106 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



used as a source of starch, but rice starch is neither 

 the cheapest nor the finest. Rice is sometimes used 

 as a medicine for dysentery; and water in which rice 

 has been cooked is commonly used in this way. In 

 most countries which produce it, rice is used in making 

 alcoholic drinks. The straw has various uses, the most 

 important of which is as. a fertilizer on the fields where 

 it grew. Rice straw also makes a fine paper, but it is 



not the source of most so-called rice paper. 







CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 



Heat. Different varieties of rice make very different 

 demands on the climate. Most varieties require at least 

 four months of hot weather, with an average temperature 

 above 22. Cold nights cannot be endured, even though 

 the days be warm and bright. Some varieties require 

 six months to mature, while a few poor ones mature in 

 three months after planting. There are other varieties, 

 of excellent quality, which endure a uniformly lower 

 temperature ; but these require a long season and very 

 careful treatment, and so' are an expensive crop. Rice is 

 cultivated northward to 32 in America, and farther in 

 Japan. Its upward limit in the Philippines is an altitude 

 of about 1500 meters. No crop requires more light than 

 rice; it will endure no shading at all. 



Soil. If it is properly supplied with water, the quality 

 of the soil makes less difference to rice than to most 

 crops. It usually does best on rather light soils ; but the 

 soil must of course not be so sandy as to be deficient in 



