes are being shipped every month in the year.

Oats is probably one of the most profitable forage crops the Southwest Louisiana farmer can grow, from the fact that it usually is planted in October and is ready for grazing by the first to middle of December. With light grazing and by withdrawing livestock entirely about the middle of February a good crop of grain may be harvested in April or early May. Where the crop is planted solely for winter grazing, vetch or rape is generally sown along with the oats, the combination making an ideal crop for browsing livestock. Owing to the heavy rainfall and damp atmosphere during the early spring, oats are inclined to rust, but fortunately for agriculture there is always a cure for every ill. Back in 1896 J. M. McGehee, of Laurel Hill, La., began the selection of rust-proof strains of oat and from the fruits of his labors Louisiana today has several strains of oats that equal in yield and food value the best fields of the grain belt.

This feature of the Gulf Coast country, the ability to grow feed and grazing crops in the winter when the northern country is “snowed under,” should appeal to the dairyman and stockman, as it almost wholly eliminates the big feed bills and dispenses with much of the high-priced labor required in feeding, watering and grooming live stock and cleansing barns. It is just another one of those opportunities our southern farmers have never awakened to.

Hogs can be grown in the South Louisiana territory at 4 to 5 cents a pound live weight, this having been verified by feeding test both at the Livestock Experiment Station and by individual swine breeders. This is made possible by planting a series of grazing crops which will furnish continuous pasturage and supplemented by grains usually furnished through the self-feeder. The winter crops especially successful for grazing hogs and other live stock in the Gulf Coast country are oats, rape, rye, alfalfa, bur clover, white clover, vetch and Bermuda grass. For summer grazing there are a multiplicity of good crops, among them soy beans, cow peas, peanuts, sweet potatoes and sorghum. A combination of corn and soy beans is often used to good effect. Sweet potatoes are a good substitute for corn and will probably make as economical pork. Hog raisers will find an unusual opportunity here, from the fact that most of the feed will be “hogged off.”

Sheep raising is a profitable branch of livestock husbandry in Louisiana. The short wool mutton type do best and there is a good market for the short fiber wool at profitable prices. The demand for mutton and lamb meats is a hundredfold more than the supply.

No farm can be said to be perfect in its appointments without a good flock of poultry. It may also be safely said that no other branch of the farming operations will show a greater profit for the money and time expended. There is no more ideal place for poultry raising than in Southwest Louisiana, where the birds may run in the open the year round; where baby chicks may be hatched early enough to be put on the market as broilers in April or as fryers in May when young, tender poultry meat is at a premium. Every housewife knows that the old rule of "grit, grain and grubs" for poultry raising is a good one and with a green sward of oats, rape, rye, spinach and numerous other grazing crops accessible to the flock every winter day the opportunity in poultry farming is apparent. With the poultry running in the open throughout the winter as it does here, it is practically free from croup and colds, with never such troubles as frosted feet and combs. While the flock in the North is being housed and fed and cuddled through the winter with scarcely ever an egg, the Southwest Louisiana flock is laying regularly those high-priced eggs that make profitable poultry raising a certainty, and whether conducted on a large scale or for “pin money” the poultry business is one of the surest incomes of the southern farm. Turkeys, geese, ducks and the guinea fowl do equally well here and scarcely a farm is without some or all of these in addition to the flock of chickens.

Ahmed the Bedouin loved his horse. The beautiful bay mare, by her fleetness of foot and soundness of wind, had many times carried him to safety when beset by tribal foes. Ahmed watched her every move, he anticipated her every whim; he studied her every need.

After browsing near the desert spring, feeding upon the succulent green plant with the triple leaf, the mare Zadeh was fleeter of foot and seemed possessed of all the stamina of her ancestors.

Quickly appreciating the food upon which his beloved mare thrives do well, Ahmed called it “alfalfa,” meaning “the best forage.”

