RICE 371 



457. Insects. Only a few insects attack the rice 

 plant. The one causing greatest injury is the rice water- 

 weevil. While in the larval stage it destroys the roots, 

 and later the adults feed on the leaves. The most practical 

 means of controlling the rice weevil consists in the tempo- 

 rary withdrawal of the water and the drying out of the 

 land. Alternate flooding and drying, when properly 

 carried out, is also recommended. 



458. Fungous diseases. Rice blast (Piricularia oryzce 

 attacks the node in which the rice head is forming, causing 

 the head to fail to fill or to break off. Experts do not agree 

 as to the treatment of this disease. Some of the preventive 

 measures that have been recommended are: the application 

 of lime to the soil, the destruction of stubble and trash 

 by burning over the fields and the use of early maturing 

 varieties. 



Rice smut (Tilletia horrida) which fills the kernels with 

 a mass of black spores, is sometimes sufficiently prevalent 

 to do serious damage. For its control, either the hot- 

 water treatment, page 339, or the formalin treatment, 

 page 339, is recommended. 



