376 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



broadcast in beds from which they are to be trans- 

 planted, or in drills eighteen to twenty-four inches 

 apart. From the time of planting until near the time 

 of harvesting they need to be irrigated frequently and 

 to be cultivated after each irrigation. As stated in 

 Table V, the crop of 1899-1900 received twenty-nine 

 irrigations. 



The growing of onions involves the use of a large 

 amount of water, as well as the expenditure of much 

 labor. Though they are shallow-rooted and do not re- 

 quire that the soil be deeply irrigated, they must be 

 irrigated through such a long period about ten 

 months that a large amount of water must be applied 

 to produce a crop. A large percentage of this is lost 

 by evaporation. It will be observed that only about 

 two- tenths of a foot was applied at each irrigation, 

 enough to wet the soil only eight to ten inches deep. 

 Nearly all of the water of the upper two or three 

 inches would be lost by evaporation, as well as con- 

 siderable of what reached the soil below this stratum. 



FROM FIELD TO DINING TABLE. 



Ail Features of Rice Culture, Milling Processes and Rice Food 

 Preparation to Be Seen at the St. Louis Fair. 



(Special Correspondence IRRIGATION AGE.) 



ST. Louis, Mo., Oct. I. Rice and rice culture 

 will be fully represented and all the by-products of 

 rice displayed at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 

 All methods of milling rice, from the primitive in 

 China to the modern in the United States, will be 

 demonstrated by exhibiting the wooden blocks and 

 pestles and other appliances on through the various 

 stages of progress to the latest up-to-date machinery 

 in operation. 



Rice is given a place of honor as one of the five 

 special exhibits in the Agricultural Palace, and will be 

 placed in the great central nave of that giant structure. 

 The state of Louisiana, which alone furnishes the cane 

 sugar portion of the special sugar exhibit, will also 

 provide the entire special rice exhibit. Louisiana will 

 demonstrate to the world that her possibilities for rice 

 culture are unexcelled because of the fact that her lands 

 and climate are especially adapted to rice growing, 

 where irrigation for this cereal can be done satisfac- 

 torily. This special rice exhibit will be favored with a 

 unique installation, and will be one of the star attrac- 

 tions in the Palace of Agriculture. 



The very word "rice" brings to the mind of the 

 average man a picture of John Chinaman and his 

 chopsticks, and comparatively few people realize the 

 recent rapid growth of rice culture in this country. 

 Owing to climate and soil conditions Louisiana and 

 South Carolina are the two States that have stepped to 

 the front in the cultivation of this important cereal. 

 Texas is showing progress in the same field. 



Taking the whole world in view, rice is the chief 

 diet of more people than depend upon any other cereal. 

 While the origin of rice is unknown, it is generally 

 conceded that the cereal was first cultivated by the 

 Chinese. History records that the first rice culture in 

 America began when a half bushel of the grain was 

 sent over from England to the Virginia colony in 1647. 

 Prom this a yield of sixteen bushels was obtained. But 

 the Virginia settlers allowed the rice industry to lapse, 

 and devoted more attention to tobacco growing, which 



had secured a firm standing from the time the colonists 

 had bartered so many pounds of the weed for wives al- 

 most forty years before. 



By a fortuitous accident the rice industry was 

 given a substantial start in 1694, when a ship bound 

 for Madagascar was driven by a storm to seek shelter 

 in the harbor at Charleston, S. C. The ship's captain 

 happened to find an old friend in the person of Thomas 

 Smith, governor of the province, and presented him 

 with a sack of rice. Rice culture was then started suc- 

 cessfully, and South Carolina for more than a century 

 held the primacy of States in rice production. But 

 Louisiana now stands first, with an annual production 

 of nearly 173,000,000 pounds, and South Carolina sec- 

 ond with 47,500,000 pounds. Up to the beginning of 

 the civil war the Carolinas and Georgia produced 

 most of the rice in this country, but the industry was 

 completely paralyzed during the war, and at its close 

 the rapid development was transferred to Louisiana, 

 where improved machinery has been used to a greater 

 extent than in other rice-growing States. This coun- 

 try now produces over 250,000,000 pounds annually. 



Louisiana will astonish the thousands of visitors 

 to the World's Fair by her special rice exhibits by 

 showing ( all the processes in rice culture, from the field 

 to the mill and from the mill to the dining table. Ma- 

 chines used in harvesting rice and the advanced mill- 

 ing processes will be demonstrated. The old-time 

 processes will be seen also. The primitive method of 

 milling rice in this country, and which still obtains in 

 China, is to place a small quantity of the grain in a 

 hollow stone or block of wood and pound it with a 

 stone pestle. The blow cracks the hull, and the fric- 

 tion created by the sliding motion of the rice under 

 the pestle removes the hull from the cuticle. The 

 hulls and bran are blown aside by winnowing. In 

 Oriental countries a large hollow log is now used as a 

 mortar, and the pestle is a heavy pounder attached to 

 a horizontal beam six or eight feet long, resting on a 

 fulcrum. Fanning mills are used now in the Orient. 



The rice of commerce grown in the United States 

 is milled by modern machinery, which will be seen in 

 operation, as far as possible, in the special rice exhibit 

 by Louisiana. The hulls are removed by rapidly re- 

 volving millstones, and are separated from the grains 

 by screen and blowers. The rice then passes to other 

 hullers to remove smaller particles, and then the flour 

 and bran separated and the grain passed to cooling 

 pans to remain eight or nine hours. Then comes a 

 process' which is really detrimental to the grain as a 

 food product, and that is the polishing of the rice. It 

 is passed through revolving screens with brushes, or 

 with wire gauze and sheepskin. This gives the rice 

 grain a -fine, glossy luster and makes it sell at a higher 

 price on the market, but, as a matter of fact, it lessens 

 the nutritive value by taking away nearly all the fats 

 which are found in the outer surface of unpolished 

 rice. 



Rice flour and bran, used as feed for cattle and hogs, 

 will be exhibited. Rice flour, mixed with wheat and 

 rye flour, will be made into delicious rice cakes and 

 served with fine syrups, also from Louisiana's sugar 

 exhibit. 



The Germans use rice in making an imitation 

 ivory, which in turn they employ in manufacturing 

 cheap jewelry and doll heads. The Austrians make 

 shirt buttons from rice. Starch, cement, paper and 

 similar products" are also made from it in European 



