120 PLANT PRODUCTS 



feed meal, the residue from starch factories, is used for 

 cattle food, and is rich in albuminoids. 



Rice. — Rice is a cereal particularly suited to wet situa- 

 tions; It is grown chiefly in Bengal and Burmah, but is also 

 sown in Japan and China. The number of varieties of rice 

 seems almost unending. In India there are several different 

 groups of varieties which belong to the seasons. The winter 

 rice is generally sown in May or June, the autumn rice is 

 usually sown in August, the summer rice in January or 

 February. The growth of the crop is extremely varied, 

 according to the type of cultivation, some of the very rapid 

 varieties being able to grow in about two months, and some 

 of the very slow ones taking the best part of a year. On 

 the average, however, two crops are obtained in the year. 

 The best type of soil is a sandy one, lying upon clay, where 

 the irrigating water can be flooded, held up by the subsoil, 

 and yet leave the surface soil sufficiently open for the 

 growth of the plant. With very wet varieties the depth of 

 water may be so great on the fields that the workers actually 

 use boats to transport them over the field; but in the hill 

 regions, where the slopes are often terraced, only an inch or 

 so of water is used for irrigating purposes. Rice is best 

 sown in a seed bed and transplanted. Not infrequently 

 the ploughing operations are carried out under water, so 

 that the bullocks have to wade through to do their work. 

 On those lands that permit of such treatment, where the 

 growth of the rice is excessive, the young rice is grazed by 

 cattle, in a similar way to wheat being grazed by sheep in 

 temperate climates. There are no less than about seventy 

 millions of acres of rice in India. The rice, as separated by 

 threshing, contains a large amount of husks, and in this 

 form is commonly called paddy, the term rice being retained 

 for the finished product after husking. The term " paddy " 

 is frequently employed with reference to the whole system of 

 cultivation, and the terms "paddy fields " and "paddy bird " 

 are more commonly in use in the east than the term " rice/' 

 which chiefly refers to the finished article ready for the table. 

 In the countries where rice is grown, the terms " paddy " and 



