276 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



the United States to be refined of purified. One mill on Oalui. however, prodnces 

 refined white sugar. In the refining process it is melted and boiled again, and at 

 the same time is chemically treated, the crystals becoming pure white and 

 transparent. It is in this condition that it is sold everywhere as granulated 

 sugar. 



Rice. 



Next to sugar and pineapples, rice - is the most important field crop in 

 Hawaii. Although the most primitve methods are practiced in its cultivation 

 and milling, the annual product, from the ten thousand or more acres under 

 cultivation, reaches as high as ten million pounds a year. Five crops can be 

 grown on the same land in three years, the annual yield per acre being about 

 eight thousand pounds. The crop is grown almost exclusively by the Chinese 

 on leased lands, for the use of which they pay an annual rental ranging from 

 ten to fifty dollars per acre. Their methods of propagation, culture, harvest- 

 ing and milling are extremely crude ; they are, nevertheless, interesting and 

 picturesque. 



The rice plant is the only important economic species belonging to the 

 genus of grasses Oryza. It is said to furnish food for one-half of the human 

 race. The plant seems to have been originally a native of the East Indies, 

 probably being first cultivated in India. From that region it has spread to all 

 quarters of the globe where conditions are favorable. Our Hawaiian rice, so 

 called, is thought to have been originally derived from a South Carolina stock, 

 as the first rice cultivated here was obtained from that state. It has since 

 been mixed Avith a number of other varieties, however. Somewhat extensive 

 experiments under the direction of Professor Krauss have been made in recent 

 years wnth a view to introducing improved varieties. It is said that there are 

 more varieties of rice known than of any other crop, there being more than a 

 thousand varieties in India alone. 



The plant is an annual, growing from three to five feet high in Haw^aii, 

 accoi'ding to variety and conditions. The seeds or grains grow on little stalks 

 springing from the main stalk, and when ripe, the appearance of the plant 

 is between that of l)arley and oats. Rice in India is knowni as paddy. The 

 tei'in is also used to designate the rice in the husk, and in Hawaii the small 

 shallow ponds in which it grows are called paddies. 



Rice is growai in Haw^aii by what is known as the Oriental method of 

 culture. The seeds are planted in carefully prepared seed-beds that are kept 

 moist l)ut not flooded. Aft^er the seed has germinated and is three inches 

 tall, the ground is kept flooded until the plants have reached a height of six to ten 

 inches. They are then pulled from the muck and water and the roots sonndly 

 beaten on a board; the object being to prune back the root sprouts. The seed 

 plants are topped and tied in convenient size bundles and taken in large bas- 

 kets on shoulder poles to the field to be planted. The advantage of this 



Oryza sativa. 



