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Rice farming was well established in Louisiana but was just getting started in east Texas in 1900, when Texas Farm and Ranch magazine sent W. C. Moore to get some tips on how it should be done.
He found that “the outlook for rice culture was never brighter” in south Louisiana, partly because farmers had learned how to efficiently irrigate their crops, partly because the United States was still a heavy importer of rice and offered big marketing opportunities — and also because millers used every little part of a rice kernel.
Moore found about 450 miles of canals in Louisiana used to irrigate 140,000 acres of rice. The canal companies typically took one-fifth of the crop in payment for the water if the farmer owned the land. The companies took another fifth as rent if they owned the rice fields. It appears that both the farmer and the canal company made money under that arrangement.
“All the canal companies own more or less land,” Moore reported, “and it is a well known fact that they pay handsome dividends on the capital invested [to dig them].”
Moore also looked at deep wells near Jennings and Welsh, and estimated that 15,000 acres were irrigated by pumping systems like these that were still in their infancy.
“The great advantage of well irrigation is that it will bring into cultivation thousands of acres that canals can never reach,” he said. Drillers charged $3 a foot for an 8-inch well and $2 a foot for a 6-inch well. The wells Moore saw varied from 160 to 200 feet deep.
“These are not artesian wells, and a pump and engine costing $800 are required to pump water from the well onto the land,” Moore wrote.  An eight-inch well could irrigate 200 acres, a six-inch well about 150, he said.
That wasn’t cheap. A 200-foot, 8-inch well with an $800 pump would cost a total of $1,400, which would be about $45,000 today. But it seemed to be a good investment. Moore wrote that “this method of rice irrigation has been so far eminently successful.”
The end product of all of this was “a good, hard, flinty rice,” that milled out to 100 pounds of clean rice to the barrel.
“This one hundred pounds would be divided about as follows,” he said, “Sixty pounds of head rice, twenty-five pounds of number two, and fifteen pounds of brewers’ rice.” But the millers didn’t stop there; they sold the hulls as cattle food, and even gathered up dust generated in the milling to be made into buttons, beads, and even piano keys.
“After the outside hull has been taken from the rice, there is a bran resembling wheat bran, which is very fine for stock of all kinds, and next to the bran comes what is termed polish,” Moore found.
“Rice polish” he said, “resembles very much buckwheat flour, and is used quite extensively for food in foreign countries … [and] is being very extensively used in manufacturing numerous kinds of trinkets, such as small buttons used in shirts and which resemble the bone button. It is also used in making keys for pianos and resembles ivory so closely that an expert can hardly detect the difference. White door knobs are also another commodity from rice polish.”
I asked Bruce Schultz, the communications specialist at the rice experiment center at Crowley, about this and he said, “It sounds like the polish is just the dust from polishing the rice grains after the bran layer is removed. I’m sure synthetic materials are cheaper and easier to make [today].”
I did a quick web search for “rice polish” and found that it is used as a base for some cosmetics in Japan, but, as Bruce suggests, it has been a long time since it was used in the keys for your Steinway.
 A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

DEAR ABBY: My sister “Darby” and I are in our 20s and confused about the relationship she is in. She’s 23 and has been dating a 22-year-old man. They fight a lot because he can’t stop talking about her ex-boyfriend. He says he visualizes her having sex with him, and is frustrated with himself for not being able to get the images out of his head. Is there a name for this particular problem, and how can Darby work with it?
SUPPORTIVE SIS IN THE WEST

DEAR SIS: Yes, actually, there are two names for this “condition.” They are obsession and jealousy, and both are signs of potential control issues. Stay close to your sister and be there for her, because this young man’s behavior is a red flag.
Darby and her boyfriend are both adults. I assume neither came to the relationship wrapped in cellophane. His fixation should not be hers (or yours) to fix. Because he can’t get the images out of his head, he should schedule a few sessions with a licensed psychotherapist, since his problem will continue the longer he is in the dating world.

DEAR ABBY: I moved in with my boyfriend six years ago. A year ago, his adult daughter decided she would have all her internet purchases sent to his home. Abby, these packages arrive every day, all week long. I’m tired of it. I think she’s a spend-aholic.
I told him at the beginning of our relationship that I would never come between him and his daughter. But it has become a bit much. She calls him for every little thing. Now she has started asking him to help with his granddaughter’s homework. I have two adult children of my own and grandchildren. Am I overreacting? I’m ready to move out and on.
OVER IT AND OUT

DEAR OVER IT: Before moving out and on, discuss this with your boyfriend of six years. His daughter seems to be unusually dependent for an adult. Is there a reason why she’s doing these things? Could she be fearful that the packages she’s ordering could be stolen from her porch? Does her daughter need more help academically than she is able to provide? The answers to those questions could be enlightening. After you get those answers, there will be time to make a rational (rather than emotional) decision about the status of the relationship you have with her father.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 52-year-old single, straight male. For some reason, only men seem to be attracted to me. If I sit at a table in a restaurant or bar, a man will come over and sit next to me. If I go to the park, a man will sit next to me on the bench. Walking down the street, random men approach me. It’s terrible. I’m straight! Please help!
UNIQUE PROBLEM IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR UNIQUE PROBLEM: Because you’re not meeting women, try to put yourself in situations where you will meet them.
Because you are consistently approached by men and you’re not interested, consider asking them if they have a female relative who’s single. And when you encounter a woman you think you can click with, speak up and introduce yourself.
***
Good advice for everyone — teens to seniors — is in “The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It.” To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.

