LESSON XXIV 

 RICE 



Rice an important food. Rice is a cereal grass, the 

 seeds of which are used for food by two fifths of the 

 people in the world. The rice plant, like the wheat, 

 produces many stems from one seed, but the heads 

 bearing the seeds form a loose, nodding spray with 

 only one seed in a place. 



Where grown. Rice is a tropical and semitropical 

 plant growing in lowlands which can be flooded at 

 certain times, for rice is the only crop that grows for 

 the greater part of the time in water. Rice is grown 

 in the southern part of the United States. Louisiana, 

 Texas, and Arkansas are the leading rice states. 



Method of planting. Rice is planted in the spring, 

 from March to May, and harvested in the fall from 

 August to October. There are two ways of preparing 

 the land for growing rice. It may be plowed and har- 

 rowed under the water, or the seed bed may be pre- 

 pared in dry ground. The seed is sown broadcast or 

 drilled in rows twelve or eighteen inches apart. From 

 one to three bushels of seed are sown per acre. The 

 rice fields have dikes or little dams built around them 

 to hold the water, and after the seed is planted the 

 fields are flooded with water, which remains on the 



