178 



not to be covered is clayed before planting by stirring it in clayed 

 water, so that the flooding will not float it. Flooding serves several 

 purposes. It protects the grain from the birds and causes quick ger- 

 mination. This water is left on the field several days, or until the 

 seed is well sprouted. It is then drained off and no more water is ap- 

 plied until the plants are well up and the fields show considerable green. 

 Then a " stretch" flow is turned on tor a few more days, until the plants 

 are about six inches high, affording nourishment to the rice and im- 

 peding or destroying weed growths. When the plants have attained 

 a sufficient growth under the stretch flow the water is gradually low- 

 ered to an average depth of a few inches, and remains on the field for 

 a period of from two weeks to a month, the duration depending on 

 local soil conditions. Then the dry growth follows for about a month 

 and a half, and during this time the crop is cultivated with horse or 

 hand hoes ; weeds and volunteer rice are removed, and in some 

 cases an intermediate flooding is made to protect the plants from 

 grubs. When the plants begin to joint the harvest flow is turned on 

 and this is kept almost touching the rice heads until their bending tells 

 that the grain is ripe. The field is then drained for harvest 



The quantit)'- of water required for irrigation is not looked into, but 

 it is probable that here, as in many other places, the fault of over-irri- 

 gation is a common one. The supply from tidal streams is almost 

 unlimited, and the whole question of water rights is never brought up 

 as there are none. 



Harvesting machinery is not used, the grain being cut with hand 

 hook or sickle. The beds in the field are narrow and usually small, to 

 permit of complete drainage, and this would entail much breaking 

 down of the grain and subsequent waste if a harvester were used. The 

 grain is cut before it is dead ripe, or while the lower eighth of the head 

 is still "in the milk," for if cutting is delayed until the head is quite 

 ripe, there is much loss from the shelling out in handling. A high 

 stubble is left, on which the grain cures for a day or two, when it ia 

 placed in shocks after being put up in straw-bound sheaves. As soon 

 as possible, in order to avoid loss from storms, the grain is taken to the 

 threshing-houses. These are permanent structures, one on each plan- 

 tation, built on the bank of a stream or tidal canal, where tugs and 

 lighters can get the rice to take it to market. The milling is a com- 

 plicated process for, after threshing, the rice or "paddy" still has twa 

 coverings - a coarse outer husk and a thin close skin. These are taken 

 off by special processes, and the different products — bran, flour, grain, 

 and chaff — separated. In addition to this, the commercial article is 

 always polished to give the grain the smooth, pearly appearance, which 

 artificially enhances its market value, but detracts from the real food 

 value. 



Irkigation of Eice in Louisiana and Texas. 



The rice of the Gulf States is now grown mainly on the uplands,- 

 and does not depend on tidal irrigation. With the use of modem 

 methods and machinery, tlie industry has developed into a leading one 

 in these two states, while it has declined in the Carolinas and 

 Greorgia. 



During the last fifty years, however, rice production in the United 



