Seeding 



Great care should be taken to sow seed that is free from red rice, grass 

 and weed seeds. The seed should be uniform in quality and size of 

 kernel, well filled, flinty and free from sun cracks. 



Knapp says: "Uniformity of kernel is more essential in rice than in 

 any other cereal because of the polishing process." 



The amount of seed to sow varies in different sections, and with differ- 

 ent methods of sowing. One to three bushels per acre is the usual 

 amount to sow. 



The United States Department of Agriculture says that "rice should 

 always be planted with a drill and not sown broadcast. The seed-bed 

 should be well prepared and a roller should precede in order to crush all 

 lumps and make the seed-bed compact. Horses should not tread the 

 ground after the grain has been sown, for the reason that much of it will 

 be punched into the deep soil, causing an uneven growth and ripening." 



Flooding 



Rice should not be flooded until it is eight or ten inches high unless 

 more moisture is required to germinate and produce early growth than is 

 furnished by rains. If early irrigation is necessary, it should be only 

 sufficient to moisten the ground. Flooding water should not be per- 

 mitted to become stagnant, for such water promotes the growth of 

 injurious plants. 



Fertility 



If the straw and chaff are returned to the land and the irrigating water 

 is from a river, the soil will not become depleted of its fertility. River 

 water usually carries with it large quantities of organic matter contain- 

 ing all of the plant food elements, but pure brook or spring water does 

 not. 



Rice, like other crops, requires nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 

 Continued cropping will finally reduce the amount in the soil to the 

 point where the crop will not be profitable; hence, it must be replenished 

 in some way. Legumes as a catch crop will furnish nitrogen, and leaf 

 mould, ashes and yard manures will furnish phosphoric acid and potash. 

 If these substances can not be secured, acid phosphate and kainit should 

 be applied, or the same elements in some other form. In China and 

 Japan, King says, remarkable crops are produced by fertilizing with 

 straw, leaves, leaf and wood mould, sediment from ditches and ponds, 

 and night soils. 



Harvesting 



The mode of harvesting depends upon conditions. When the water 

 can be drained off rapidly, the binder is used as it is in harvesting grain, 

 but if the water cannot be drained off or the land is soggy, it then 

 becomes necessary to use the hand sickle. After the grain is cut, great 



