PARAGRAPH 240-RICE. Mr. BREAUX. I think that is a fair statement. Mr. HULL. Then, if the distribution was more direct and economical the consumer would pay a great deal less and the farmer would get just as much money? Mr. BREAUX. Yes, sir. The following documents were filed by the witness: EXHIBIT A. The following resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the Louisiana & Texas Rice Millers' Association, held at Houston, on January 10, 1913. Moved by Mr. Paul Pritchard and seconded by Mr. Neuhouse, that the rice committee, consisting of J. E. Broussard, W. P. H. McFaddin, and W. E. Trotter, being sent to Washington, be instructed not to ask for any changes on the import tariff on brewers' rice. Moved by Mr. Paul Pritchard and seconded by Mr. Davis, that the rice committee, consisting of J. E. Broussard, W. P. H. McFaddin, and W. E. Trotter, being sent to Washington, be instructed not to ask for any changes on the import tariff on rice of any kind. LOUISIANA & TEXAS RICE MILLERS' & DISTRIBUTORS' ASSOCIATION. J. E. BROUSSARD, President. [Copy of resolution adopted at a meeting of the Louisiana & Texas Rice Millers' & Distributors Association, held in the city of Houston, Texas, January 10, 1913.] Be it resolved, That the committee being sent to Washington, D. C., to appear before the Ways and Means Committee, in behalf of the millers and distributors' of Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, be instructed not to ask for any change in the schedule effecting the tariff on imported brewers' rice. A true copy. J. R. LEGUENEC, Secretary. EXHIBIT B.-Brief of the Rice Association of America. (Represented by its president, S. Locke Breaux, covering a membership of 1,234 members, every one of whom is a farmer or a raiser of rice.] The present protective tariff enjoyed by the rice industry of this country: Broken rice, which will pass through a sieve, commercially known as No. 12 wire sieve, per pound, one-fourth cent; cleaned rice, 2 cents; flour and rice meal rice, one-fourth cent; ground or granulated rice, one-fourth cent; Hawaiian rice, broken, free; hull rice ashes, as unenumerated manufactured article, 10 per cent; Japan, as unclean, 14 cents; rice, may be cleaned in bonded warehouse, act March 24, 1874, in force, three-fourths cent; patne rice, per pound, 2 cents. Taken from general tariff law now in operation, enacted by act of Congress July 24, 1897, has made possible its development in the coastal territory of Louisiana and Texas and its further development now along the Mississippi River in North Louisiana and in the prairie belt of the State of Arkansas. Where 20 years ago were cattle ranges and open prairie lands, a wild and undeveloped territory, is to-day a section of farms, cities, and manufacturing enterprises, all of which have come about through the development of the rice industry. There are estimated farm lands one and one-half million acres, of which 650,000 are in actual cultivation. There are canal and pumping plants, 157, added to which are estimated 500 farms irrigated by wells; acreage prior to tariff, none of record; acreage 1908, 655,600; rice mills, 74. Added to this value is work stock, implements, and improvements; further, cities, of which Crowley, Gueydan, and Jennings are types in Louisiana and Bay City, El Campo, Eagle Lake, Ganado, and Markham are types in Texas, these cities being exclusively rice towns. The foregoing gives us an aggregate investment, due entirely to rice, of, say, 200,000,000, all directly dependent upon the culture of rice, that brings to the farmer from 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 annually for his product, and in the turnover from the time that the product leaves farm until it gets to the consumer a further profit of PARAGRAPH 240-RICE. 20,000,000 goes to the middlemen; that is, the transportation lines, rice mills, jobbers, and distributors generally. We contend that an industry so vast as this and contributing so largely to the material welfare, in a broad sense applying to all sections of the country, that to ask the American agriculturist, and from him on up through the different variations of American labor who handle rice, to ask them to put their industry on a basis where they will have to compete with the rice of the Asiatic countries is to invite and bring about annihilation of the industry. It is a fact, as has been shown by the investigation of the Department of Agriculture, that the rice produced in British India and Burmah is on a family basis; that is, there is no wage paid, and after the needs of the family are taken out in rice that whatever surplus there is is dumped on the market and sold for what it will bring. It is a further matter of fact that, in the matter of transportation, foreign bottoms going to the Orient and returning either to the Continent or to this country, will bring rice at an incredibly low rate of freight, putting it into our seaports at from 20 to 25 cents per 100 pounds. In contradistinction to this, it costs us to the Atlantic seaboard from our outports 30 to 40 cents per 100 pounds, and to the Pacific coast 55 cents per 100 