Vbe Rra-eabgr,
Official Journal of Washington Parish and the Town of Franklinton.
VOLUME I. P ,L,, ,.,T,,O.N pE A9g ,.p? ew FRANKLINTON, LA., THURSDAY, JAN. '19, 1E911.
VOLUME i wASHINGTON LEADERA Eyu F tRANKLINTON, LA., THURSDAY, JAN. 19, 1911.
The Cold
- and the Cane
Numbers of our Louisiana
sugar planters of the ancient
regime were wont to maintain
th t severe cold spell in the month
of January was rather beneficial
than injurious to the cane crop.
0. course this claim was partly
based on the assumption that
after such cold spell average
normal conditions should prevail
during the remainder of the 1
winter, that the fall planting had
been placed deep enough in the
furrows to escape freezing, and 1
that the seed cane had been
properly put up and covered, t
whether in the old-style mat or (
the modern windrow.
The foundations for this theory E
among many of the old planters, a
which likewise held by numerous 1
younger ones of this progressive a
era in cane culture, were that se- I
vere midwinter cold killed 'the r
above ground or surface eyes, 1
which otherwise were apt to
sprout first in the spring at the 1
expense of the much more valu. t]
able deeply-rooted eyes which t
gave far more vigorous and reavy o
ratoons for the succeeding har- a
vest. Next, according to the r
stated claim the midwinter seed o
cane was kept comparatively a
dormant, where its preservation a
was much more certain than s
with its untimely sprouting
through warmth and the rotting sl
of t germinated shoots under cl
their deep covering. The last al
assumed benefit of a hard mid- fa
winter freeze, particularly after ce
a rain, was in the more perfect aý
pulverization or comminution of hi
the soil-particles through the "1
freeaing expansion of the water aC
in the ground. st
The last assumption has pass- of
ed the limits of theory among w
agriculturists of all conditions p1
Sand kinds. The freezing of fal.- r
low or fall-plowed lands has lone sE
been practically known to in- wi
crease their friability and ca- in
pacity for atmospheric and mois- e.
ture absorption, and to facilitate
their work of cultivation to a con- ita
siderable extent, this being not- pi
ably the case with stiff lands. b]
While there have been numer. lb
ous unreasonable and sensation- b!
ial newspaper reports as to the di
damage to our cane crop caused of
by the recent cold spell such re
ports are not likely to be theti
leust warranted by the real con. a
ditions. Ih the post helium his- 0
torjof our Louisiana sugar in.- sC
dustry we have had probably a a
score of 'anuary and February t
tri just as severeas that of c
&he third and iourth mornings of a
ite present month; ,and within t
Sthe pat ten years we have been *
ited by several of greater to
srity. p
In 1895 we had in the middle dc
 of February a foot of snow over
New Orleans and thie entire sug- m
ar region of Loisiana, underw
, which the seed cane made gbod
a: "ra fair stubble erop was made '
it tuhe majority of our sugar
pashes. In 1899 the sugar reg- re
Iyasb visited by asblinard on
tI*2th, 18th and 14th of Feb. a
tehich the mecury went down hi
t'ginus sero in the upper par
K.qf the sugar belt, and to re
:6 degrees in the parish of
forty miles below fo
and, stranger to say the plant
cane crop on numerous planta
tions of Plaquemines Paris have
the heaviest tonnage to the acre
e ever known when harvested that
year for the mill; and our Louis
lana sugar crop has survived and
aa extended further north in the
nt twelve years that have gone since
in the advent and the passing of the
th coldest weather ever known
ial in the State of Louisiana since
)p" the dawning of its colonial his
lS tory more than two centuries
tt agone. .
ge That the snowstorm of 1895
Eil and the blizzard of 1899 did tem
he porary injury to our sugar crop
goes without saying. Neither of
1e them came anywhere near des
id troying it; and the damage sus
in taied fell immeasurably below
d, the fears of the public press and
or of the people most concerned.
Taking minus Oo in the North
Y ern parishes pf the sugar belt
s, and plus 60 in the most southern
is parishes, and we strike a prob
Ye ab'e general average of 30 above
e- Fahrenheit for the entire sugar
el region of this State in February
5, 1899.
to That general average is about
1e 15 or 16 degrees below that of
i- the recent January cold: (and
h there have been numerous colder
' ones than that of last week,
r- which have passed over the sugar
e region in midwinter causing little
d comment and far less anxiety
S among the people experienced in
n and directly connected with the
n sugar industry of this State.
g The fact is that the severe cold
g spell of last week can neither be
r classed with the unexpected, the
t abnormal, nor the disastrous, as
I- far as our sugar industry in con
r cerned. In the sporting vern
t acular such conditions, which
f have been so often repeated, are
a "part of tle game." They have
r come and gone with little or no
subsequent effect, as the recent
- one will have if the subsequent
z winter prove favorable to the
i plant-cane and the stubble al
- ready in the ground, and to the i
r seed cane lying snugly in the 1
windrows with ample dirt-cover
" ing to protect it from a greater
" extreme of cold.
A normal winter from now to
its end, and an early or fairly pro 4
pitious spring; no one will know I
by the beginning of next May
Ihat the sugar regign was visited
by an average winter blizzard
a during the first two or three days I
I of the year.
Perhaps it would be a waste of
, time to inform the newspaper i
farmers that the blizzard of last 1
October, whose bad effect~s they
so belittled, (even going so far
, as to claim that it was beneficial
,to the bud.killed and top-frozen
r cane .affected), was incalculably
Smore injurious to our sugar in
Sterests than that of last week 1
Scouldever possibly be, That Oc.
