Small Grains 155 



pearance of barley and lessens its value in the market. To 

 protect the bundles, the shocks should be made sd that they are 

 not easily blown over and a cap sheaf should be placed on the 

 top of each. The grain should be threshed as soon as the 

 bundles have dried in the shock and, if no threshing machine 

 is at hand, it should be stacked rather than left in the shock 

 too long. The stacking will protect it from the weather. 



87. Enemies of barley. The Hessian fly and the chinch- 

 bug are insects troublesome to barley, and they are controlled 

 as described for wheat. Several rusts attack barley, but it 

 has been found that early-maturing varieties are likely to 

 mature before much damage is done by rust. Thus the prac- 

 tical way to combat the rust is to use such varieties and plant 

 the seed early. Both loose smut and covered smut attack 

 barley; the former is combated by the hot-water treatment 

 and the latter by the formalin treatment. 



RICE 



88. Distribution and characteristics of rice. Asia is the 

 chief producer of rice, for out of an average yearly production 

 of 150,000,000;000 pounds, 135,000,000,000 are produced on that 

 continent. The United States grows a comparatively small part 

 of the rice of the world, the average yearly production being 

 700,000,000 pounds. Rice-growing in the United States is con- 

 fined largely to restricted areas in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, 

 California, South Carolina, and North Carolina. 



Like other cereals, rice is a member of the grass family and has 

 shallow, fibrous roots, jointed stems, and blade-like leaves. The 

 grain is held in a panicle that is less open than the panicle of oats ; 

 the plants grow to an average height of four or five feet ; the 

 hulls remain attached to the kernels after the grain is threshed ; 

 and the kernel itself is white, hard, and vitreous. The grains 

 are removed from the hulls by what is termed polishing. 



89. Uses of rice. The principal use of rice is for human 

 food. It is one of the oldest crops of the eastern nations and 