pounds. In order that the committee may be advised as to the cost of producing rice in these United States, we submit typical statement showing what it costs to produce rice: Taking the average cost of farms farmed during the past five years by the North American Land & Timber Co., of Lake Charles, amounting in the aggregate to over some 5,000 acres, it is found that the cost is as follows: Plowing land, per acre.. Looking after water and crop, 90 days in summer, per acre.. Disking and harrowing, per acre.. Seeding and rolling and seed, per acre.. Cutting and shocking, per acre.... Threshing, sacks, and hauling to warehouse, per acre.. Cost of loading rough rice on the cars, insurance, storage, and warehouse, per acre... Cost to the farmer for water, per acre, about.. Interest on mules, farming machinery, and land, per acre. Fertilizer.. Total........ $2.00 .75 2.50 1.80 2.00 4.00 .75 5.50 4.00 1.00 24.30 We further present several statements just as they come to us from the farmer, and, under average conditions, it will be observed that the total cost runs from $21 to $30 per acre. We bring attention to the fact that labor to-day on farms gets $1.50 average per work day, as against $1 per man 10 years ago, not to mention increased cost of feed stuffs, mules, farming implements, etc. As the average yield per acre, as per figures of the United States Government, is 30.6 bushels per acre for the past 10 years, or 1,377 pounds per acre, the equivalent of 8 commercial barrels, and, as the average prices for the past 10 years is, say, $3 per barrel, or $25.50 per acre on plantation, one can see that the margin of profit is not any greater than it should be. The foregoing premises considered, the rice interests of these United States of America pray and ask that the present tariff conditions, in so far as they affect rice, be not disturbed. S. LOCKE BREAUX, Directors of Rice Association of America and committee: J. E. Broussard, Beaumont, Tex.; H. G. Chalkley, Lake Charles, La.; P. S. Lovell, Crowley, La.; W. P. H. McFaddin, Beaumont, Tex. PARAGRAPH 240-RICE. Exhibit E-A preliminary report on rice growing in the Sacramento Valley. [By Charles E. Chambliss, agronomist fn charge of rice investigations, Office of Grain Investigations Department of Agriculture.] INTRODUCTION. In the Sacramento Valley of California there are large tracts of land that 30 years ago produced profitable crops of wheat and barley which are now not yielding crops of either grain in paying quantities. These tracts were first used for grazing cattle, but were afterwards converted into extensive grain ranches, which to-day might be as remunerative in yield as in the earlier days if maintenance of soil fertility had been valued as an asset. Under improved methods of farming, however, a large part of this area, depleted as it is in plant food, will still produce grain in quantity and of good quality at a profit. While crop rotation, diversified farming, and intensive culture will play conspicuous parts in the improvement of the agriculture of this valley, irrigation will play a more important part in the development of its agricultural possibilities, for through the intelligent use of water it is possible to obtain the full capacity of the crops now grown and also profitable returns from crops which are not now cultivated in this valley. Among the crops requiring water rice is worthy of a trial, but its successful cultivation is so dependent upon water that it should never be planted where the supply is not sufficient to submerge the land to the depth of at least 3 inches from the middle of June to the middle of September. If there is water enough during this period for a continuous submergence, the greatest obstacle to the production of the crop is removed. There is no crop grown in California at present that requires as much water as rice. CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH VARIETY TESTS OF RICES WERE MADE. In the spring of 1909 the Office of Grain Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry inaugerated tests to determine the adaptability of rice to the climate and soil of the Sacramento Valley. These tests were made on the black adobe soil lying on the east side of Butte Creek, approximately 9 miles west of Biggs, Cal. This soil is of a close, compact structure. When wet it has an exceedingly tenacious and puttylike consistency. During the dry season it breaks at the surface into blocks with deep fissures between them. These blocks upon long exposure are divided and subdivided by small fissures until the surface may become a loose, shallow mass of small pieces of the size of peas. In this condition the soil absorbs water readily, which is given up slowly under evaporation. The subsoil, which lies at a depth of approximately 3 feet, is very impervious, though water penetrated it to a depth of 6 inches before the plats were drained. The surface of the plats were nearly level, with just enough slope for good drainage into the narrow sloughs, which are features of the topography of this area of black adobe that may be used for conveying water for both drainage and irrigation. Grain had