Alfalfa is an old, old crop. Originating in Asia, it was passed on to the Greeks and Romans. The seed was introduced into this country as early as 1793. Having been brought from Lucerne, Switzerland it was called Lucerne.

Alfalfa does particularly well on the rich alluvial lands of the state and is beginning to be reckoned as one of the most essential and most promising of forage crops. Alfalfa on well drained land and preceded by soy beans or other legume crop for leavening the soil with necessary bacteria and humus is proving its adaptability and value.

Any notice of the agricultural resources of Louisiana and opportunities in the state would be incomplete without mention of lespedeza, or Japan clover, used both for pasture and as a hay crop. On the fertile, well drained Gulf Coast lands lespedeza generally attains a height of 12 to 15 inches and produces a quality of hay that compares favorably with alfalfa and with very much less waste from stems and coarse fibers. It is also easier to cure then alfalfa or any of the grasses.

The pecan is probably the most popular of all the nuts found in commercial channels due to the very good reason that no other nut has "that universally good" flavor that adapts itself to so many uses. It is really the IMPERIAL among the nut family.

Louisiana grown more wild pecans than any other state in the Union, and many native trees, some of them over 100 years old, are found along the banks of bayous and rivers of the Gulf Coast.

Louisiana is a pioneer in grafting and propagating pecans, many of the fine soft-shell varieties having originated here. The fact that the pecan is native to the state is some indication of the wonderful possibilities of commercial pecan culture. The pecan makes an attractive, symmetrical growth for shade trees and begins bearing at 8 to 10 years.

The State Experiment Station has devoted a great deal of attention to the selection of best varieties through a long period of years, so that the commercial orchards are stocked with only those of the best combination of quality and yield.

Pecan groves are to be seen all along the Southern Pacific Lines from New Orleans to the Texas lines and many new groves are being planted each year-so that the pecan industry is beginning to be one of the important industries of Southwest Louisiana. The average annual yield is now nearly 2,000,000 pounds.

The prerequisites for growing fruits are climate, soil and waster. The Gulf Coast country, being endowed with a favoring climate, a marvelously rich soil and abundance of moisture, becomes at once the ideal section for citrus development and will be in the very near future take its rightful place among the foremost citrus-producing sections of the world.

The industry has been confined almost wholly to the small home orchard, among which may be found many fine old trees 20 to 30 years old, thrifty and bearing prolific crops of fruits. Nothing but a lack of knowledge of the opportunities and profits prevents the country from being further advanced in its development.

The Louisiana sweet orange is the superior of most of the round oranges of this country and Washington and other navels are distinctive in both size and flavor. The Satsuma or kid glove, orange has many claims to popularity, being the most hardy of all the oranges; matures early in the fall and comes into bearing at 3 to 5 years. It is not unusual to find a 3-year-old tree of these varieties laden to the ground with fruit.

A few acres of oranges, grapefruit and pecans will put the average family in easy circumstances for life in just a few years. A little care and attention are the only prerequisites to success.

Aside from the apple, which has proven a shy bearer here, practically all fruits such as plum, peach, pear, pomegranate, grape, banana, fig, blackberry, dewberry and strawberry grow in abundance. The soil and climate are conductive to their propagation, and though but few commercial orchards have as yet been put out, an extensive fruit industry for this section only awaits the men to build such an industry.

The fig is a tropical plant, surviving only a slight freeze and is therefore at home in the Gulf Coast country.

The two popular varieties are the Celeste and the Magnolia, the former being a wonderfully sweet and well flavored fruit, but the ripening season lasting but a few days. As a table variety it has no equal. The Magnolia fig originated in and is perfectly at home in the country adjoining the Gulf of Mexico, where it thrives and is being grown with large profit. Abundant crops are produced when given proper care and attention, and there is never such a thing as the failure in the crop.

