n8 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



ton seed this past year? What is the best way to plant cotton in 

 your section ? State the width of the rows and the distance between 

 the plants after thinning. Also state the composition of the fertilizers 

 employed. What month is cotton planted at your home? Visit a gin 

 and an oil mill and be prepared to recite on the manufacturing proc- 

 esses employed in preparing cotton and its products for market. 



SECTION XXL RICE. 



By PROF. W. R. DODSON, 



Dean of College of Agriculture, Louisiana State University, and 

 Director Louisiana Experiment Stations. 



Importance of the Rice Crop. For many centuries 

 rice has probably been the most important grain crop 

 grown for human consumption, if measured by the 

 number of pounds produced. Statistics indicate that 

 the annual crop of rice at the present time is a little 

 less than one hundred and eleven billion pounds. 

 Only recently has this quantity been surpassed by the 

 production of corn and wheat. The United States, 

 exclusive of Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, pro- 

 duces annually over five million pounds of rice, Louisi- 

 ana, Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas raising 

 nearly all of this amount. Rice culture is being ex- 

 tended quite rapidly into new territory in Louisiana 

 and Arkansas, and no doubt large areas of the Delta 

 lands on streams tributary to the Mississippi River 

 can be devoted to this crop, if cotton production in 

 the presence of the boll weevil cannot be made re- 

 munerative. The consumption of rice in America is 

 increasing, and the crop will be of increasing impor- 

 tance in agriculture. 



Types. The rice plant is an annual grass. It 

 stools freely, grows to a height of two to six feet, bears 

 from 100 to 200 or more grains per head, which ma- 

 ture from four to six weeks from time of planting, 

 some varieties being earlier, some later than these ex- 

 tremes. There are a very large number of varieties. 

 Two general types of rice are recognized, Honduras 



