222 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Tlie swamps of Soutli Carolina, botli those 

 which are occasioned by the periodical visits of 

 the tides, and those which are caused by the in- 

 land floodings of the rivers, are well suited for 

 the production of rice ; and not only is the cul- 

 tivation accomplished with trifling labour, but 

 the grain proves of a remarkably fine quality, 

 being decidedly larger and handsomer than that 

 of the countries whence the seed was originally 

 derived. 



It does not appear that this naturalizing of 

 rice in Carolina and Georgia was ever productive 

 of much effect in regard to the diet of the in- 

 habitants of those provinces. Their consump- 

 tion of rice was doubtless increased by it, because 

 the abundance and cheapness of an article always 

 influence persons to its use. But wheat and 

 maize continued, as before, to be the bread-corn 

 of the country ; and the newly introduced grain 

 was cultivated principally because it furnished 

 an article in constant demand, which might be 

 transmitted to the mother country in return for 

 British manufactui-ed goods. 



Had a contrary effect followed upon the in- 

 troduction of rice into the then British colonies 

 of America, and this grain had become, as in In- 

 dia, the universal food of the inhabitants, it is 

 not probable that their condition would have 

 been in any way ameliorated by the change. In 

 countries where rice forms the chief article of 

 food, dearths are not by any means of uncom- 

 mon occurrence. A failure of the usual supply 

 of rain, which is followed by evil consequences 

 where other descriptions of grain are raised, is 

 productive of tenfold misery where the chief de- 

 pendence is upon the crop of rice, which with- 

 out its due degree of moisture proves wholly un- 

 productive. In such cases there can be found 

 few sources of relief, other objects of cultivation 

 being pursued to only a limited extent, and the 

 means of the people not enabling them to com- 

 pass the purchase of these scarcer articles of food, 

 even when, through the general abundance, they 

 may bo procured at their natural price. Happily 

 for the interests of humanity, dearths are becom- 

 ing less and less frequent of occurrence, through 

 the better understanding of subjects connected 

 with the production and distribution of commo- 

 dities. 



Some botanists enumerate four species of 

 rice, while others suppose these only varieties of 

 the same grain, occasioned by difference of soil, 

 climate, and culture. These varieties are common 

 rice — early rice, mountain rice, and clammy rice. 



Common rice is a marsh plant. If the ground 

 on which it is so^vn should become dry before 

 the plants arrive at maturity, they wither. It is 

 this variety which grows most strongly ; and on 

 lands peculiarly adapted for it the culture is pro- 

 bably as advantageous as can well be pursued. 



Early rice, like the other, is a marsli plant, 



but it does not grow to the same size. It comes 

 much sooner to maturity; for while common 

 rice is never ripe in less than six months from 

 the time of ploughing, this varietj^, if placed in 

 favourable situations, requires only four months 

 for arriving at perfection. 



Mountain rice thrives on the slopes of hills 

 and in other situations where it can receive hu- 

 midity only occasionally. Dr Wallich, sent to 

 London a few years ago some specimens of rice 

 grown on the cold mountains of Nepaul. These 

 seeds were furnished to him by the resident of 

 the East India Company in that district, and 

 were recognised by the Doctor as mountain rice. 

 The degree of cold which this plant is qualified 

 to bear is very great. According to the infor- 

 mation collected on the subj ect by Dr Wallich, the 

 cultivators consider their crop quite safe if the 

 growth of the plants is advanced five or six 

 inches above the surface at the time the winter 

 snows cover the ground. It is probable that the 

 slow melting of the snow is beneficial to the 

 gi'owth of the plant, which advances with great 

 vigour on the return of spring. 



A knowledge of these circumstancesniight have 

 led to the opinion that this variety of rice could 

 be naturalized in England, if the attempt had not 

 aheady been fairly made by one well qualified 

 for conducting the experiment. Samples of six 

 different sorts of mountain rice which had been 

 procured by Sir John Murray from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Serinagur at the foot of Mount 

 Imaus, were, on the occasion alluded to, presen- 

 ted by the Board of Agriculture to Sir Joseph 

 Bauks, who planted each kind in a separate bed, 

 in a sheltered spot with a south aspect, in liis 

 garden at Spring Grove. The grains, which 

 were sown very thin on the 21st of May, speedily 

 sprang up, and the plants tillered so much that 

 the beds put on the appearance of compact, dense 

 masses of vegetation ; each plant having from ten 

 to twenty off-sets. Although the blades grew 

 vigorously, attaining in a short time to the 

 length of two feet, there was never anj' symptom 

 of a rising stem, and if the ground was not 

 watered, either by rain or artificially every three 

 or four days, the plants began to assume a sickly 

 line. In this manner vegetation proceeded, with- 

 out the smallest symptom of their perfecting 

 themselves by fructification, when the plants 

 were suddenly destroyed by an early night frost 

 in September. Some of the plants, which had 

 been transfen-ed to pots and placed in the hot- 

 house at an early period of their growth, soon 

 died ; while others, which were sown originally 

 in a hot-house, produced cars and flowered, but 

 the blossoms dropped without perfecting any 

 seed. 



The conclusion to which Sir Joseph Banks 

 arrived from these experiments was unfavourable 

 to the cultivation of rice in this country as a 



