HICE. 283 



first loosening of the soil, which is performed as soon as the plants 

 are fairly above ground, a top dressing of ashes or other manure 

 is given. By this mode the crop gets the immediate benefit of 

 the manure, which otherwise, from the extraordinary rapidity of 

 its growth, could not be obtained by it. In three months from 

 the time of sowing, the seed is ripe. The crop is harvested by 

 cutting off the heads. In Nepaul these are either heaped on a 

 rude scaffolding, near the cultivator's house, or, more commonly, 

 they are suspended from the branches of the trees close by, where, 

 exposed to wind and weather, the hard and tough sheath of the 

 seed cones preserves the grain for many months uninjured. 



Cattle are voraciously fond of the leaves and stems, which are 

 very sweet, and even the dry straw, which Dr. Buchanan sur- 

 mises may be the reason why it is not more generally cultivated 

 by the natives, as the difficulty would be great to preserve the 

 crop. So slow is the progress of changes in the regions of India, 

 that near Kaliyachak, though the people give all other straw to 

 their cattle, yet they burn that of maize as unfit for fodder. In 

 Nepaul the stalks, with the leaves attached, often twelve feet long, 

 cut by the sickle, are used as fodder for elephants, bedding for 

 cattle, and as fuel. The maize crop within the hills of Nepaul 

 suffers much from the inroads of bears, which are very numerous 

 in these regions, and extremely partial to this grain. The average 

 return from this crop is seldom below fifty seers, ranging frequently 

 far above it. * 



Maize is increasing in cultivation in Java, and some of the 

 Eastern islands. It is found to have the advantage there over 

 mountain rice, of being more fruitful and hardy, and does not 

 suffer from cold until the mean temperature falls to 45 deg. of 

 Fahrenheit, and no heat is injurious to it. Several varieties of it 

 are known, but for all practical purposes these resolve themselves 

 into two kinds : one, a small grain, requiring five months to ripen, 

 and a larger one, which takes seven to mature. In some provinces 

 of Java it yields a return of 400 or 500 fold. Mr. Crawfurd found, 

 from repeated trials, that in the soil of Mataram, in Java, an acre 

 of land, which afforded a double crop, produced of the smaller 

 grain 848| Ibs. annually. 



EICE. 



THIS is one of the most extensively diffused and useful 

 of grain crops, and supports the greatest number of the human 

 race. The cultivation prevails in Eastern and Southern Asia, and 

 it is also a common article of subsistence in various countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean. It is grown in the Japan 

 Islands, on all the sea coasts of China, the Philippine and other 

 large Islands of the Indian Archipelago, partially in Ceylon, Siam, 

 India, both shores of the Eed Sea, Egypt, the shores of the 



* Transactions of " Agri.-JJort. Society, of Calcutta," vol. iv. p. 125. 



