xiv COMMON RICE 269 



CROPS. Harvesting usually commences within five or six 

 months of the time of sowing ; and thus, as by irrigation the 

 planter is independent of the rain, two crops may be got in 

 the year. May and November are the sowing seasons, and Harvest 

 October and April the times of harvest. When the grain se ' 

 turns yellow, it is ready for the sickle ; the whole plant is 

 not mowed down, but the head is cut off with about a foot 

 length of the stalk. The crop is tied into small sheaves ; 

 and, after some exposure to the sun, the sheaves are carried 

 to the houses or sheds where the grain is threshed out. The Threshing, 

 threshing is usually performed in Eastern countries by bul- 

 locks or horses, the animals being made to walk in a circle, 

 and the heads of rice thrown under their feet are soon separ- 

 ated into grain and straw. Threshing may also be done ex- 

 peditiously by means of a flail. The paddy, after being Winnowing. 

 threshed, is separated from the straw and winnowed, and it 

 may then be kept in good condition for a very long time. 

 To prepare the clean rice from the paddy a hulling operation Hulling, 

 is necessary. On a small scale this may be done by rubbing 

 the grain between flat stones and blowing the husks away ? 

 but on a large scale a mill or a hulling machine will be 

 necessary. The Americans, who are unsurpassed for in- Machinery, 

 genuity, have invented many most useful machines for this 

 purpose, and small ones able to operate on considerable 

 quantities of grain may now be purchased at cheap prices. 

 After hulling, the rice is winnowed and it is ready then for the 

 market. The proportion of clean rice to paddy is from one 

 half to two thirds. 



The yield of rice from an acre of land varies of course ac- Returns, 

 cording to the richness of the soil ; but, with good land and 

 careful cultivation, the returns should be about fifty bushels. 

 In Bengal the rice is divided into three qualities. The first The three 

 and finest kind is called table rice and this is mostly exported 

 to Europe ; the second quality is called ballam rice; and the 

 commonest, which is mostly consumed by the people, is 

 known as moonghy rice. 