,tober cold wave cost the sugar I
planting business several million
, dolars, and destroyed the seed
I supplyof men who recently com- I
menced cane planting before it
was cut.
With a good avereage planting I
and cultivating season from now
until the next harvest time our'
recent January freese is unlikely (
to have damaged to the extent of I
a dollar the sugar planters who (
have their fall planting, stubble
and seed cane under the usual <
reasnable conditions to stand t
Sthe severe cold usually prepared 1
for with the coming of tile mid- (
winter.--The Louisiana Planter t
and Sugar Manufacturer.
the u -. of Foler Koey ?nis
.·~ *
n' Wind-Power
S Drainage
te In the new projects and en.
:e terprises now proposed or in
ie process of operation in reclaim
n ing and draining the millions of
;e acres of our Louisiana Wet Lands
3- recently purchased, or at present
under negotiation, the problem
of ecnomical drainage must play
5 a orominent part.
I In some respects a large part
p of the Louisiana lowland under
ýf consideraiion is similar to that
;. of Holland. The land surface is
ý. level, the area contains a consid
v erable number of shallow lakes,
d the soil of most of it is composed
of delta deposits, and part of that
ý. area is below the level of flood
t tides of the sea.
n Rut in the comparison the
Louisiana Wet Lands show two
e great advantages over the low
r lands of Holland. In normal high
sea-tides the parts of the Louisi
ana marsh and swamp lands
C submergable are never im
f mersed by more than a few
1 inches, while those of Holland
r normally subjected to overflow
,rom the tides of the North Sea
c by a greater number of feet.
3 Hence the necessary tidal de
r fenses of the Dutch dikes have
i been and must be many time as
! wide and high and probably a
hundred times as costly as the
I leaves required in Louisiana to
keep the Gulf-tides off of the
lowlands. In the case of the
Louisiana lowlands an average
size dredge-boat, moving at the
rate of a mile progressively a
month, and building levees at the
cost of a few cents a cubic yard,
may form perfect embankments
to protect the lands from the
normal sea-tides. While centuries
of time and countless treasures
of money have been required to
construct the massive, stone
faced dkyes that defend the low
lying fields and meadows of Hol
land against the flood-tides and
storm waves of the boisterous
and turbulent North Sea.
The other principal advantage
of the Louisiana Wet Lands as
compared with those of Holland
lies in the infinitely superior fer
tility and natural productiveness
of the former, which mostly lie
around one of the greatest silt
bearing rivers of Ithe world.
In the reclamation of our Louis.
iana Wet Lands, after they have
been leveed and ceanalled, (to coin
the latter world), artiflcia drain
age must be the next imperative
demand. There are numbers of
modern steam-pumping aDpli.
ancea for moving enormous
masses of water now being em
ployed for drainage and irriation
in this State. Of the compara.
tive sup~riority or economy of
these more modern water-lifting
machines the Louisiana Planter
is not at present prepared to.
speak. Their direct and relative
work is so marvelous in amount
that months of close observationi
would be required to decdec
which was the best and cheapest
of them. Noneof themever con'
structed can exceed the capacity j
of the primitive old steamdriven s
Sater-wheel in lifting water foi~r
or five feet. But, as the founds
tion masonary of those most
powerful old drafnase plaits
costs nearly or quife is much as
the modern pumping plants of a
similar water-movdpg capacity,
in considering artifcal drainage,
nowadays, the under-ishot wSter
wheel is relegated to the ast.
But, harktna bak to
again, the Dutch mrabes,
(O~st~3a.g4 c· 4
ELLWOOD FENCE
This is a picture of Ellwood hog fence. More of this style is used
than of all other makes combined. In connection with several
strands of plain barbed wire, it puts up a fence that is abso
f lutely pig.tight and will also turn large stock.
S261NCN\
We have just
received a car
t of the above]
fence. We
3 quote you the following prices in small lots:
26 inch specification E at 22c per Rod
26" " N " 25c " "
34 " " D " 30c "
42" " D"35c "
" 42" ". 1" 75c " " I
58 " " D " 45c " "
58 " " L "55c " "
58 " " C " 65c "
BURRIS BROS.t
FRANKLINTpN :-: :-: LOUISIANA :I
I GOOD PRINTING
i . IS OUR SPECIALTY..
i Qur plant is modern in every
respect, which enables us to
produce good printing at lowest
* prices. Every care is given the
minutest details of our work, so
that we may turn out first-class
I work. Give us yoUr printing
and we'll make a pleased ous
tomer of you. ..
KE ERA-LEADER
Frau7klinton, Louisiana
A oeesehold Meiiolne.
To be oreally valable must show
eqully good result from each mem*
ber of the Imlly alg it. Foley's
honey sid Thr doesJust this. Wheth
er for childrena or own persons
Foley's Hobey and ir is best and
safest forall cobghs ai colds.
For sl at Peoples Drug Co.
. Lr
-Np-~
Kidney Pills as S. Parsons, Battle
GCreek Mich., illustrates: I have been
afflicted with a severe case of kidney
and bladder trouble for whichl found
no relief until I used Foley Kidney
Pills. These cured me entirely of all
my almeuts. IF-wi
my hiestreco
To the patri~n .rildi
ton Electric Light =Co., tbose
who use Edison lamps withouti
permission of said Co. will be
charab $1.00 per light of 10 can.
die power.
Per order of 41'
X11. ,.