The growing of figs for preserving purposes has been on the increase the past decade, and there are large canneries in the South that take all the figs obtainable. The demand exceeds the supply and the growers receive good prices. Preserved figs are almost unknown in the northern markets; the only figs found there are the dried. It only requires the introduction of the preserved product in the North to create a good market. A combination fig and orange grove is highly desirable and may be secured without loss of revenue from the land. Truck and vegetables grown between the trees pay handsomely and benefit the growing trees by constant cultivation.

When a man contemplates moving into a new farming community his first protective precaution should be to familiarize himself the cash crops of that community. In appraising the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, with an eye to a future home and a better fortune, the northern farmer may count with absolute certainty upon a number of money (cash) crops, corn, cotton, cane, rice, potatoes, both Irish and sweets, and a great variety of truck and vegetable crops, some of which should be moving to market every month in the year. This not only gives a continuous crop return from the land, but gives continuous employment to labor and has the further value of distributing the risk of failure over a long period of time and a number of crops.

Every parish (county) along the Southern Pacific Lines has a demonstration or Farm Advisory Agent whose guidance is invaluable to newcomers and should be sought upon all subjects before launching into any farm or livestock project. Don’t try to raise the things that most suit your fancy but those that suit the consumer’s fancy. Study your market demands and work with your local marketing association and you will win.

Don’t think entirely of yourself; think of your family, your children. We, and not our children are responsible for where they are born, educated and settled. Where shall it be? The boy and girl can not determine.

Here in South Louisiana is a genuine opportunity and if you have an idea of transplanting yourself and family give it careful consideration, for there is vastly more in life than making money. The farm is the best place in the world to bring up your children. Here are no street corners, but plenty of outdoor life and pure atmosphere; plenty of invigorating sunshine and health-giving vegetable and fruits. Why not select some beautiful spot along the splendid Gulf Coast country? Arthur Brisbane says: “At whatever cost, by whatever sacrifice, take your children, take yourself, into the country. Get away from the noise, the stores, the microbes, the dullness. Let your children see the sky-that wonderful, ever-changing picture that Nature spreads before her children.”

Louisiana is doing what most of the other States are doing, building for the future, fostering a better agriculture, diversified farming, improved farm methods and practice, improved livestock, improved health and living conditions, through its young agriculturists, its progressive boys and girls.

There is an active enrollment annually of 35,012 boys and girls in the various agricultural clubs, which embrace the following:

The term “home,” as applied to the farm, stands for more than a mere house to live in and shelter for the live stock. It embraces everything that enters into the comfort, enjoyment and satisfaction incident farm life.

However important the business side of the farm may appear; it is not more important than the creation of an attractive and comfortable home, surrounded by tasteful grounds. In the Gulf country, where nature has been so lavish in her beauty, you may with but little effort and expense have the most beautiful home grounds, studded with moss-covered trees and bits of rich, tropical vegetation, shrubbery and fruits.

What more beautiful conception of a lawn than one set with orange and grapefruit trees, magnolias, pomegranates, myrtle, japonica, jasmine, azalea and wisteria. Such a place all would feet proud to call "home," and it is such a home that will appeal to the boys and girls and keep then ever close to the parental roof.

No reason exits why the Southern Louisiana farmer may not enjoy practically all the comforts and conveniences that are available in cities. It is all a question of capital and labor. It goes without saying that the prudent farmer, starting in this country with limited capital, will provide only absolute necessities to begin with. He should, however, foresee the day when he is able to provide for himself and family surroundings and accommodations in keeping with his prosperity. There are any number of farm homes in South Louisiana today which are fitted with all modern sanitary conveniences, supplies with electric lights, water and gas, and offering the same comforts and conveniences usually found in high-class city residences. Such a home will easily be easily within reach of every progressive, hard-working farmer who possesses sufficient capital to make a fair start.

