112 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



pounds. The crop has the advantage of being easily 

 cultivated, and prepared for export by a few hands. 



Manufacture. The manufacture of chocolate from the 

 seed is an extensive business in England, France, and 

 Germany. The seeds are first roasted similar to those of 

 coffee, and with the same object to draw out the rich 

 aromatic flavour. The mass is then crushed by a single 

 roller of stone or iron working in a bed of similar 

 material ; the bed is heated slightly as the process goes 

 on. The paste thus obtained is mixed with honey, sugar, 

 and other sweet substances in England. In France, Italy, 

 and Germany, pimento, vanilla, cinnamon, &c., are added, 

 in accordance with the taste of consumers. It is then 

 made up into little packets familiar to those who use cocoa, 

 and which furnish an invigorating and healthy beverage : 

 and into tablets, and other forms of chocolate confec- 

 tionery. In cheap preparations, arrowroot, sago, and 

 similar ingredients are added. 



RlCE. This grain is grown somewhat extensively in 

 the northern river districts. It changes considerably 

 according to the soil, location, &c., and the treatment given. 

 The rice of commerce is usually grown in swampy land. 

 Another variety, named Mountain Rice, does tolerably well 

 on dry land ; but it does better when water is applied, and 

 still better when the surface of the soil is flooded for a few 

 days. The grains also become similar as they are subjected 

 to similar treatment ; so that if they are different varieties, 

 the difference is but very slight. Both the common and 

 mountain varieties are annual grain plants, something like 

 wheat. 



Cultivation. The seed of rice, or " paddy," is the 

 undressed grain. It is sown in drills about fifteen inches 

 apart, and comes through the soil like so much grass, and 

 at first it is not easy to say which is the rice and which 

 weeds ; but in wet weather the crop shoots ahead. When 

 five or six inches high, it is an advantage to be able to 

 flood the drills with water, and keep the water on for three 

 or four days. The water kills weeds, and helps the rice 

 wonderfully. It also affords opportunities for filling up 

 blanks, by lifting knots of plants (with soil attached) from 



