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plained causes, there is far greater variation in the crops of rice than any 

 other known grain. The reason why the inhabitants of Hinclostan suffer 

 more from famine than any other people is, that they depend entirely on 

 rice for subsistence, and when it is cut off their situation is precarious 

 indeed. We export large quantities of rice from Carolina to Europe, with 

 the husk on, by which means the foreign purchaser saves three and a half 

 dollars per hundred weight, duty, besides preserving its sweetness and 

 flavor better, during long voyages, than when shelled. 



Kice, when growing, more nearly resembles barley than any other cereal 

 grass ; it branches out into several stems, at the tops of which the grains 

 form in large clusters, but grow on separate pedicles, which spring from the 

 main stalk ; each grain is terminated by an awn, and is covered with a yel- 

 low husk. 



In South Carolina the rice is planted in rows, seventeen inches apart, 

 from center to center, by negro women, water is then permitted to flow 

 over the fields for fifteen days, to the depth of three inches or less, to 

 sprout the seeds. It is then drawn off until the rice plants grow four 

 inches, which requires thirty days, the fields are then again flooded for two 

 weeks, to destroy the weeds. These processes cease on or about the 17th 

 of May, after which the ground is permitted to remain dry until the 16th 

 of July, during which period it is frequently hoed, to kill weeds and pul- 

 verize the earth; the water is then again introduced to mature the rice, 

 and it ripens while standing in the water. The harvesting extends from 

 August to October. The male slaves cut it with a sickle, and the females 

 put it up in bundles. The cultivation of this grain is exceedingly un- 

 healthy ; the slaves are compelled to stand ankle deep in mud, with their 

 bare heads exposed to the sun, which destroys great numbers of them. 



Ilice, when properly cooked, forms a cheap and valuable addition to our 

 food, and has often been called into requisition to lessen the consumjtion 

 of wheat flour, in years of scarcity. It should be boiled soft, without 

 breaking the grains. This can only be accomplished in simmering, not 

 boiling -nater. 



BUCKWHEAT — ( Polygomim Fagopyrnyn.) 

 Is known in almost every part of the world ; it was first introduced into 

 Europe after the time of the crusades. It is eaten in Russia, Switzerland, 

 China, Japan, the United States, and other countries, but does not pro- 

 perly belong to the cercalia ; its leaves resemble ivy, with purplish flowers, 

 and the seeds, beech-iiiast, being triangular in shape, and of a brown 

 color. It contains a small percentage of gluten and starch, and consider- 

 able sugar. In the United States it is chiefly made into cakes, and baked 

 on a griddle ; they are sweet and agreeable. 



In Silesia, Ukraine, Saxony and France, it is boiled and made into pud- 

 dings, pottage, or tarts. In Tuscany it is mixed with barley meal and 

 baked into bread. In some parts of our country spirit is distilled from it, 

 in flavor resembling French brandy, which is shipped to France, but not 



