ORYZA 



SATIVA 



Properties 



Medicinal 

 Preparations. 



Spirits. 



Vinegar. 



Dye. 



Edible Grain. 



Starch. 



Cement. 



Chemistry. 



Tropical 

 Agricul- 

 ture. 



and Uses. THE EICE PLANT 



the further end of the heavy beam, alternately rests and removes her weight from 

 its extremity, thus causing the pestle to rise, then fall on the rice, while a second 

 person attends to the grain, sweeping it into a little mound under the stroke of 

 the pestle. 



The preparations of rice made in India are very numerous. Dutt (Mat. 

 Med. Hind., 1900, 268-9) gives the vernacular names of various medicinal ones 

 and their properties. Their use in brewing and distilling is, in India, almost 

 universal. SPIRITS from rice (aura) are alluded to by Linschoten as having been 

 largely consumed in Southern and Western India three hundred years ago, while 

 sura is frequently mentioned in the Institutes of Manu a work written (the earlier 

 portions of it, at least) some fifteen hundred years ago. At the present day a kind 

 of beer (pachwai) made from rice is extensively consumed. [Cf. Ray, Hindu Method 

 of Manuf. Spirit from Rice, in Journ. As. Soc. Beng., n.s., 1906, ii., No. 4, 129-42.] 

 See Malt Liquors (pp. 757, 760), Spirits (pp. 1043, 1045, 1046), and Vinegar (p. 1111 ). 



The properties and uses of rice are, in fact, extremely varied, and to the people 

 of India an infinity of forms, many of which have each some special merit. A 

 DYE is made from the husk, and the straw (even the stubble and roots) may be 

 used in paper-making. (For BASKETS, see p. 116; MATS, p. 776.) As an edible 

 grain there may be said to be three chief grades the finer qualities or table 

 (Patna) rice : the lower grades suitable for distillation or for the manufacture of 

 starch (Blount and Bloxam, Chem. for Engin. and Manuf., 1900, 186). The rices 

 of Burma are employed for distillation (and for that purpose very largely go to 

 Holland and Germany.) and for conversion into starch (mainly to England). They 

 are thick, coarse, highly glutinous rices, and when boiled assume a heavy, some- 

 what repulsive appearance to persons not accustomed to them. Such glutinous 

 rices are, however, much prized in the manufacture of CEMENTS. A special Indian 

 cement is made from the water in which rice has been boiled, mixed with a small 

 quantity of pure lime (see p. 293). Black Burmese rice (Kew. Bull., 1892, 232-4) 

 may be spoken of as an exceptionally glutinous grain. 



Leather (Agri. Ledg., 1903, No. 7, 175-8) gives the following chemical analysis 

 of rice : Undecorticated (fine sorts) : moisture, 12 - 55 per cent. ; oil, 2 - 14 ; albu- 

 minoids, 6'35 ; soluble carbohydrates, 65'29 ; woody fibre, 7'84 ; soluble 

 mineral matter, T39 ; sand and silica, 4'44 ; total nitrogen, 1'09 ; albuminoid 

 nitrogen, I'Ol. Decorticated (fine sorts) : moisture, 12'25 per cent. ; oil, '92 ,- 

 albuminoids, 6'45 ; soluble carbohydrates, 78'83 ; woody fibre, -21 ; soluble 

 mineral matter, '82; sand and silica, '51; total nitrogen, 1*19; albuminoid 

 nitrogen, 1*03. Further analyses of coarser kinds of rice, rice husks, bran and 

 straw, will be found in the same article. Following up these results, Hooper 

 (Rept. Labor. 2nd. Mus. (Indust. Sec.), 1906-7, 11) gives particulars of the com- 

 parative nutritive value and glutinosity of some of the chief kinds of rice. Certain 

 forms were found to be more nutritious than previous analyses would indicate. 

 Hanausek (Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, transl.), 1907, 42) gives 

 interesting particulars of rice-grains as seen under the microscope. [Of. Church, 

 Food-Grains of Ind., 1886, 66 ; Dodge, Useful Fibre Plants of the World, 1897, 

 254 ; Browne, Prop, and U til. of Rice Oil in Louisiana, Planter and Sugar Manu- 

 facturer, 1905, xxxiv., 352-3 ; Excise Admin. Repts. Beng., Burma, etc.] 



CULTIVATION. 



Rice " is essentially a crop of damp tropical or semi-tropical climates. 

 The finest varieties and the largest yields are produced in tracts which, 

 during the growing season, afford a moderate degree of sunshine and a 

 damp, warm atmosphere. Rice is therefore the staple crop of all areas 

 of heavy and assured rainfall ; but good crops are produced in districts 

 which receive moderate or even light rain, when this can be assisted by 

 sufficient irrigation." 



" Rice is sown in three ways broadcast, by drill and by transplanta- 

 tion from a seed-bed where it has been broadcast sown. As a rule, the 

 first method is practised on inferior soils, or where labour is scarce. Rice 

 is drilled in some districts of Bombay, but this system is not common. 

 The third method is much more usual than the others and is less risky. 

 Broadcast or drilled rice requires 80 to 120 Ib. of seed per acre, while the 

 seed-rate of the transplanted crop varies from 30 to 80 Ib. per acre." 



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