CHAPTER IX 

 RICE. BUCKWHEAT 



RICE 



Rice is one of the oldest of cultivated cereals and has 

 held an important place in the dietary of the Chinese 

 nation from time immemorial. For thousands of years 

 before the dawTi of the Christian era and continuing down 

 to the present day, rice has been the staple article of food 

 for the people of China. It is probable that China is 

 its original home, and from there it was carried into 

 Japan and India, and later, in the fifteenth century a.d., it 

 was introduced into southern Europe. Its first introduc- 

 tion into the United States was in the Virginia colony in 

 1647, when it was brought into South Carolina. From 

 this time on it has been grown to some extent in the United 

 States. 



172. Botanical characters. — Rice, Oryza sativa, is one 

 of the members of the great grass family, grown for its 

 grain. It is closely related to wild rice, another species 

 of the same genus, which grows wild in the tropical 

 regions of both hemispheres. It is also a near relative 

 of Canadian rice, a wild species that grows in rocky places 

 throughout North America, and one which was used exten- 

 sively by the Indians as food. Rice is an annual, with a 

 shallow, fibrous root system, growing from 2 to 6 feet 

 in height, the average height being from 4 to 5 feet. 



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