PART II. 



THE PRINCIPAL CULTIVATIONS OF THE TROPICS. 



CHAPTER I. 



RICE AND OTHER CEREALS AND FOOD PLANTS. 



Rice. This is one of the oldest and most important 

 cultivations in the world, this grain forming the staple of the 

 food of the Chinese and Japanese,, the southern races of India, 

 the Malay and Javanese, and other races, besides being very 

 largely consumed in temperate climates. In recent years its 

 cultivation has also been undertaken by white men, in the 

 southern United States, with very good results, the yield 

 obtained by the use of machinery being greater in proportion to 

 the cost of the labour than that obtained in the tropics. 



The varieties in which rice (Oryza sativa) is found to occur 

 are legion, especially in India, where almost every district has 

 its own. This is probably due to the fact that there has been 

 but little intercourse, or exchange of seed, between the different 

 districts. The two main kinds of rice are " hill " and " swamp," 

 the former growing without special irrigation and up to a 

 greater height in the mountains, the latter more a lowland 

 and irrigated form. The former is now mostly grown by the 

 semi-wild races, such as the Indian hill-tribes, the Sakeis of 

 the Malay Peninsula, and others. 



Among the swamp rices one of the most important varietal 

 distinctions, from a practical point of view, is the time required 

 from sowing to reaping; thus there are "two-month," "three- 



