tinct and separate from the rest. The great secret of the proper cooking of rice lies in allowing plenty of water, yet not too much; in not boiling for too long a time, and in not breaking the grains by stirring during the time of boiling. The rice should be washed in three or four changes of water to remove adhering rice flour, dust, etc., and should be boiled only until the grain is well softened; after this the water should be poured off, the vessel tightly closed, and the rice allowed to steam. A Japanese authority gives the amount of water to be used as from 2 to 2.12 liters for 1.80 liters of rice, and says that the rice should be put into water which has been previously boiled and is still hot; cooking, he says, occupies from fifteen to twenty-five minutes. An Australian writer states that the rice in boiling absorbs three times its weight of water, so that plenty of water should be used, while other experts say that too much water is apt to make the rice pasty.

Since rice contains almost 80 per cent of starch and but little gluten, its flour is not readily panificable, and does not undergo fermentation with yeast; hence, rice flour can not be used alone for making bread, though it may be so used when mixed with wheat flour. Its starch may, however, be readily converted into glucose, and hence rice is much used for distillation. In the United Kingdom 2,886 tons of rice were used for this purpose in 1889. The natives of India make a strong spirituous liquor from rice, "arrack," containing about 50 per cent, by weight, of alcohol. The Japanese "saki," a sort of beer made from rice, contains about 12.50 per cent of alcohol.

One of the principal uses of rice is for the extraction of its starch, which is of extreme fineness and much in demand for certain purposes to which ordinary wheat starch or potato starch is not so well adapted. Rice meal is found to be highly nutritious for live stock, especially for swine, and paddy or unhusked rice is especially good for poultry. Not much use can be made of rice straw, except as a fertilizer, since it is large and soft and is ill adapted to the uses generally made of ordinary straw. It is said that it does not even make a good litter for cattle, although when well rotted it makes an excellent manure for maize and potatoes. The chaff or husk of rice is also valuable as a fertilizer, especially as it aids in keeping the soil open and porous. The so-called "rice straw," used for hat-making, etc., is, in reality, a very fine rye or wheat straw expressly grown for the purpose and obtained by sowing these cereals very thickly upon light alluvial soil, the grain produced being, in this case, of secondary moment. Finally, the so-called "rice paper" of the Chinese is not made from rice, but is manufactured from the pith of Aralia (Fatsia) papyrifera, a tree native to the island of Formosa.

RICE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Rice is grown within a very limited area in the United States, comprising certain lands along the Atlantic coast south of the parallel of 36° north latitude, and other tracts bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico,

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in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The amount of rice produced in this country suffices for little more than half the amount annually consumed, and could the production be increased, as has been suggested, by substituting the cultivation of rice for that of cotton, now overproduced, great benefit would result therefrom. There is no reason why the United States should not produce the largest rice crop in the world. Both lowland and upland rice are grown in this area, the former mostly along the coasts and the latter in the inland districts.

There are several varieties of lowland rice, the most appreciated being the gold seed, so called from the golden yellow color of its husk when ripe. Of this, again, there are two subvarieties, or more properly two sizes, the smaller of which was introduced into the country a few years before the Revolutionary war, and the larger about the year 1840. The principal difference between the two is but a slight one in the length of the grain, and they are otherwise hardly distinguishable in size, and differ but little as to yield or quality. The gold seed rice has almost entirely superseded the white rice, which was formerly used, and it has of late years undergone such improvements, through careful selection of seed and very attentive cultivation, that it is now the most important rice of American commerce. The famous Carolina rice is esteemed, especially among foreign consumers, as the best rice in the world. White rice, a lowland variety, was the original rice introduced in 1694. It has a cream-colored husk, and resembles that commonly grown in China. It is valued on account of its precocity, and, like the gold seed, succeeds almost as well upon the uplands as upon the coast. Measurements of grains of gold seed and white rice, made in 1854, gave the following figures:

Experimental planting also shows the long-grained to be but slightly more prolific than the short-grained variety. A bearded variety, the awn of which was very long, was at one time experimented with upon the uplands, but did not prove satisfactory and was abandoned.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

For two centuries this State has remained preeminent in rice cultivation in America. The rice which came from Madagascar two hundred years ago found a congenial soil and climate at Charleston, and so thrived that its cultivation extended to the adjoining colonies and be

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came a lucrative branch of agriculture. It is recorded that in 1754 the colony exported to England over 100,000 barrels of unhusked rice, and had an ample supply left for home consumption. This yield might have been much greater had the system of water culture, now in use, been practiced at that time, but this was not introduced until thirty years later, in 1784.

Although rice is cultivated for local consumption in almost every part of South Carolina and Georgia below actual mountain altitudes, the more important rice fields, where the commercial crop is grown, are mainly confined to the swamps and tide-water lands along the coast. There are also many of the best rice plantations among the swamp lands higher up the rivers, and upon level lands in the interior so situated as to be readily irrigated. Upon all these lands the system of water cultivation is the one generally followed. The tide water lands lie along the rivers in such position above the meeting of fresh and salt water that they may be flooded by fresh water at high tide, and drained when the tide is low, yet may be protected by means of dikes from salt water (always fatal to rice) coming from below, or from freshets coming from above. In certain localities lands have even been reclaimed from the salt marshes, and these are said to be among the very best of all rice fields.

Some of these tide-water lands are said to have been valued at from $200 to $300 per acre before the late war, but in addition to the almost total destruction of rice cultivation caused by the war, recovery from which is not even yet complete, the present difficulty of obtaining labor has reduced the price of these lands to not more than $20 to $30 per acre. The soil is alluvial and generally consists of a blue or yellow clay, containing much mica.

