RICE 



RICE 



537 



good soil and seed the average crop may be more 

 than doubled by a thorough preparation of the soil 

 and the proper application of water while the rice 

 is young and during the entire period of growth. 



MiUing. 



Rice mills (Pig. 773) have been perfected until 

 they are a vast network of complicated machinery, 

 taking the grain in the rough, separating the weed 

 seeds and light grains, removing the hulls and 

 then the bran, polishing, grading and placing each 

 grade in sacks of recorded weight, ready for sew- 

 ing and marking. The capacities of rice mills in 

 the United States vary from 1,000 

 to 10,000 bushels of rough rice 

 per day of twenty-four hours. 



The products of the rice in 

 milling are classified commer- 

 cially, as follows : Head rice 

 (whole grains), straights (mostly 

 whole grains but a grade slightly 

 below head rice), screenings 

 (broken rice, of which there are 

 several grades), brewers' rice 

 (very finely broken rice used in 

 the manufacture of beer), polish 

 (a highly nutritious flour scoured 

 from the surface of the kernels 

 in polishing, sometimes incor- 

 rectly called rice flour, which 

 latter is ground rice), rice bran 

 (the cuticle immediately within 

 the hull), and rice hulls (the outer 

 covering). The approximate mill- 

 ing outturn of 162 pounds of 

 rough rice is 98 pounds of com- 

 mercial rice, 6 pounds of polish, 28 pounds of bran 

 and 3D pounds of hulls. 



Composition of rice products. 



The chemical constituents of the products of 

 rice are as follows : 



Commercial or polished rice : Total nutrients, 

 87.15 ; protein, 7.52 ; ash, 0.73 ; fat, 0.38 ; carbo- 

 hydrates, 78.05. Rice polish : Protein, 11.06; ash, 

 8.45 ; fats, 5.92 ; carbohydrates, 65.97. Rice bran : 

 Protein, 9.88 ; ash, 11.55 ; fats, 9.21 ; carbohy- 

 drates, 52.63. Rice hulls: Protein, 3.50 ; ash, 

 18.29 ; fat, 0.4 ; carbohydrates, 41.80 ; crude fiber, 

 37.50. Rice straw: Protein, 3.31 ; ash, 14.64 ; fats, 

 0.59 ; carbohydrates, 33.31; crude fiber, 32.01. 



It will be noted that rice polish and rice bran 

 remove nearly all the fats from the rice, and con- 

 sequently rice as sold on the market has little 

 flavor. The retention of the polish, as in oriental 

 milling, would materially increase the flavor, and if 

 the bran were retained rice would be rich in flavor. 



Definitions of terms. 



The commercial terms used in the United States 

 may be defined as follows: Rough rice, or paddy, 

 signifies rice with the hull on; a sack is an indefi- 

 nite quantity varying from 160 to 210 pounds; a 

 barrel is 162 pounds of rough rice; a pocket is 100 

 pounds of milled or cleaned rice. 



Enemies. 



Insects. — The principal injurious insect is the 

 rice weevil {Calandra Oryzx). It originated in 

 India and has gradually become common in all the 

 rice-producing countries of the world. It is not 

 common in overflowed fields, mainly attacking 

 stored rice. It is readily killed by the use of 

 carbon bisulfid. 



The rice grub is the larva of one of the scara- 

 bseidse and looks like the ordinary white grub. It 

 is killed by water. 



The rice-stalk borer is the larva of a crambid 

 moth, which lays its eggs in the early summer. 



Fig. 772. Rice-fleld in harvest. Louisiana. 



The young larva bores into the stalk, gradually 

 working down to the roots of the plant. In the 

 stalk it is transformed into the pupa state and in 

 five or six days the moth emerges. Stalks affected 

 by the borer turn white, causing a white blast. 



The chinch-bug occasionally works on rice in 

 the field, but thorough flooding is, in the main, a 

 protection. In stagnant water, rice-worms occa- 

 sionally attack the roots and ruin the crop. The 

 remedy is to draw off the water and allow the fleld 

 to dry a few days, then reflood. 



Diseases. — Occasionally a fungous disease attacks 

 the stalk just below the head and penetrates it 

 till the head falls over and the stalk breaks at 

 the point of attack. This is commonly called 

 " neck rot " or " white blast,'' and can be obviated 

 by the application of lime to the soil. 



Smut {Horrida corona) sometimes attacks the 

 rice seeds, changing the interior of the seeds to 

 black powder. The affected grains are lighter than 

 sound grains, and will float when the seeds are 

 immersed in water. In this way they may be re- 

 moved. For treatment, see oat smut, page 491. 

 Another smut, known as Ustilaginoidea virens, gives 

 the blasted grains a greenish appearance. 



U.^es of rice and its products. 



As food. — The uses to which the rice crop is devo- 

 ted are varied and interesting. The rice kernel is 



