OTHER CEREALS 93 



where they can be easily flooded with water. The land 

 is prepared as for wheat and the grain is sowed in drills or 

 broadcast at the rate of about fifty-five to eighty pounds 

 per acre. As soon as the plants come up water is turned 

 on from the streams or is pumped on from large wells. 

 This is called *^ flooding." The flooding is accomplished 

 by means of canals run across the fields and so arranged 

 that by means of "gates" in the banks the water can be 

 turned on or shut off as desired. The object of the flooding 

 is to kill grass and weeds and to furnish an abundance of 

 moisture. The field is left covered with water for several 

 days; then it is withdrawn and the field allowed to dry a few 

 days, when the water is turned on again. The process of 

 flooding and drying is repeated until harvest time, when the 

 water is withdrawn to allow the ground to dry so that binders 

 can be used. Rice is cut before it gets fully ripe, just as the 

 straw begins to turn yellow. It is carefully shocked and 

 usually stacked. When threshed the hull remains on the rice 

 kernel and it is necessary to run it through another mill to 

 remove the kernel. The hulled grain is then run through 

 another mill, which polishes it, and it is ready for market. 

 Much of the work in rice growing is done by hand, but 

 on the large fields modern machinery is being brought 

 into use. 



Millet. — In the United States millet is not grown very 

 extensively for seed and such as is produced is used for 

 bird seed, and for sowing future crops. However, in Russia, 

 China, and India, millions of bushels of millet seed are used 

 for human food. In those countries it has been used for 

 food for centuries. Russia grows about eighty million bush- 

 els of millet annually. Japan uses about thirty-five million 



