TILLACJK AND KICE CULTIVATION IN THINA. 81) 



lands, especially such as are used for pardons, arc worked over with a 

 claw hoe, the tines of which are 8 to lit inches lontj. This is forced 

 into the ground by a (juick, smart stroke, and the tool is then pulled 

 toward the cultivator. Steel-toothed harrows are also used to i)ulver- 

 ize the soil. 



Plowino- for rice is done in May. Seed J)eds uie prepared and 

 planted in April, and about the 1st of June the youni,^ rice plaivts are 

 transplanted from the seed bed to the tield. To prevent breakino- the 

 roots a spade is i uii under the plants some 2 inches below the surface 

 before pullinor commences. The plants are set in rows which are 8 

 inches apart, the space between the plants in the rows beint,'- about the 

 same distance. After the plants are set out the tield is kept flooded 

 with water about 2 inches deep till the heads beo-in to till. Further 

 irrigation is then left to the lainfall uid(>ss it is unusually div. 



IRRIGATION. 



One of the common ways of irrio-ating oiiixlens is from open wells, 

 using the balance pole and bucket to raise the water. For raising 

 water only a few feet a narrow vertical wheel is used and operated l)y 

 the weight of one or two men opposite the water to ])e elevated and 

 sufficient to balance it. For higher lifts a large wheel is commonly 

 used, with wooden or earthen buckets on the rim. Oxen turn a hori- 

 zontal wheel, which imparts power to the vertical wheel by means of 

 cogs in the rim. 



CULTIVATING. HARVESTING, AND THRASHING RICE. 



The Chinese are good cultivators. They go through the rice fields 

 pulling all the weeds and stirring the soil with their lingers or with a 

 small rake. When the rice is ripe it is cut with a small reap hook, 

 ))ound into bundles, and set up in small shocks. Thrashing is done bv 

 whipping the heads over the edge of a box some 6 feet square. The 

 rice is then spread on mats in the sun to diy. 



HULLING RICE. 



Before the rice is sent to the market it is generally hulled by pound- 

 ing, using the foot-power pounder so universal in the Orient. If 

 complete milling is required, the pounding is continued longer. Occa- 

 sionally the hulls are removed by placing the grain in a small circular 

 stone trench, in which a broad-rimmed wheel is rolled bj^ ox power. 

 A long axle passes thi-ough the wheel, one end of which is attached 

 to a pivot in the center of the space surrounded l)y the stone trench, 

 and the other extends some 6 feet beyond the wheel and trench; to 

 this end the oxen are attached and are driven around till the rice is 

 hulled. 