The question of farm land value rests on its earning power, and nothing else. The ability to have crops growing on the land practically every month in the year-and with harvest and cash returns in proportion to this continuous cropping-diversified farming-profitable farming here becomes a verity. It is not the intention to encourage settlers, especially those with small capital, to make immediate investment in large holdings of land and buildings. Such would be folly. But an investment in a farm here, where no boom has sent values beyond the point of profitable returns, is an opportunity that can be found in but few sections of the United States today.

Remember, too, that, considered from an investment basis, the security is absolute, better than any bond that was ever printed in many colors. Industrial depressions have shattered bond values and even government currencies have so depreciated at to become valueless, but soils can not burn, blow away nor sink into the oceans. Whatever happens, people have a way of asking for their two or three meals a day and the farms must furnish the wherewithal. And with a climate that will admit of growing some crop every month in the year, with markets nearby and transportation facilities adequate to move all commodities at all times, there is no bond or industrial investment that should be safer and more remunerative than a section of these fertile Gulf Coasts lands.

It is conceded that the future greatness of the state lies largely in its agricultural development, and that this development can not be realized save the building of highways which shall be open to traffic 365 days in the year.

The records of the State Highway Department show that Louisiana is awake to this realization. They show 5,600 miles of gravel-surfaced, well drained and protected roads already built, with 600 miles now under construction and 500 miles more surveyed and charted.

Louisiana is making her natural resources, the revenues from a SEVERANCE TAX, pave the highways from one state line to the other, connecting every county seat, and that without a direct tax upon the people.

Under the Severance Tax Act, which is a levy upon the gross returns from the natural resources of the state, being 3 percent from every dollar’s worth of lumber, sulphur, salt, oil, gas, fur and other products, the State Highway Commission has a fund of approximately $10,000,000 annually for road building and maintenance, and this, along with the federal funds, makes a grand total of approximately $16,000,000.

Very little need be said concerning the religion of the state. Although in the southern portion Catholicism predominates, practically every Christian religion is represented. Religious tolerance is more liberal and everyone is free to worship according to his belief and the dictates of his own conscience. Several branches of the Catholic Church and the many branches of the Protestant faith, such as Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, Christian Science, Dunkard and Mennonites are represented in the galaxy of churches of the Gulf Cost country, several of which have denominational schools and colleges. Louisiana ranks high in morality and religious observance and the crime record is low.

The educational facilities of Louisiana are continually growing. There are now over 415 high schools in the state and a full complement of elementary and vocational schools. The development and consolidation of rural schools has been phenomenal for the past few years, thus offering the country boys and girls industrial and high school education on a parity with those of the towns and cities. The state constitution provides revenues for the proper education of all the youth within its boundaries. Louisiana spent $25,000,000 for education for the season of 1925-26.

Among the higher institutions of learning are Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge; Tulane University, Loyola College, Newcomb College for Women in New Orleans; Centenary Collage at Shreveport; State Normal at Ruston, and Southwestern at Lafayette, besides other smaller institutions.

The Gulf Coast country is truly the sportsman’s paradise. Its bays, bayous, lagoons, rivers and creeks are teeming with the trout, bass and other species of the finny tribe, while its forests, prairies, canebrakes and swamps teem with the life of the wild. Here the huntsman finds target for his gun, and here the wild creatures find man’s protection. Between the ruthless and wasteful slaughter of the vandal a field and the things of the forest, the stream and the air which he seeks to destroy, stands the State Department of Conservation, the best of its kind in America, a department whose wise provisions have been written into the laws of a score of states and may be found in the game statutes of the Old World. In Louisiana, conservation is not an idea; it is a practical fact.

The lakes and bayous are visited each winter by countless numbers of wild geese, ducks and woodcock, the vanguard of these migratory birds arriving about October, and the hunter who fails to reach a bag limit for a day must count himself either unlucky or a poor marksman. For those who do not care to go far a-field there are doves, snipe, quail, plover and marsh-hens to satisfy his sporting proclivities.

