of France in 1885. The native method of cultivation is as follows: Each year a favorable spot of land is selected and the grass and bushes burned away; the land is then turned and the seed is sown during the rainy season and left to grow of itself. Next year a new spot is chosen and the process repeated, while the old field is abandoned. Near Jananarivo, however, irrigable lands are prepared with great care and are planted after receiving a manuring from the pasturing of cattle and sheep.

Ile de la Réunion.-This is a French colony, and rice and wheat, which formerly yielded 25 for 1, have been almost abandoned for the more lucrative cultivation of sugar cane. Rice is imported from India, and is said to be preferred by the inhabitants to the native article. Rice is also grown in Mauritius.

SOUTH AMERICA.

BRAZIL.

There is much land in this country well adapted to rice cultivation, especially in the valley of the Amazon, where, according to some authorities, rice is indigenous. Rice seems to grow wonderfully well in Brazil and to give a greater yield than in India. The rice of Maranham is said to rival that of South Carolina, and among the marshes of Matto Grosso or upon the banks of the San Francisco rice is said to yield fine crops without much labor or cultivation.

Very little cultivation, however, is carried on, and what there is is rudely and carelessly performed, no care being taken in the selection of seed or in the preparation of the soil. A portion of the crop is said to be cut green in harvesting, as there are not enough laborers to gather it quickly when ripe. Therefore rice is grown in small patches for home consumption only, most of it by Indians and small landholders. Thrashing and cleaning are done as on a small scale in the United States. No rice is exported, but large quantities are imported from Europe.

UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA.

In this country as much rice is consumed per capita as in India or China, yet the production falls far short of the requirements of the people. A certain variety of rice is grown, having a grain so small that no machinery can be found to clean it, so cleaning must be done by hand in the old-fashioned way. There would be a good opportunity for the sale of proper American machinery in Colombia. Cultivation is intelligently carried on, and two crops a year are gathered in some places. Much rice is imported from Rangoon. The South Carolina rice is too high in price for this market.*

*Consular Report No. 62, March, 1886.

14257-No. 6—5

PERU.

In Peru rice cultivation is carried on in a very primitive manner, and better results might be obtained if the present water supply were utilized with judgment. It is said that the water which now runs to waste might, with better methods, suffice to double the present production.

AUSTRALASIA AND THE PACIFIC.

AUSTRALIA.

In New South Wales rice is not grown in sufficient quantity to form an article of commerce. Several varieties have been successfully grown in the northern part of the colony, from 30° to 32° south latitude, upon land subject to overflow, but in general the high cost of labor and the limited area are obstacles to profitable cultivation.

The following view of the subject of rice cultivation in this colony is condensed from a letter from Messrs. Robert Harper & Co., of Sydney, June 24, 1891, to the editor of the "Agricultural Gazette," of New South Wales, and published in that journal for August, 1891, vol. II. part 12, page 482:

We are pleased to give any information we can upon a matter of such importance to the coastal districts as new crop. At the same time we would suggest the wisdom of caution, both in forming opinions and in action, for while we trust that ricegrowing will be a success in our colony, there are certain considerations which seem to throw a doubt upon it. The most important of these considerations is that in those countries where rice is now grown they possess a climate admirably suited to its production, soil equally suited, and an experience of centuries in growing, and yet at the prices obtained it yields but a fair living to native races, which work for a mere pittance. It is true that against this there are the freight and duty, but the freight from many ports of the East is now no more than from the River Clarence to Sydney, and we fear that even the £3 per ton duty will not cover the difference in the cost of labor; but if this duty should provide a profit for the grower here, it has then to be remembered that at any moment it may be removed, in which case we feel sure the East will win in the competition.

However, we quite agree that the crop is worthy of a trial, and the foregoing remarks are only meant to induce caution, and thus prevent the loss which will ensue from rashness.

