538 



EICE 



RICE 



the principal food of more than half the population 

 of the earth. Where a dense population depends for 

 food on an annual crop, rice has been selected as 

 a staple if the soil and climate are adapted to its 

 production. Its great yield per acre, its assured 

 returns, its slight drain on the soil and its ease of 



Fig. 773. Tjrpicai licednill in southwestern Louisiana. 



digestion have been important considerations. Its 

 slight deficiency in protein is an advantage, be- 

 cause the nutritive ratio is usually balanced by 

 the lean meats, eggs, fish^ and legumes ordinarily 

 composing a part "of" the American diet. When 

 thoroughly cooked, rice is one of the best foods 

 known for supplying heat and energy. The short 

 time required for its digestion, the slight tax im- 

 posed on the system in the process and the high 

 percentage digested are all items in its favor for 

 the toiler, the person of sedentary habits and 

 invalids. 



There are many ways of preparing rice for food. 

 In the oriental countries it is made into cakes, 

 candy, and infant and invalid foods. A very at- 

 tractive method of use is popped rice, prepared 

 much like popped corn. In the Bast Indies rough 

 rice is boiled until about half done ; it is then 

 dried in the sun and the hull removed. This makes 

 the so-called brown rice, which includes the polish 

 and the bran. In this form it will keep longer 

 without injury than rice milled in the American 

 way ; it has a higher flavor, contains more protein 

 and pepsin, and yields a larger merchantable per- 

 centage of human food per bushel milled. Another 

 method of preparing rice in India is to remove the 

 hull and bran, then store the rice for a year before 

 placing it on the market. It is asserted that old 

 rice is more digestible. 



There is very little if any difference in the nu- 

 tritive value of the different grades of rice in the 

 United States. All of our milled rice has less 

 flavor and is of a lower nutritive value than ori- 

 ental rice because in those countries the polish is 

 not removed from the kernel in milling. The pol- 

 ish contains about fifteen-sixteenths of the flavor 

 of the grain. Commercially, polish is sold to for- 

 eign countries as human food ; in the United 

 States it is chiefly fed to animals and has a high 

 reputed value for dairy cows and young pigs. 



Rice bran contains a high percentage of protein 

 and when fresh is held in great esteem as a stock- 

 food, but, owing to the excessive amount of fat 

 contained, it soon becomes rancid. To overcome 

 this, the oil is sometimes extracted and sold for 

 various uses, leaving the residue for the stock. 

 Another use for rice bran is proposed as 

 follows : Cut equal parts of rice-straw and 

 alfalfa hay, mix with this rice bran and re- 

 fuse molasses, dry and grind. This would 

 place the by-products of rice and sugar in 

 a very available form for use and trans- 

 portation. 



Rice hulls are largely silicates and so in- 

 digestible that they are of little value, if not 

 positively harmful. At first in the rice in- 

 dustry the hulls were thrown out to decay ; 

 later they furnished the fuel for the mills 

 and more recently some are used to adul- 

 " terate rice bran, or sold to perform the same 



ofiice for wheat bran. 



Rice-straw is at present used chiefly in the 

 United States for stock-food. When used as 

 a sole cattle-food, animals will merely main- 

 tain weight. Large quantities are burned in 

 the fields as a convenient method of disposal. The 

 loss by this method amounts annually to several 

 millions. Live-stock industry is usually not exten- 

 sively developed in rice-growing regions. 



Miscellaneous. — In Japan, rice is used extensively 

 in the manufacture of a fermented liquor called 

 saki. In China several kinds of wine that are much 

 prized are made from rice. An excellent starch 

 also is made from rice. 



Possible expansion of the rice industry. 



West of the Mississippi river, in the states of 

 Louisiana and Texas, are at least 10,000,000 acres 

 of land adapted to rice-culture, and, of this, about 

 one-half can be watered by husbanding the waters 

 of the rivers and by sinking artesian wells. In the 

 basin of the Mississippi and her tributaries are 

 10,000,000 acres that can be watered suitable for 

 rice. In the Gulf and Atlantic states are about 

 8,000,000 acres, of which three-fourths can be 

 watered. On this estimate there are in the United 

 States about 21,000,000 acres of land adapted to 

 rice that can be watered and are capable of pro- 

 ducing an annual crop of 735,000,000 bushels,worth, 

 at sixty cents per bushel, $441,000,000. Most of 

 this land is non-productive at present, but in the 

 near future it will be required for our food supply, 

 and can easily be brought under cultivation. This 

 points to the fact that the rice industry in the 

 United States is in its infancy and has ample room 

 for expansion. 



The State of Arkansas has large areas of land 

 with a deep, rich soil, underlaid with a semi-tena- 

 cious clay, making admirable conditions for rice 

 culture, when taken in connection with the abun- 

 dant water supply of that state. Several thousand 

 aeres have been planted to rice with the best results. 

 The coast sections of Mississippi and Alabama are 

 in the main better adapted to rice culture than to 

 ^ny other grain crop. 