been grown exclusively upon this land, though it was not under clutivation during the year preceding the tests. The land was plowed in the autumn. The rains of the winter months reduced the clods and left the surface of the soil in a condition that required less work and expense to secure a good seed bed than would have been possible if the entire preparation for planting had been postponed until spring. The seed of each variety was planted with a drill to the depth of 1 to 2 inches at the rate of 80 pounds per acre. On account of a lack of moisture in the soil at the time of planting, it became necessary to apply water to germinate the seed. This irrigation is not likely to be required when the planting is done immediately after the late spring rains or before the end of the rainy season. It would not be advisable to plant early except on well-drained land that had been plowed in the autumn. In the first irrigation the water was retained long enough to wet the surface of the soil thoroughly. The second application of water was made when the plants were approximately 3 inches high, which was sooner than would have been necessary if the soil had not become too compact on the surface when the plats were drained. From this period water was applied every 7 to 10 days to keep the soil moist. After the plants had tillered well the land was submerged to a depth of 3 to 5 inches. This submergence was continuous until the grain reached the hard-dough stage. At this stage of maturity the plats were drained for harvest. All varieties were allowed at least 10 days in the shock before they were thrashed. PARAGRAPH 240-RICE. From the date of planting until October 1 there was less than 1 inch of rain. During the same period the average daily range of temperature varied from 29° in May to 38 in August, with the greatest range occurring in July, August, and September. TABLE 1.-Results of variety tests of rices1 grown upon one-tenth acre plats on black adobe soil in the Sacramento Valley of California in 1910. 1 These rices, on account of the quality of their grain, were selected for planting in 1910 from 300 varieties which were grown here in 1909 on plats consisting of only 4 rows a rod each in length and 7 inches apart. The yields from the rices in 1909 were relatively much higher than in 1910, when the plantings were made on a larger scale. Estimated upon the actual yield from plats one-half acre in size, the Wataribune (G. I. No. 1561) and Shinriki (G. I. No. 1642) varieties in 1910 yielded 113.7 and 137.2 bushels per acre, respectively. 2 Estimated upon the actual yields from one-tenth acre plats. In this valley these rices require a longer time to mature and they produce smaller plants than when grown on the plains of the Gulf coast, but they exhibit a greater capacity for tillering, with resultant larger yields. The short-grain rices appear to be better suited to this climate than the long-grain varieties. They ripen more uniformly, though slowly, tend to shatter less, and produce larger yields. There is less sun-cracking of the grain in these varieties after ripening than in the long-grain rices, which will result, of course, in a larger percentage of head rice when milled. The number of days for maturing the crop may be greatly lessened by stimulating the growth at the time the plants begin to "boot" by increasing the depth of water, with a gradual lowering of it during this period, and by giving another impetus to growth by suddenly increasing the depth of water just as the heads appear. This last depth of water should be maintained until the heads begin to turn down, when the land should be drained for harvest. A shorter season and earlier planting seem desirable in order that the crop may escape the effect of the increasing humidity in September and October, which appears to lengthen the period of ripening. The Honduras and Shinriki varieties (G. I. Nos. 1643 and 1642) are the leading commercial rices of the United States. In this test these varieties have exceeded the maximum yields produced on experimental plats in Louisiana and Texas. the two rices, the Shinriki, which is a small-grain variety, is better adapted to the Sacramento Valley. Of The Wataribune (G. I. No. 1561), the Oiran (G. I. No. 1562), and the Shinriki (G. I. No. 1642) varieties produce good yields, but on account of the long period which they require for maturity they may never become the leading rices of this valley, because the late planting of them might result in the loss of a crop. For this reason early maturing varieties of good quality, though producing less per acre, might be more remunerative. The other varieties included in Table I are introductions from foreign countries that will be described and discussed in a later publication. .SUGGESTIONS AS TO METHODS OF CULTURE. In selecting land for rice it is very important to know whether the subsoil possesses the mechanical characters for retaining water, for in the irrigation of this crop a continuous submergence of the land for several weeks is required. Such a condition is PARAGRAPH 240-RICE. not possible unless the subsoil is sufficiently impervious