It is rather a mistake to cultivate Patna rice, since about 100 tons would cover the consumption of that quality in this colony for twelve months. At one time Patua was a rice largely consumed, it being the favorite of both Chinese and Europeans; but for a number of years the Chinese in Australia have been supplied by grain grown in their own country and are becoming more and more bound to it. The Europeans, on the other hand, left Patna in favor of Java rice-a round grain-years ago, but for a number of years past have gone from the Java to a similar grain grown in Japan, which yields a good boiling rice, and at the same time, under the elaborate machinery now used in good rice mills, turns out a very pretty, highly polished sample. Practically, then, only two sorts of rice have been largely used in this colony for years, namely, "Japan" and "China," and it is to the Japan that we would recommend growers in New South Wales to give their attention. The reason we select it in preference to the China rice is that there is a considerably larger consumption, and because Chinese houses in Sydney, which are in some cases simply branches of Chinese

houses in China, would not try locally-grown rice, even were it somewhat cheaper than imported, but would, under the instructions of their head firms in China, continue to import from them, at any rate for some years. It seems, then, that rice may be exported from China to Chinese consumers in other countries. Then, again, the Japanese grain should suit the climate, as many parts of Japan fairly represent the climate of the north coast districts of New South Wales, and Japanese rice grown in these districts would find a ready market at Sydney, provided it were of good quality and the price offered to compete with imported rice would pay the grower.

This price for rice in the husk would depend, first, on the cost of husking; second, upon loss in weight, and third, upon the current value of similar rice imported, which varies from year to year. An actual test with the grain itself, in husking and polishing, would be necessary before the price could be fixed. There are rice mills in Sydney where the grain might be dressed for growers or bought in the husk. The general price for dressing is from £1 to £2 per ton, but that is for rice from which the outer husk has already been removed in the East.

At this time the selling price of China rice at Sydney was from £18 to £18 10s., and for Japan rice from £16 108. to £17 10s. per ton, duty paid. The market for Japan rice was a declining one and the price of China rice was higher than usual, it being often cheaper than Japan rice.

Mr. W. Newton, of Coopernook House, Manning River, New South Wales, has made a successful experiment in growing Patna rice in this colony, harvesting fully 60 bushels to the acre, and he explains his method of cultivating it in the "Gazette" for December, 1891, page 727, as follows:

The Patna rice will grow either in or out of water, but must be attentively caltivated and weeds kept down. In experimenting with small quantities the seed should be sown in drills and given the same cultivation as sorghum. Lines should be 18 inches apart and the drills should receive three or four seeds each and should be 7 inches apart, the seed being covered 3 or 4 inches deep with a light harrow-hoe. Before planting, the seed should be soaked in water for sixteen or eighteen hours and then planted at once and the rice will be above ground in two weeks. The proper time for planting is in August or September (i. e., in late winter or early spring in the southern hemisphere, where our seasons are reversed), so that by early planting the rice may get a good start before the summer weeds begin to grow.

Mr. Newton is of the opinion that by early planting two crops might be harvested in New South Wales as well as in Queensland, where the same seed is used. When the rice is ripe and fit for harvesting, the straw is quite green and soft, so that if sown early the rice roots will shoot out a second crop. Rice may be planted any time before Christmas (i.e., midsummer) and one first-class crop obtained. The rice, when cut, should be harvested just as wheat or oats before being stacked, in order to prevent heating, since the straw is green. An ordinary wheatthrashing machine may be used and the straw used as fodder for horses and cattle. Rice may also be sown broadcast, a harrow being run over the field once a week for the first month after sowing in order to kill weeds. This destroys all native grass without injuring the rice, as when once shot, it roots rapidly and is not easily torn up.

crop matures in about five months.

Queensland has a soil better suited to the cultivation of rice than

New South Wales, as it lies farther to the north and is more tropical. There are in the colony immense tracts of swamp land now lying unimproved where lowland rice might be successfully grown. At present, however, the production is but small and mostly in the hands of the Chinese. Since 1886 there has been a falling off in the cultivation, owing to carelessness, it is said, in the selection of seed. The average yield per acre, however, is good, being over 32 bushels in 1890, and thus testifying to the suitability of the soil. With care and good methods there is no reason why a return of from 60 to 70 bushels might not be expected. Rice is now imported from Hongkong, but with increased cheap production the importation might be stopped. The seed used in Queensland is of Chinese origin and seems to have deteriorated, so that a change is desirable and the use of the Indian or the Siamese seed has been advised. Patna rice should do well in the colony. The use of American rice-cleaning machinery is also advocated.

