xlviii. Timehri. 



1916 and to 41 cwts. in 1917. The best of the introduced varieties now 

 only yields on the average about li cwt. of paddy per acre more than 

 does the Creole whilst its former excess yields over the local kinds were 

 from 3 to 4 cwts. per acre per crop. 



From 10 to 12 tons of seed-paddy, 99^ true to type, of the best 

 imported and local strains have been distributed from the Botanic Gardens 

 among rice-planters each year since 1907. 



The average yields of rice per acre in British Guiana are fairly 

 satisfactory, but the following table shows that whilst the colony occupies 

 an enviable position among rice-producing countries with regard to this, 

 a few others far exceed it and it is to their standards that rice-growers 

 in this colony should strive to attain : — 



Cleaned Rice. 



Cwts. per acre. 



Spain ... ... ... 26. 



Egypt ... ... ... 21.5 



Japan ... ... ... 21.5 



British Guiana ... ... 15.0 to 19.0 



(Empoldered lands ... .. 16. to 22) 



\ Other lauds ... ... 11. to 16 J 



Italy ... ... ... 16.7 



Formosa ... ... ... 15. to 17 



Korea ... ... ... 11. to 12 



Java ... ... ... 11. 



United States... ... ... 8.6 to 12 



Bornea ... ... ... 8.4 



British India... ... ... 7.3 to 8.6 



Malaya ... .. ... 7.3 



Trinidad ... ... ... 7.0 



North Borneo ... ... 6 3 



Ceylon ... ... ... 4.4 to 5.6 



Phillipine Islands ... ... 4. to 5 



Our high yields may be due in part to the excellence of our local 

 strains of rice, and in part to our facilities for irrigation ; but not in the 

 same degree to excellence of cultivation. When it becomes feasible to 

 cultivate the rice-lands more thoroughly the yields should increase to a 

 considerable extent. We are favoured here in many places by the special 

 suitability of savannah and creek waters for the irrigation of the rice Holds, 

 the high content of plant-food in the waters enabling the lands irrigated 

 with them to produco heavy crops of rice year after year without show- 

 ing any signs of i'alling-otl' in yield. Abandoned sugar-cane lauds are 

 especially suitable for rice cultivation owing to the impervious clay-pans 

 which have formed in them at about 12 inches from their surfaces, and 

 which tend to conserve the irrigation-water from loss by seepage ; and to 

 the marked stimulus to the growth of the rice by the saline matter .vhirh 

 has accumulated in the lower layers of their soils. Bain-water does not 



