Vol. XVII, No. 429. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



309 



from 3t< to 45 bags (of 14u fc.) of paddy per acre, whilst on 

 con-empoldered lands the total annual yields are from 30 to 

 35 bags. 



Prior to 1897 several attempts were made, with but 

 little success, towards improving the quality and yield of 

 rice in British Guiana, by importing seed-paddy from Cal- 

 cutta- They were resumed in 1^97. but failed, as at that 

 time the Botanic Gardens proper were used almost exclus- 

 ively for ornamental and horticultural purposes, whilst there 

 wjs not any land available in the e.Kperiinental section de- 

 voted to sugar-cane. In 1902, with the assistance of the late 

 Sir Alexander Ashmore, some marsh paddies of choice varieties 

 were obtained from Ceylon. An area of then practically 

 marsh land in the northeastern section of the Botanic 

 Gardens was cleared from bush, and laid out in rice beds 

 under the direction of Mr. Gainfort, whilst acting as Super- 

 intendent of the (Jardens. A year later, supplies of hill paddy 

 were obtained, but owing to 'heating' on the voyage from Cey- 

 lon here, the seed-paddy proved almost entirely non-fertile; 

 Mr. E. Ward, however, succeeded in germinating nine grains 

 of the paddies, and from them some good strains of hill-rice 

 were obtained. Later supplies of seed-paddy have been 

 obtained from several different countries and colonies, and 

 over 300 varieties have been under experimental field trial. 

 Few of them have been able to compete in yield and quality 

 of paddy with the Creole rice of British Guiana as improved 

 by careful and continuous seed and field selection. On these 

 fields the yields of the Creole rice have increased from 35 cwt. 

 per acre in 1905 to 42 cwt. in 191(i, and to 41 cwt. in 1917. 

 The best of the introduced varieties now only yields, on the 

 average, abcait 1 1 cwt. of paddy per acre more than does the 

 Creole, whilst its former excess yields over the local kinds 

 were from 3 tti 4 cwt. per acre per crop. 



Froni 10 to 12 tons of seed-jiaddy, 99 per cent, true to 

 type, of the best imported and local strains have been distri- 

 buted from the Botanic Gardens among rice planters each 

 year since 1907. 



The average yields of rice per acre in British Guiana 

 are fairly satisfactory, but the following table shows that, 

 whilst the colony occupies an enviable position among rice- 

 producing countries with regard to this, a few others far 

 exceed it, and it is to their standirds that rice growers in 

 this colony shmild strive to attain: — 



Cleaned rice, 

 cwt. per acre. 

 Spain ■ 26 



Egypt 21-5 



Japan 2 1 '5 



British Guiana 15-0 to 19-0 



I Empoldered lands 16-0 to 220 



motherlands Il-0tol6*0 



Italy 16-7 



Formosa 15 to 17 



Korea H'O to 12 



Java 110 



United States 8-6 to 12-0 



Borneo 8'4 



British India 7-3 to 8-6 



Malaya 7-3 



Trinidad 7'0 



North Borneo 6'3 



Ceylon 4-4 to 5-6 



Philippine Islands 4 to 5 



Our high yields may be due in part to the excellence of 

 our local strains of rice, and in pirC to our facilities for irri- 

 aation; but not in the same deerc-e to excellence of cultivation. 



A\hen It becomes feasible to cultivate the rice lands more 

 thoroughly, the yield should increase to a considerable extent 

 We are favoured here in many places by the special suitabil- 

 ity ot .savannah and creek-waters for the irrigation of the 

 nee fields, the high cntent of plant food in the waters 

 enabling the lands irrigated with them to produce heavy 

 crops of rice year after year without showing any signs of 

 fa ing-ott in yield. Abandoned sugar-cane lands are espec 

 lally suitable for rice cultivation, owing to the impervious 

 clay -pans which have lormed in them at about 12 inches 

 from their surfaces, and which tend to conserve the irrigation- 

 water from loss by seepige; and to the marked stimulus to 

 the growth of the rice by the saline matter which has accum- 

 ulated in the lower layers of their soils. Rain-water does not 

 result in such heavy returns of rice as does irri"atioa 

 with creek water: whilst the yields from using arlesiaa 

 well-water may be even lower than from rain. "Our trials 

 during recent years have proved that artesian well-water 

 must be applied to the land in a continuous flow, and not 

 intermittently, as swamp or creek-water is used Where 

 artesian water is employed, the need of repeated tillige 

 between the succeeding crops becomes very marked: our 

 trials show that an additional thorough ploughing may 

 increase the yields from 4 to 9 cwt. of paddy per acre. 



It is possible to get five crops of rice in two years by 

 using continuously flowing artesian well-water, the total 

 yield of paddy thus obtained in our trials being 166 cwt. per 

 acre, or at the rate of ."JSI cwt. per crop, or S3 cwt. per 

 annum. During the same period two crops of rice were 

 obtained on similar land using creek-water which together 

 weighed 87 cwt. Thus, although the crops obtained through 

 the use of artesian water are not individually as high as 

 those obtainable by the use of creek water, the total yields 

 obtained by constant cropping may be much the greater 



I am satisfied that by using artesian well-water with 

 thorough tillage between the crops, lour crops of rice can be 

 obtained in two years, weighing from 130 to 150 cwt., which 

 yield would compart- very favourably with the crops obtained 

 by the double cropping system with creek water in Xorth-East 

 Essequebo, where an average yield of about 96 cwt., and a 

 maximum one of 120 cwt. are obtained. 



There are still vast areas of potential rice lands available 

 on the front lands of the colony, and I think we may look 

 forward with confidence to a time in the near futuie when wa 

 shall have, say, 100,000 acres cropped with paddy, yielding 

 from 75,000 to 80,000 tons of cleaned rice per annum. 



It is usual to ascribe the success of the rice industry 

 solely to the East Indian section of the community. This 

 is not strictly correct: its initiation was due to negio colonists: 

 its early devolopment on a small scale was due tn the unaided 

 eftbrts of the East Indians: its greater devolopment has been 

 due to the manner in which rice millers and local capitalists 

 have co-operated with, and financially aided the East Indians 

 in building up the industry on commercial lines. 



I alluded earlier in this address to the great impetus 

 which the establishment in 1897 of the pioneer, thoroughly 

 equipped, rice mill in Georgetown gave to the industry. 

 There is now under inception by the ( iovernment the erectioa 

 of a factory for producing flour from rice, pulses, corn or 

 maize, and similar grains. Its cost may be in the vicinity of 

 S30,O00. I think that sum will be well invested, and that 

 British (iuiana rice tlour may in the near future become ^ 

 regular article of ex[iort to the West Indian islands. At 

 present there is a large amount of broken rice produced in 

 the various rice mills, and it is ho[)ed with suitable appliances 

 so thoroughly to clean this by-product that it may Ivr 

 successfully converted into high grade nee flour. 



