238 Rice Plantations in South Carolina. 



Art. XXIII. A Method of expelling damp Air Jrom earhf 

 Hot-beds. By Mr. Robert Wilson, Leybourne Grange 

 near Maidstone. 



Sir, 



Young cucumber plants are liable to damp, or fog off in 

 early forcing, in consequence of the impossibility of admitting 

 due ventilation. To prevent any accident from this humid 

 state of the air, I invariably, in damp or cloudy weather, set 

 a garden pot (a No. 32.), filled with bright wood embers 

 within the frame, covered with a tile to secure the glass above it. 

 The pot being placed in the lower part of the frame, causes a 

 drying agitation of air, which is immediately allowed to 

 escape by raising the lights behind. Should the wind blow 

 keenly, the openings are guarded by a piece of thin canvass ; 

 but as much fresh air may be admitted by this qualifying 

 assistance of the embers, as renders the young plants robust 

 and healthy; a very necessary consequence at this season. 



I also prefer raising my seedlings in shallow pans, rather 

 than in pots ; they root better, and are more safely trans- 

 planted ; which I never do till the first rough leaf is half an 

 inch broad. I am. Sir, &c. 



Robert Wilson. 

 Leybourne Grange^ Dec. I if. 1827. 



Art. XXIV. Method of preparing a Rice Plantation^ and raising 

 the Cropf in South Carolina,^ United States. By Mr. A. 

 MiDDLETON, formerly Resident Manager of an Estate in 

 Carolina. 



Sir, 



No land can answer for this purpose unless it can be inun- 

 dated ; for which reason it is generally selected by the side of 

 a river. It is undoubtedly from its local advantages prin- 

 cipally, that South Carolina so far excels in the production of 

 this article. 



Preparation. — The piece of ground intended for rice is first 

 surrounded by a bulwark at least 2 ft. above high water mark. 

 The surface of the ground must be level, and higher than the 

 river at low water, and divided into parts of from 10 to 20 acres, 

 according to the number of hands to be employed. Eight canals 

 are formed throughout each division, and the divisions are so 

 constructed as that they may be irrigated separately or alto- 

 gether, as may be necessary. Smaller canals are likewise cut 



