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three or four inches into the ground ; while the 

 Carolina rice -plant, on the contrary, extends a 

 straight, vigorous root, six to eight inches long, 

 through the surface into the subsoil, whence it 

 obtains the greater portion of its mineral food. 



Now, that the surface -soil of most Indian fields 

 is bordering on a state of exhaustion, is a fact that 

 cannot be contested; but under this surface-soil 

 there are still immeasurable riches buried, there is 

 still an enormous quantity of mineral plant-food 

 available, if only the roots of our rice-plant could 

 reach it. The American variety, therefore feeding 

 chiefly, as it does, in the subsoil will be the means 

 of availing ourselves of the riches stored up in the 

 subsoil of India's fields, and, following in the wake 

 of its introduction, we shall begin a new era of 

 productiveness. 



For this very reason, Carolina rice, as a subsoil 

 feeder, will sometimes fail in a soil which has yield- 

 ed fair crops of country paddy ; for, unless the sub- 

 soil is healthy, and has been reached by the tillage, 

 the Carolina variety will perish for want of 

 proper food. 



Mr. Knight, editor of the Agricultural Gazette 

 of India, says in a note on this subject " We 

 have abundant proof that this rice will produce 

 as luxuriant crops in India as in Carolina itself, 

 with a subsoil in healthy condition ; and when we 

 remember that it commands nearly three times the 