Beginning Monday, the age at which Louisiana people are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations will be lowered from 70 to 65, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday at a press conference.

Also added to the list of those currently eligible will be officials in the state Unified Command Group; state and local COVID response emergency and law enforcement personnel; and election workers for the March and April balloting.

Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna wants to opt out of the city’s parishwide cooperative endeavor agreement among fire departments for mutual aid, and replace it with individual agreements between the city and these agencies.
Dragna sent a letter to various fire departments and the parish stating his intention to opt out of the agreement, as per the required 90-day notice, without first informing the council.
However, on Tuesday, Dragna agreed during the City Council meeting that, after negative feedback, that meeting with the parish fire association before moving forward is the best course.
The item wasn’t on the meeting agenda but sparked a lengthy discussion about a letter that Dragna sent to local fire departments and the parish proposing an end to the current cooperative endeavor agreement. Dragna described the email as intentionally vague because he didn’t want to discuss individual cities publicly, at least not without their representative present.
The discussion centered on fire departments in Berwick and Amelia.
Dragna said it costs the city $2.1 million a year to help other agencies, but the city has seldom received mutual aid from other agencies since the 1994 fire that devastated Shannon Hardware in downtown Morgan City.
He said it is “physically hurting” Morgan City, with Berwick being able to use Morgan City’s aid without providing any reimbursement.
“So people who are building houses in Berwick, they don’t have $2.1 million or even $1.1 million to open two fire stations instead of four … so they’re basically getting the fire protection for free,” Dragna argued.
Dragna said Berwick does not have to increase taxes to pay for fire protection that Morgan City provides them, but they get help with their fire rating with Morgan City being nearby.
“So why would the citizens of Morgan City want to foot the bill, so Berwick and other entities can profit and hurt the growth of Morgan City?” Dragna asked.
While he said the move prompted community concern that Morgan City would not help a neighboring fire department after the 90-day opt out period, Dragna said that was false.
“We would never leave our fellow firemen at risk and not go cover our neighbors,” Dragna said.
Councilman Tim Hymel asked how many calls the city responded to for mutual aid in the last year, and Dragna said he thought it was about 14.
Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said he didn’t know how many off hand, but it was several each in various areas that could include Berwick, Amelia, Bayou Vista and Patterson.
Stephens, who retired from the city’s fire department five years ago, said 14 would be an “anomaly” and said it was about five calls that Morgan City assisted with when he worked for the department.
He estimated that only a small amount of the fire department’s budget, about $10,000, would be used for this overtime.
Dragna said it’s more than overtime, though, using Amelia as an example. He said that there is likely a 20% chance when Morgan City responds to a fire in Amelia that it is in an industrial area, and Morgan City often handles the more challenging portions of the firefight because they have the training.
The funding for training, certification and equipment all factor into the $2.1 million, Dragna said.
The parish fire association, of which Morgan City is a member, is the place Parish President David Hanagriff and Stephens said should have been used in addressing the concerns.
Hanagriff said the association was planning a meeting to discuss the Morgan City move, and after agreeing to rescind the letter, Dragna said he wants to be part of that meeting to explain the city’s case.
Hanagriff also defended outside entities, including the parish. He said the parish gives Morgan City $11,543 in money from its 3/10th sales tax fund, $5,000 from the parish’s gaming fund and every 11 years, the city receives $100,000 from a combination of the 3/10th sales tax fund and the gaming fund.
“To insinuate that Berwick and Amelia should be paying more for Morgan City’s Fire Department, even though they use it occasionally, and Morgan City uses them occasionally, I think is just wrong, and it sends the wrong message going forward,” Hanagriff told Dragna.
Before Dragna agreed to rescind the letter, Councilman Lou Tamporello asked if the city still would have access to mutual aid from other agencies. Hanagriff said they would.
Jean Paul Bourg, a Third Street resident who spoke at the meeting, said his house and a neighbor’s house burned when he was younger. A second neighbor’s house almost burned, too. He said mutual aid was required then and could be needed now if old structures burned downtown due to their close proximity.
“So I just think it’s reckless to just take this stuff lightly and send out this letter with no explanation,” he said earlier in the discussion. “It puts the whole city at risk.”
Dragna apologized to the council for not notifying them of his intent before sending the letter.
“I didn’t think anything of it, because it was 90 days out,” he said.