FOR BETTER CROPS IN THE SOUTH 77 



The Carolina Gold rice is large of grain, very hard and 

 flinty, and the outer husk is golden-yellow in color, hence its 

 name. The grain does not shatter from the straw easily during 

 storms which are so prevalent on the Atlantic coast. It has 

 superseded all other varieties in the Carolinas, but it does not 

 seem to enjoy the same degree of popularity in the rice belt of 

 Louisiana and Texas— in fact in the latter section it is but 

 little grown. 



Honduras rice which takes its name from the country where 

 it originated, requires less time to mature than the Japanese 

 varieties. The straw is tall, the grain is white, both as to husk 

 and kernel, and is much longer and smaller than the Japan. 

 The straw is considerable heavier than Japan straw. Honduras 

 rice does not contain as much gluten as the Japan, consequently 

 it is dryer when cooked and more flakey, and the grains main- 

 tain their identity better. Honduras commands a better price, 

 but the yield per acre of head rice, or first quality milled rice, 

 is not so large as that of the Japanese varieties. 



Japanese rice is of several varieties, the general character- 

 istics being short straw, a short, thick kernel, and a thin 

 hull; the percentage of bran and polish, the by-products of rice 

 milling, is not so high as in the Honduras. The grain ripens 

 when the straw is still green, and as the latter is short there is 

 little danger of loss of crop by storms. The yield of head rice in 

 the mill and the yield per acre of the rough is greater than in 

 the case of the Honduras, but the market price per pound is 

 generally lower. Japan and Honduras seem to be equally popu- 

 lar in the rice belt; the one matures late and the other early, 

 so that both lend themselves to the requirements of the rice 

 farmer. 



Cultivation of Rice— Rice cultivation differs but little from 

 the cultivation of wheat in the West. The soil is alluvial and 

 does not become boggy when wet. A self-binder with lugs on 

 the bullwheel will do good work in six inches of water. Yery 

 little if any work of planting or harvesting is done on wet land. 



The land is usually plowed with the 12-inch double, or with 

 the triple gang. The steam and gasoline tractor, especially the 

 latter, are coming into use in rice cultivation. Four horses or 

 mules are used on the double gang. Land should be plowed as 

 deeply as possible because the rice roots, even in clay land, pene- 

 trate to a depth of fourteen inches. Five or. six inches is the 

 average depth plowed. Deepening the soil should be done 

 gradually by plowing from a half inch to one and a half inches 

 deeper each season. Where it is possible, plowing for rice should 

 be done in the fall as soon as the crop is harvested. In this way 

 the red rice (a weed) will germinate, and the land will be exposed 



