RICE 113 



Harvesting. - - The rice is cut with a sickle, or a 

 harvesting machine. It is threshed with the same 

 machine that is used for threshing other small grains. 

 The yield per acre is from ten to twenty barrels of 

 1 60 pounds each. The rice grains from the thresher 

 are covered with husks, and are called rough rice or 

 paddy. The rice is then taken to mills which remove 

 the husks and polish the grains. This polish or glossy 

 finish is put on by running the rice through cylinders 

 lined with soft sheepskin. 



Cooking. Rice is usually cooked by boiling, or 

 it may be puffed by machinery and used as a breakfast 

 food, or as a confection, like popcorn. It is used in the 

 manufacture of starch and is also used as a malting 

 grain for making beer. Poorer grades are used for 

 stock food. Rice straw is coarse and of little value, 

 except to plow in the soil as a fertilizer. 



QUESTIONS 



1. In what countries is rice the chief food of the people ? 



2. What are the leading rice states of the United States? 



3. How is rice cultivated ? How is it harvested ? 



4. After harvesting, what changes must rice undergo before 

 it is ready for the table ? 



REFERENCES 



If you live in a rice-growing state, obtain from the Agricultural 

 College bulletins on the growing of rice. 



Farmers' Bulletins : 1 10, Rice culture in the United States ; 

 417, Rice culture. 



B. AND D. AG. 8 



