201 



Wherever the flow of water can be regulated 

 or irrigation' is available, rice should never be 

 sown broadcast, but always in furrows, follow- 

 ing as closely as possible the American method of 

 cultivation. The ground should be ploughed deep, 

 preferable by the hoe, ^and the seed sown 

 in the bottom of the furrows, four or five grains a 

 foot apart, mixed with bone-dust, or, if not available, 

 cow-dung. 



Great care should be taken in the selection of the 

 seed ; not a single one should be sown that is not 

 of more than average size and fully developed. 

 Seed from different districts and soils should be 

 preferred to self-grown, as plants are known to 

 degenerate by being cultivated continually in the 

 same soil. From soil thus treated and seed thus 

 selected, we have every reason to expect most 

 satisfactory results. 



To maintain the fertility of the soil, the land 

 should be manured each year with as much village 

 refuse as is obtainable, the proper quantity of which 

 canbe easily ascertained by a few years' experiments. 

 To commence with, eight or ten cart-loads per acre 

 would suffice on average lands. In addition to this 

 yearly supply of manure, heavy clay soils should 

 receive another dose of lime, of about five to six 

 candies, every fourth year ; while for light soils an 

 application of three to four candies every eighth 

 year would be sufficient . 