The other Australian colonies apparently produce no rice.

In New Caledonia, a French colony, the soil and climate are well adapted to rice, but up to 1888 not more than 200 tons annually had ever been produced. The streams of the colony are not well adapted for irrigation, and thus cultivation is not remunerative, in addition to which the crops are devastated by locusts. The rice produced, however, is of superior quality. The "cangh," or red mountain rice, grows on the slopes of the interior, but is almost uncultivated and is of inferior quality. The annual consumption is about 800 tons, three quarters of which is imported from Hongkong via Sidney.*

THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

Rice cultivation flourishes in these islands and is second in importance only to that of sugar cane. The climate of Hawaii is particularly favorable to rice of superior quality, and the evenness of temperature permits the raising of two crops a year without strain on the soil. The rice fields are confined to the lowlands where abundant irrigation may be obtained, or to slight elevations where artesian wells may be operated. These are the highest-priced lands in the Kingdom and, owing to water facilities and nearness to the market, command from $100 to $200 per acre. They are generally leased on 5 to 20 years' contract, in lots of an acre each, at from $15 to $30 per acre. The total area of rice lands in the Kingdom is about 4,700 acres, and the cultivation is almost entirely in the hands of Chinese farmers.

The fields are prepared by thorough working and soaking, and the seed is sown broadcast. When 6 inches high the rice is transplanted in rows about 6 inches apart and is then kept continuously flooded with water, not more than 6 inches deep, for about 5 months, when the grain forms and begins to harden. The water is then drawn off and the grain allowed to ripen. It is then cut with the sickle and thrashed by tread

*Consular Report No. 102.

ing out with horses, winnowed, and sent to the mills at Honolulu, where American machinery is in operation. All plows and other implements are of American make. Some very handsome samples of rice from the Sandwich Islands were displayed at the Paris Exposition of 1889.*

EUROPE.

FRANCE.

This is not a rice-growing country, though the cultivation of rice has been experimented with at various times in the department of the Gironde, upon the coast of the Bay of Biscay, and in the department of the Aude and the Gard, upon the Mediterranean coast, but without success. The only application of rice cultivation in France seems to be the utilization of the salt marshes of the Camergne. Rice is imported into France from South Carolina, Italy, Japan, and India, and is cleaned in mills at Paris, Bordeaux, Havre, and Nantes. It is admitted duty free if intended for the manufacture of starch. Several of the French colonies, however, produce good rice, the most important of these having been described above.

ITALY.

Rice-growing is of ancient date in this country and has now become a profitable industry. Its area, once limited by legislation, has greatly increased since the restriction was removed several years ago, so that the total crop is now more than sufficient to meet the home demand, and a surplus is left for exportation. Piedmont and Lombardy are the principal rice-growing provinces, and there is also some cultivated in the marshes of Sicily, around Catania.

In general, cultivation is carefully conducted and has received much attention from scientist, while it benefits by the superior system of irrigation existing in the country.

The rice fields of northern Italy may be divided into two classes, permanent and temporary. The permanent fields, "risage da zappa," are restricted to low, marshy localities, unsuited to the growing of any other crops, and which, in many cases, have regularly been cultivated in rice for a long series of years. Some of these fields, on account, perhaps, of specially favorable conditions of soil, or because they have been renewed by alluvial deposits or by periodical manuring, have remained in good condition for a long time; but others, under less favorable circumstances or from want of care in cultivation, have become much less productive than they formerly were. Some of these latter fields are still cultivated in rice, notwithstanding their failing condition, either for reasons of economy or because the Italian farmers, who are reluctant to adopt new methods, find it more convenient to retain the old system.

*Consular Report No. 69, October, 1886.