The Gulf Coast is the site of three of the world’s greatest wild-life preserves-the Rockefeller refuge, comprising 104,000 acres; the Russell Sage preserve of 94,000 acres and the Edward McIlhenny preserve of 34,000 acres, making a grand total of 232,000 acres dedicated to the preservation of birds and other wild life.

Furs, like everything else, have gone up in price tremendously since prewar times, and with this rise in values the trapping industry of Louisiana has grown to such proportions as to lead the whole Dominion of Canada in fur production, the total of which is approximately $7,000,000 annually. The muskrat, the raccoon and the opossum furnish most of these returns, although mink, skunks, and otters bring in a reasonably large sum.

Such animals as deer, bears, wildcats or lynxes, cougars or panthers are found in the wooded lowlands. Many foxes and a few wolves inhabit the high, dry country. Rabbits are found all over the state and are given little protection by the state. The mink is fairly numerous, though the otter is scarce.

Salt, sulphur and oil are the principal minerals found along the Southern Pacific Lines in Louisiana, although extensive beds of gypsum have been recently discovered. Immense are the operations in salt mining at Week’s and Avery’s Islands, where the salt deposits outrank in thickness and purity any known on this continent.

The first oil wells in the Gulf Coast country were brought in over 20 years ago at Jennings, since which time the development has spread until there is now a string of gas and oil wells stretching from the gas fields of Terrebonne to the oil fields of western Calcasieu, from which millions in oil and gas are taken annually. The consensus of opinion is that the whole Gulf Coast country is under laid with strata of gas and oil.

Will your farm pay for itself this year? Will it earn half its value? Did it ever make 25 percent on your investment?

Farms in South Louisiana, under intelligent cultivation, are paying from 25 to 100 percent on the money invested.

Why should you continue to farm land that will clear hardly 6 percent under good conditions when you can do better in the Gulf Coast country all the time?

Why rent a high-priced farm and hardly pay expenses when the same amount of rent money will buy a good farm in South Louisiana and in one or two years make you the sole proprietor?

In the Gulf Coast country of Louisiana you have a great variety of crops; your money comes easier and more often, thus obviating credits and short-time loans. Your lands are constantly increasing in value instead of depreciating.

Because it is the natural habitat of the pecan, orange, grapefruit and other nuts and citrus fruits.

Because the climate is mild and uniform, with extremes of neither cold nor heat.

Because roads, schools and churches are everywhere established. No pioneering is necessary.

Location	Name of Organization
Alexandria	Alexandria Chamber of Commerce
Crowley	Crowley Chamber of Commerce
DeRidder	DeRidder Chamber of Commerce
Eunice	Eunice Chamber of Commerce
Franklin	Franklin Chamber of Commerce
Houma	Houma-Terrebonne Association of Commerce
Jeanrette	Civic League
Jennings	Jennings Chamber of Commerce
Lake Charles	Lake Charles Association of Commerce
Lafayette	Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
Morgan City	Morgan City Chamber of Commerce
New Iberia	New Iberia Chamber of Commerce
New Orleans	New Orleans Association of Commerce
Opelousas	Opelousas Trade Extension Bureau
Rayne	Rayne Chamber of Commerce
Sulphur	The Civic League
Vinton	The Vinton Commercial Club
Welsh	Welsh Civic League

Secretaries	Location
C. D. Stanwood	Houma
A. T. Felt	Alexandria
Shirley & Patterson	DeRidder
R. D. Lamson	Opelousas
R. V. St. Dezier	New Iberia
I. Young	Lafayette

Rhode Island	12.1
New York	12.8
Virginia	12.8
Florida	13.3
LOUISIANA	12.5
Ohio	11.4
Missouri	11.9
Iowa	10
California	13.3

Cities	July 15	August 15
Chicago	74	73
Kansas City	78	77
St. Paul	73	69
St. Louis	79	78
New Orleans	82	82
Lake Charles	81.5	82