Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1988 The iH storical Geography of Rice Culture in the American South. Jeon Lee Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Lee, Jeon, "The iH storical Geography of Rice Culture in the American South." (1988). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4655. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4655 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. 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Ann Aibor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The HisLorical Geography of Rice Culture in the American South A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agriculture and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy m The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Jeon Lee B.A. Seoul National University, Korea, 1981 M.A. Seoul National University, Korea, 1983 December 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like express my deepest and sincere appreciation to Dr. Sam Bowers Hilliard, Alumni Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University, for his valuable guidance and advice. I would also like to thank Dr. H. Rouse Caffey, Dr. William Davidson, Dr. Jay Edwards, Dr. Robert Muller, and Dr. James Penn for their suggestions and constructive criticism in the development of this study. Special thanks are given to Dr. Gregory Veeck for his timely and critical review of the manuscript. Sincere gratitude is extended to Liz Hines, Dr. Martin Kenzer, and Ed Britton whose geographical ideas and suggestions were invaluable in this study. There are a number of persons who gave me valuable data and information for this study during my field-trips. I would like to thank the personnel at the rice experiment stations in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi for their assistance and kindness. I also wish to thank the farmers that I met on the field-trips. All of them were very kind to me. The financial support for my graduate studies has been provided through the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University, and the ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. The Robert West Fund provided financial support for my field-trips around rice- growing areas in the South. These financial supports are gratefully acknowledged. Finally, I would like to thank my loving wife, Oyoung- Hae, for her constant encouragement. While I was studying for this dissertation, she took good care of my two kids, Tony and Young. Without her tolerance and encouragement, this dissertation could not have been completed. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................... ........................... ii LIST OF TABLES...................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES..................................................vii ABSTRACT.......................................................... X CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION...................................... 1 A) Framework: Organization................................. 3 B) Background: Literature Review.......................... 5 CHAPTER II. RICE-PRODUCING REGIONS IN THE SOUTH.......... 11 A) Historical Regions....................................... 11 A—1) South Atlantic Hearth.............................. 12 A-2) Southern Louisiana along the Lower Mississippi River................................................. 19 B) Gulf Coast Prairies...................................... 27 B-l) Southwestern Louisiana.......... .................. 27 B-2) Southeastern Texas................................. 30 C) Lower Mississippi River Valley......................... 33 C-l) Floodplains and Terraces in Eastern Arkansas... 33 C-2) Yazoo Basin in Mississippi........................ 37 C-3) Northeastern Louisiana............................. 40 C-4) Southeastern Missouri............................. 41 CHAPTER III. WATER SUPPLY AND MANAGEMENT FOR RICE CULTIVATION..................................... 44 A) Historical Methods........................................ 44 A—1) Tidewater Irrigation in the South Atlantic Hearth..................... 44 A-2) River Rice in Southern Louisiana................. 49 A-3) Providence Rice throughout the South............. 51 B) Water-Lifting and Canal Irrigation................... 52 C) Well Irrigation........................................... 58 D) The Quality of Water and the GroundWater Table 63 E) Reservoirs................................................. 65 F) Dry-Planting and Water-Planting........................ 66 G) Water-Leveling and Laser-Leveling..................... 70 H) Underground Pipeline Irrigation System............... 74 I) Tests of Sprinkler Irrigations......................... 81 CHAPTER IV. TOOLS AND MACHINERY: MECHANIZATION OF RICE FARMING........................................... 83 A) Elementary Tools and Machinery......................... 83 B) Threshers.................................................. 87 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. C) Rice Harvesters: Binders................................ 88 D) Tractors.................................................... 90 E) Electrification........................................... 91 F) Rice Drying Machines.......... *................... 91 G) Combines.................................................... 93 H) Bulk Rice Storage......................................... 98 I) The Airplane as a Farm machine......................... 99 CHAPTER V. IMPROVEMENT IN RICE VARIETIES.................. 104 A) Carolina Gold and Carolina White....................... 107 B) Creole Rice (Louisiana Rice) and Honduras Rice.......109 C) Japan Rice: American Pearl...............................110 D) Sol Wright's Varieties................................... Ill E) Rice Varieties Developed at Rice Experiment stations............................. 112 E-l) at Crowley, Louisiana.............................. 113 E-2) at Stuttgart, Arkansas............................. 115 E-3) at Beaumont, Texas.................................. 118 CHAPTER VI. CROP ROTATION, FERTILIZATION, CRAWFISH RAISING, AND WEED, INSECT, AND BIRD CONTROL.......... 124 A) Crop Combination and Crop Rotation.....................124 B) Livestock and Rice........................................ 128 C) Crawfish on the Rice Fields............................. 130 D) Weed Control............................ 133 E) Insect, Muskrat, and Bird Control...................... 136 F) Fertilization.............................................. 146 G)