INTKODUCED PLANTS AND ANDIALS. 177 



method of planting is that a more uniform stand may be secured, resulting in 

 a larger yield in a shorter time. 



The small fields, which are arranged so they can be Hooded with water, 

 have been previously prepared by plowing six or seven inches deep. The 

 water cow, -^ known also as water buffalo or carabou, is used in the plowing 

 operations as a general rule, but occasionally horses are employed. After 

 plowing, the earth is covered with water and a curious harrow used until the 

 soil is reduced to a fine, thick mud. It is next covered with water to the depth 

 of an inch or two, when it is ready for planting. 



The planting is done by hand. The bunches of seed rice are distril)iit('d 

 over the paddies at convenient intervals along straight guide-lines set out 

 across the patch. The entire force of field hands rapidly plants out the 

 shoots by sticking the sprouts in a straight row ten or twelve inches apart, with 

 six or eight inches between the plants in the rows. The plants tiller or spread 

 from the roots, so that each root planted sends up many stalks. 



After the plants are set, the field is kept flooded with water, the depth of 

 the water being increased somewhat as the plants grow\ "When the crop is 

 about fifteen inches high the field is gone over to weed, thin and transplant 

 where necessary. At this stage the wild rice, ^ which is found wlierever rice 

 is cultivated, is pulled up and destroyed. It differs from the cultivated rice in 

 being a coarser type with deeper green leaves and in having fruit which has 

 large a^Tis. The wild species falls to the ground as soon as it is ripe, tlius 

 seeding itself before the regular crop is harvested. As it thrives on the same 

 treatment as the commercial species and spreads its seed broadcast, it is by 

 far the worst weed in the rice fields. When compared with other crops, how- 

 ever, rice is singularly free from pests and diseases, and produces a remarkably 

 full and uniform yield, year after year. 



The water is allowed to remain on the ground until about ten days before 

 the grain is fully ripe. The ripening period is generally indicated by the heads 

 bending over from the weight of the heavy grain. From the time the head 

 begins to form, a period marked by the peculiar odor given off by the oju'iiing 

 glumes, to the final gathering of the grain, the fields ai-e guarcb'd from dawn 

 until dark, by the planters, to prevent the three introduced i>ests — llie linnets 

 or rice birds; the weaver birds, and, to some extent, the English s|);iitows — 

 from destroying the crops. In spite of their vigilance, considerable quantities 

 of the maturing grain are consumed (u- si)oiled by t]i(> birds, esjiecially wlieu 

 the rice gi'ains are in the milk stage. 



The harvesting of the golden-yellow crop is indeed picturesque. There 

 are usually a dozen or more Chinese engaged in the operation. The grain is 

 cut once near the ground, with reaping hooks, then mid-way (if the straw. 

 The grain portion is laid in neat straight ])iles on the coarse sii-;iw oi- bound 

 into good-sized bundles and left to cure. When sufficientlv cui-ed the l)uuiUes 



•^ Bos bafalas. * Zizaiiia aqiiatica. 