Among the river swamps lands are chosen for rice fields which are so situated that they may be readily flooded with water from the river above, and drained into the river again at a lower level. It is said that many such situations are to be found in almost every part of the State, and that there are some 2,000,000 acres of such lands, or good tidal lands, lying idle which are eminently adapted for rice cultivation. Much good rice land may also be found among the inland swamps. These swamps are large shallow basins, and have streams or "water leads" running into them. They may easily be reclaimed by drainage and may be so arranged as to be readily irrigated, reservoirs to hold a supply of water from the streams being generally easy of construction in these localities. Such lands, however, have a heavier soil than the tidal lands, and are in consequence more difficult to cultivate, and they are neither so prolific nor so remunerative. The grain grown upon them is heavy and gives less return per acre than that grown along the river, and yet with care and proper management a profit may be made.

The rice fields are surrounded by embankments both along the river front and upon their inland boundaries. These embankments are made 14257--No. 6—2

of sufficient height and strength to exclude the salt-water tides and the water from the river, but are provided with flood gates at proper intervals, so arranged as to be under complete control. The whole area of the fields is subdivided by smaller embankments or dikes into sections containing from 15 to 20 acres each, and these sections are again subdivided, by means of canals and ditches, into beds of from 20 to 30 feet in width. The whole area is generally traversed by a large main canal, from 12 to 30 feet wide and from 4 to 5 feet deep, which answers the double purpose of conducting the water to the fields or of draining them, as may be necessary, and of affording a means of communication by boats in harvest time. This canal communicates directly, through flood gates, with the river or main source of water supply.

It is of extreme importance that rice lands should be perfectly level, in order that during cultivation the depth of water upon the fields may be the same throughout, so that one part of the crop may receive the same treatment as another. The tidal lands and swamp areas are already level by nature, and in other places inequalities must be reduced and the surface made uniform. In some countries terracing is resorted to when practicable. All bowlders, stones, stumps, etc., must be removed from the fields, especially among the inland swamps, and all irregularities of surface must be reduced and the whole fashioned into a perfectly level plain.

SYSTEM OF CULTIVATION.

The system of water cultivation for lowland rice as practiced in South Carolina, and as generally adopted in all the rice-growing States, is as follows:

Operations are commenced as soon as the previous harvest has been gathered and removed, which is in September or early in October. The first thing done is to thoroughly clear out the ditches and drains, removing the mud and refuse down to hard soil below. In some localities, however, the drains alone are cleared every year, while it is considered necessary to clear the ditches once in three or four years. The embankments and dikes are next inspected and put in thorough order for the coming season. Plowing is the next operation, and in order that the clods shall have the full benefit of the frost, this is done as early in the winter as possible; only a slight plowing of 4 or 5 inches, or just enough to turn the stubble under, is necessary, as these soils are constantly being enriched by alluvial deposits from the water used in their cultivation. It is found advantageous to flood the fields in cold weather with a shallow layer of water, which is then suddenly drawn off, so that the ground may freeze and the furrow-slices be broken up. The floods should not be too deep, since the weight of the water would pack the soil together and thus the effect of plowing would be counteracted, while subsequent harrowing would be rendered more difficult. Harrowing is not commenced until just before the time

of planting, in order that the seed bed may be freshy prepared, and thus encourage germination and permit the young roots to expand rapidly in the loose soil and become firmly fixed. Harrowing also affords the best opportunity for killing weeds and grasses. Every clod should be broken up, the hoe being used if necessary, and the weeds and grasses allowed to wither. A crusher is then used to bring the soil to as perfect a state of tilth as possible, after which it is ready to receive the seed.

Planting occurs from the middle of March to the middle of May, according to the state of the season. The amount of seed, which should be carefully selected and free from all impurities, is from 2 to 3 bushels (about 45 pounds to the bushel) per acre, the greater quantity being used when the field is not at its best state of preparation. Broadcast sowing is never practiced upon these fields, but the seed is sown in drills or small furrows 2 or 3 inches deep, from 3 to 5 inches wide, and placed from 12 to 15 inches apart.

There are two systems of planting, each of which has its advocates. The first of these is known as the "covered rice" system, where the seed is sown in the drills and immediately covered with the soil to a depth of 2 or 3 inches, whereby it is protected from the attacks of birds and from floating away when the water is let on. The second system is known as that of the "open trench," in which the same drills are used and the seed is planted in the same way and in the same proportions per acre, but is not covered with soil, the drills being left open. In order to prevent the seed from floating away it is weighted by being soaked in thick clay-water before planting. This system is not a favorite one in South Carolina and is rarely practiced by the best planters, and seems to have as its only advantages the saving of a little time and labor and the hastening of germination. It is open to many objections, not the least of which is the liability to depredation by birds. In very clayey lands, however, it is sometimes advantageous.

The sowing of the entire field having been completed, irrigation is commenced and the first flooding or "sprout water" is allowed to enter. If the "covered rice" system has been followed and the soil is already moist, the water may be let in rapidly until it has attained a depth of from 12 to 18 inches, when all the flood gates are closed and the water allowed to remain stationary at this depth. Much light refuse or trash will now float and should be immediately raked out of the water before it becomes soaked and settles upon the seed. In from three to six days, according to the weather, the grain will germinate, when the water must be drawn off and the field kept as dry as possible until the young plants have grown strong enough to be independent of the support of the mother seed, that is, until they have put out two green leaves, and may be seen in this condition over the entire bed. Until this occurs the roots of the plant are not yet strong enough to fix it firmly to the soil, and were the beds covered with water the slightest agitation from the wind or other causes would uproot it.