612 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



composed of different sizes of gauze, where it is divided into its ap- 

 propriate grades. It is then barreled and is ready for market. 



Hulling Machines. In mills more recently erected the forego- 

 ing process has been modified by substituting the "huller" for the 

 mortar and pounder. The huller is a short, cast-iron, horizontal tube 

 with interior ribs and a funnel at one end to admit the rice. Within 

 this tube revolves a shaft with ribs. These ribs are so adjusted that 

 the revolution of the shaft creates the friction necessary to remove 

 the cuticle. The rice passes out of the huller at the end opposite the 

 funnel. It resembles externally a large sausage machine. Six hullera 

 are required for each set of burs. The automatic sacker and weigher 

 is used, sacks instead of barrels being preferred for shipping the 

 cleaned rice. 



A Portable Mill. A portable rice mill has been devised for 

 plantation use, costing $250 to $300, aside from the power to run it, 

 and capable of cleaning 8,100 pounds of paddy rice per day. Such 

 small machines do not give the finish required by the general mar- 

 ket, but turn out excellent rice for local use. 



By-Products of Rice Culture. Rice bran contains 12.1 per cent 

 protein, 8.8 per cent fat, and 59.4 per cent fiber and carbohydrates ; 

 rice hulls, 3.6 per cent protein, 0.7 per cent fat, 35.7 per cent fiber, 

 and 38.6 per cent other carbohydrates; and rice polish, 11.7 per cent 

 protein, 7.3 per cent fat, and 64.3 per cent fiber and carbohydrates. 



Straw. Rice straw is worth preserving. As a fodder for stock 

 its value is about equal to good southern prairie hay. Rice straw con- 

 tains 4.72 per cent crude protein, 32.21 per cent carbohydrates, and 

 1.87 per cent fats. The sweetness and excellent flavor of well-pre- 

 served rice straw adds very materially to its practical feeding value, 

 because stock will consume large quantities of it. Digestion experi- 

 ments have not been made with the straw or any of the by-products 

 of rice milling. 



Rite Hulls. The hulls removed from the rice in the first process 

 of milling possesses a low degree of feeding value, and being also defi- 

 cient in flavor and digestibility they are of little value as food for 

 stock ; they are more valuable as a fertilizer. They not only restore to 

 the land part of the elements of fertility removed by the crop, but 

 increase the porosity of the soil. They also make an excellent mulch 

 for garden and orchard. 



Hull Ashes. In passing through rice-milling districts large 

 quantities of hull ashes will be noticed. These have been very little 

 used by farmers and gardeners, under the general impression that 

 they are of no value. One hundred pounds of hull ashes contain 0.82 

 pound of phosphoric acid and 0.93 pound of potash. There are 

 many other better sources of potash and phosphoric acid. The 

 amount contained in the hull ashes would not pay the cost of scat- 

 tering them over the fields. 



The planter who burns his straw and sells his rice in the paddy 

 loses 63.92 per cent of the total mineral matter of the crop. If the 

 rice straw and the hulls be returned to the soil as manure, 86.36 per 

 cenit of the mineral matter of the crop will be restored, and the loss 