to water, or unless, by tidal irrigation, the depth of water upon the land may be maintained continuously when needed, regardless of the nature of the underlying stratum of soil. On land that can not be flowed by the tides the cost of submergence and the time required in the submergence depend upon the depth of the soil. A soil with a depth of 20 inches is preferable to a deeper one, because less water will be used and less time consumed in flowing the land. However, heavy clay soils of great depth that can be well prepared and drained may be used advantageously for the crop, but comparatively shallow soils must be underlain by an impervious subsoil or so located as to be subject to tidal overflow. These details of irrigation, an item of great expense in the production of rice, must be considered to secure maximum returns. Soil of a compact nature seems well adapted to rice. Clays for this reason, if they are not too deficient in organic matter and can be effectively drained, are preferred to other soils, because they dry out more readily at the surface and become solid after the removal of the water, making the fields accessible at harvest much sooner than would be possible on the more open soils. The culture of rice, however, is not confined to clay soils, for wherever water can be economically handled by irrigation and drainage loamy and even sandy soils will produce good crops. When not contrary to good farm management and the nature of the soil will permit it, land for rice should be plowed in the late autumn and well drained. With good drainage at this time the alkali which has accumulated just below the surface will be washed out by the winter rains. Furthermore, the action of the weather during the dormant period will have the effect of pulverizing the soil and making possible a good seed bed at a minimum cost. If plowing is postponed until spring, the land should not be left in furrow, but should be harrowed at once and not allowed to dry out before planting. High germination and vigorous growth of the young plants are dependent upon a good seed bed. The importance of its preparation can not be emphasized too strongly. The seed may be drilled or broadcasted. Large, heavy, flinty seed, uniform in size and free from sun cracks, should be used. The cracking of the grain by the sun occurs when the plants are allowed to stand too long after ripening or when the heads of rice are exposed in the shock. In thrashing and in cleaning by a fanning mill, grains are often cracked, but this may be easily prevented by the proper adjustment of the machinery. This imperfection in the seed is not easily detected, because the husk which envelops the kernel remains attached when the grain is thrashed. Suncracked and machine-cracked seed will not produce vigorous plants. The seed should not be sown deeper than 1 inches. In a well-prepared seed bed a less depth is desirable if the proper conditions of moisture exist. On a cloddy seed bed greater depth is required in order that all seed may be covered. A drill should be used to get a uniform depth and distribution of seed, for these conditions insure an even stand, which is an advantage in controlling weeds. In broadcasting seed there is always danger of getting a very uneven stand, due to difficulties in covering. Poor seeding reveals itself again at harvest when the rice does not ripen uniformly, which always means a loss, whether the field is cut when ripe or when portions of it are immature. This loss may come from the shattering of grain from the mature plants or from the low marketable product caused by small and poorly formed kernels. The rate of seeding will vary according to the variety of rice, the vitality of the seed, the character of the seed bed, and the method of seeding. With the small-grain rices, which, as a rule, tiller heavily, the quantity of seed that should be sown per acre should be less than with the large-grain rices that do not tiller so strongly. Too thin seeding, however, induces excessive tillering, which invariably results in irregular ripening and low-grade rice. The sowing of seed of good vitality in a well-prepared seed bed will always give better results than the sowing of seed of low vitality in a poorly prepared seed bed. A smaller quantity of seed is used when drilled than when broadcasted. Rice should be sown late enough to escape the extreme cold weather of spring, but early enough to mature before the autumnal rains. Sowing in April usually will be safe, as the crop will seldom be exposed to low temperatures. Level tracts of land with sufficient slope for effective drainage, if they possess the required characters of soil and subsoil, are admirably suited for rice. In the use of such lands for this crop the field should be inclosed by strong embankments and so subdivided that each subfield shall have a surface level enough to hold the irrigation water at a rather uniform depth and yet with the necessary slope for good drainage These conditions are obtainable by constructing the field levees on contour lines at distances which during submergence will hold the water at a depth of approximately |