124 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



by the farmer in sacks. A sack will weigh from 

 one hundred and fifty to one hundred and ninety 

 pounds, though a bushel is supposed to be forty- 

 four pounds. An acre of rice in the prairie section 

 will produce from six to fifteen sacks. Ten sacks is a 

 good average. The alluvial lands produce from 30 to 

 40 per cent. more. Much larger yields are sometimes 

 secured. It costs from ten to twelve cents a sack to 

 thresh rice exclusive of the cost of the bag. The grain 

 coming from the threshing machine is designated as 

 rough rice, sometimes called " paddy." In this form 

 it goes to the miller. It is sold by the barrel of 162 

 pounds. For the milling products of rough rice con- 

 sult the chapter on Feeds and Feeding. 



Fertilizers are not extensively used in rice growing. 

 Their influence in production in yield and quality of 

 grain has not been well worked out. In Louisiana and 

 Texas the addition of phosphorus to the soil generally 

 increases the yield perceptibly. A small amount of 

 nitrogen is beneficial on old lands, but should be used 

 cautiously, as it may cause the rice to lodge (fall 

 down). Potash is thought by some of the best plant- 

 ers to harden the grain and improve the milling quality. 

 It is presumed that nitrification is retarded or sus- 

 pended during the period of irrigation, and where or- 

 ganic fertilizers are to be applied, they should be used 

 as far in advance of planting as circumstances will 

 permit. 



Rotation of Crops in rice culture is essential. Red 

 rice (a weed) and water weeds accumulate in succes- 

 sion rice so as to make the crop unprofitable. On the 

 alluvial lands after two or three crops of rice the 

 fields lie idle for a year or may be devoted to cotton or 

 corn. In the prairie section no effort is made to cul- 

 tivate the rice fields with any other crop. 



Rice Weeds are a serious menace to the crop every- 

 where, except in the newest lands. Much can be done 

 to diminish the trouble by a small expenditure in efforts 

 to prevent seeds from maturing after the rice crop is 



