Rice 



31 



BRITISH INDIA. AN IRRIGATION PUMP WORKED BY THE FEET 



distinctly sweetish flavour. 

 In the Straits Settlements 

 this grain is known as 

 " pulut," and in Java as 

 " ketan." It is the produce 

 of another species of Oryza, 

 namely, Oryza glutinosa, and 

 many varieties of it are 

 known. 



The rice plant, when 

 growing, looks very like 

 wheat or any other cereal, 

 but, instead of having a com- 

 pact "ear," bears a head 

 composed of a number of 

 fine branches or stalks, each 

 of which bears one grain. 

 These are easily detached, 

 and are covered with a 



brown husk, and this un- 

 . / 



husked rice throughout the 

 East and in other parts of the world also is known as " padi " or " paddy " ; after the husks 

 have been removed the white grains then set free are called rice. It is convenient therefore 

 to distinguish between unhusked rice, or " paddy," and husked rice, which is the form in 

 which it occurs in European markets. 



In addition to the various varieties mentioned above, rice plants may be broadly divided 

 into two main groups, " upland " or " hill " rice, "and " wet " rice. Upland or hill rice in- 

 cludes those races which can be cultivated as any ordinary crop, whereas wet rice has to be 

 sown under such conditions that it can be kept flooded for a great portion of the growing period. 



With these preliminary observations we can proceed to describe in detail the methods of 

 rice cultivation practised in various parts of the world. Where civilisation has penetrated 

 least, the cultivation of rice is managed in a way which would seem very reckless ,'indeed to 

 the eyes of a farmer who is obliged to get as much out of the soil as he possibly can. 

 There are parts of the East which are still entirely covered with virgin woods. There we 

 find tall trees. Underneath it is dark ; the foliage of the trees intercepts the light. The quiet 

 of death reigns there, and nothing is seen of the animal world up in the tops of. the trees. The 

 plants grow up slender and tall, longing for light and air. Creepers are climbing upwards, 

 winding themselves round the trunks of the trees, making the woods impenetrable for those 

 who do not carry a knife to cut their way through. The most beautiful orchids are said 

 to live on those trunks, but they also want their share of the sunshine, and often grow so 

 high that they are not easily seen. Where the fall of a tree has made a gap in the roof of 

 leaves, through which light and air are again able to reach the soil, small brush-wood at once 

 begins to shoot up, struggling to keep the spot thus acquired. 



The races who inhabit these regions live chiefly on rice and divide the year according to 

 the occupations which their simple methods of cultivation entail. With the new year they 

 begin to cut down the trees. In the thick wood a suitable spot is chosen ; wood is of no 

 value in the midst of that luxurious vegetation. It is rice they must grow and for that the 

 trees are sacrificed. Everything is got rid of in the easiest manner. Copses and brush-wood 

 are cut down and spread out to dry. Then comes the turn of the ancient trees. High and 

 heavy, often of hard wood, some are of such a breadth at the base that it is no use to 

 attack them there. Ladders are made and the giants of the forest are assailed at a point 

 higher up where their trunks are less bulky. 



