10 RECENT FOREIGN EXPLORATIONS. 



By 1898 the canal and the deep-well system of irrig-ation had been 

 satisfactorih' tested and the rice industry was rapidh' extending along- 

 safe lines. At this point it was found that too large a per cent of the 

 machine-handled rice was liable to breakage in milling. The attention 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture was called to this fact, and 

 measures were immediately taken to remed\^ the defect and to over- 

 come the difficulty by the introduction of new varieties. The Depart- 

 ment work resulted in the introduction of a variety from Japan, known 

 as Kiushu, which has given very satisfactory results. 



In the evolution of this industry further difficulties became appar- 

 ent. While rice could be successfully planted during- a period of 

 nearly four months — March, April, May, and June — it all ripened at 

 nearly the same time, giving onlv about one month for harvest against 

 four months for planting; that is, it was demonstrated that the har- 

 vest could not be prolonged in proportion to the period of planting, 

 where only one variet}^ of rice seed was used. The varieties planted 

 developed this peculiar characteristic, that whether planted in March 

 or June the crop would mature at about the same time, that planted 

 later developing in every instance with increased rapidity. The har- 

 vest is the season of high wages, and the limited harvest period 

 increased the expenses and prevented using the care necessary to prop- 

 erly cure, thrash, and store the crop, thus greatly augmenting the 

 cost and reducing the quality of the rice. If the period of harvest 

 could be materially lengthened, ever}- grower could produce from 50 

 to 100 per cent more rice than at present. One farmer with a single 

 helper and good teams can prepare the land and plant 200 to 300 acres 

 of rice. It would be difficult to cut more than 100 to 150 acres with 

 the same help, but if the harvest could be extended over three months' 

 time, then the laborers who planted the crop could in the main harvest 

 it. It became evident that this result could be attained only by plant- 

 ing early, medium, and late maturing varieties, and that these varie- 

 ties must be rices of fixed characteristics and habits of growth. Such, 

 with few exceptions, can be found only in Asiatic countries, where 

 centuries of uniform conditions of climate and culture have established 

 fixed habits of growth in certain varieties of rice. 



A second and almost equalh' important reason for visiting foreign 

 rice-producing countries was to observe methods of cultivation, har- 

 vesting, and storing, in so far as these affect the quality of the grain, 

 and, if decidedlv beneficial, then to suggest some wa}' by which the 

 same result could be obtained by the use of machinery. It had already 

 been observed bj- American rice growers using imported Japanese seed 

 rice that it had several points of superiority over the home-grown rice 

 and it was desirable to find the reason for this superiority. (1) It had 

 generally been noted that the vitality and germinating power of the 

 imported seed were nearly 40 per cent greater than that of domestic 



