236 



FARMERS' REGISTER— RICE IN GEORGIA. 



as quick and as clean as possible, the water then is 

 reduced down so as to protect the higher spots of 

 the field from the birds. The field is dried as soon 

 as the rice is perceived to have sprouted pretty 

 well, which never exceeds seven days, unless the 

 weather proves very cold, but in no case ought it 

 to be kept flowed deep, lon^. I have seen whole 

 fields of rice entirely rotted by deep ilowing. This 

 flow serves the double purpose of cleaning- the field 

 of small roots tliat may have been ploughed up, 

 or particles of stubble or grass that have escape;! 

 the fire, and destroying insects that prove some- 

 times very destructive to a young crop. I disap- 

 prove of the point-flow, except under peculiar 

 circumstances; if the birds are very troublesome 

 and the land very level, the rice may be protect- 

 ed a few days from the birds, in the point. If the 

 land should" lie unlevel, 1 think that more is sac- 

 rificed by this flow than wouhl be lost by the 

 birds On the poor black soil that is frequently 

 found on the main, adjoining the highlands, and 

 which is invariably level, and from its peculiar 

 soil, is very difficult to dry when once saturated, 

 I would always advise the point-flow and to be 

 continued on from twenty five to thirty days, the 

 Tice by that time attains considerable size, and 

 most generally the field is perfectly clear of grass. 

 The rice on this quality of land is less likely to 

 become diseased by fox, rust, or spot, under this 

 mode of treatment, than giving, what is termed, 

 the long-flow, at the usual time. It will then re- 

 quire to be kept dry and hoed until it has formed 

 the ear. 



' But to return, as soon as I am done planting 

 and the rice is up, I commence hoeing — at that 

 period the work is light — the rice is so small that 

 it must necessarily be hoed shallow, and there is 

 no grass, and generally but few weeds to pick 

 out of it, at that early season. Every tolerable 

 good hand is able to hoe a half acre with ease. I 

 prefer to hoe twice before I flow, if I have time. 

 This depends also much on the tides, as lands that 

 are not old and much worn cannot be flowed ge- 

 nerally but on sj)ring tides. This is known as 

 the long-flow, and tlie use of it requires as much 

 or more discretion in the planter than any other 

 point in the cultivation of the crop. When the 

 water may be changed in eight or ten days, and 

 the atmosphere is moist and calm, it will flourish 

 for thirty days ; but if on the other hand, the wea- 

 ther should be dry and cool, and the tides too low 

 to allow a change of water on the fields, I have 

 seen tlie plant show indications of diseases in ten 

 days, i would recommend under such circum- 

 stances, to dry the fiyld and hoe deep and thor- 

 oughly as soon as the land is sufficiently dry. The 

 object is to keep the plant in as healthy and grow- 

 ing condition as possible. Hence it becomes ne- 

 cessary to change the process of culture with it — 

 if disease appears while it is dry, flow, or if when 

 flowed, dry. 



'Asa general rule, the long-flow is kept on 



from fifteen to twenty days. I prefer flowing 



shallow imless the fields had not been properly 



cleared of trash in the previous flow, or it should 



have become much infested with weeds previous 



to hoeing : in such case the water should be put 



in deep, to float the trash or weeds : but under no 



'•cumstances ought it to be suffered to remain 



•»r this deep flow beyond three or four days. 



t the rice is under this flow, it is adviseable 



to have the higher spots in the field hoed and pick- 

 ed clean of grass. The first hoeing afler this 

 flow should be given as soon as the land is suffi- 

 ciently dry, which, if properly drained, will not 

 require more than a week, and be hoed deep, not 

 less than two or three inches, and the surface well 

 broken — care should now be taken that all the 

 grass be perfectly removed. One-third of an acre 

 is a pretty fair average for a hand per day to hoe 

 at this time. If time admits, the crop should all 

 be hoed over again, but hoecl shallow, and what 

 grass escaped at the previous v,orking must now 

 be removed ; this is termed the " lay-by hoeing," 

 and is light labor — a half to three-quarters of an 

 acre per hand per day. The crop is now sup- 

 posed to be made, and requires nothing more but 

 to be flowed and the water changed as convenient. 

 The interval, between the two last flowings is 

 generally about six weeks, and by the time the 

 rice has received this last flow, it has formed two, 

 and if well grown, three joints. This flow should 

 not be deeper than the long flow, until the rice 

 ears out, it is then adviseable to flow deep to sup- 

 port the plant and keep it from lodging or falling. 

 Seven acres of rice may be cultivated to the hand, 

 if on a good pitch of tide, when once properly 

 diti-hed with the assistance of ploughs and har- 

 rows to aid in preparing it for planting, or five 

 acres of rice and two acres of provisions, and un- 

 less the proportion of potatoes should be very 

 small, I w ould prefer the seven acres of rice as 

 the lighter labor. 



' The crop of rice, as an average crop for the 

 entire rice-growing-counfry, is greater than in 

 South-Carolina per acre, from the comparatively 

 large amount of nevf land, and the system of al- 

 ternating the fields, but the amount planted per 

 hand is small compared with the usual amount 

 planted in South-Carolina, it dees not exceed four 

 acres, and in many instances, is much below it. 

 The mode of planting and culture also differs 

 widely from that purused in South-Carolina, the 

 rows are wider apart, say eighteen inches from 

 centre to centre, and I believe never exceeding 

 one and a half bushels of rice, planted to the acre, 

 and I believe five pecks per acre is about the 

 medium. Very little water is used in cultiva- 

 ting the crop previous to its jointing, and never, 

 as tiir as am I aware of, used as an agent to des- 

 troy the grass ; this renders it necessary to hoe 

 oftener, and adds to the labor of keeping the crop 

 clean ; and I believe deteriorates the quality of 

 the rice. I would estimate the average rice-crop 

 of this neighborhood at fifty bushels per acre. I 

 am perfectly aware tliat many persons will doubt 

 this as being too low an estimate ; be it so, I will 

 then, to convey my idea, say it is twenty percent, 

 greater than is made usually as an average crop 

 on Sam Pit, Black River, Pee Dee, or Wacca- 

 maw. I know the proneness in planters and over- 

 seers to over estimate the real amount of their 

 crops. I do not think that more than forty bush- 

 elsper acre is made on an average on those rivers. 

 Here and there a solitary planter makes sixty 

 bushels per acre, or occasionally a solitary field 

 may make it ; but that would not be a fair estimate 

 of the average crop of the district for a succession 

 of years.' 



Although there are many islands in this river, 

 and the borders are swampy, yet there is, compa- 



