124 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 



stitutes, olive-oil adulterant, salad oils, oleomargarine, and as 

 medicine. 



RICE 



The growing season in St. Louis is too short to bring rice 

 to maturity, and on that account the plants for the economic 

 garden are started indoors the latter part of March. The bed 

 in which the plants are set as soon as the weather permits is 

 about three inches below the surrounding soil. This permits 

 soaking the bed several times a week in dry weather, but due 

 to the location the rice bed is never flooded as in the rice- 

 growing sections. The plants at the Garden grow vigorously, 

 but do not head until about the middle of September. In the 

 fall of 1920 the seed barely matured when one heavy frost 

 stopped further growth. The following morning sufficient 

 seed for the next year's crop was gathered, although it was 

 doubtful whether it would germinate after this freeze. Appar- 

 ently the frost did not affect the seed, however, as in March 

 the percentage of germination was very high. As a killing 

 frost came very late this fall, November 9, the. rice had ample 

 time to ripen fully. 



Rice is first mentioned in early Chinese history where a 

 ceremony was established about 2800 B.C., in which five 

 kinds of grain were sown, one of them being rice. Subse- 

 quently it was grown in India, and there is little doubt but 

 that it was native there. Rice probably was cultivated in 

 China 3000 B. C, and from there its culture spread to India, 

 Persia, Asia, Arabia, Egypt, and Europe. In some parts of 

 the Orient rice is still used as the medium of exchange to pay 

 debts, taxes, etc. 



The number of species of rice are doubtful and by some 

 botanists they are only considered varieties of the one species, 

 Oryza sativa Linn., which belongs to the grass family (Cram- 

 ineae). There are many varieties under cultivation, differing 

 in quality, yield, color, size and shape of the kernel, food 

 value, flavor, and length of time required for maturity. Rice 

 is a crop that thrives only in a damp tropical or semi-tropical 

 climate, and on that account it is grown in those localities 

 that are assured of an abundance of moisture. 



Rice is grown very extensively and is one of the most im- 

 portant foodstuffs of the world. In the oriental countries, 

 especially China, Japan, and India, it forms a large part of 

 the diet of the people. The Orient produces about ninety- 



