THE SMALL GRAINS 223 



condition and must therefore be plowed and harrowed 

 while covered by water. 



168. Planting the Seed. — The seed may be planted 

 in the soil while it is submerged. If the land can be cul- 

 tivated dry, however, the seed is planted while it is in this 

 condition either with a drill or broadcast ; and if necessary, 

 it is covered by means of a harrow or otherwise. The 

 water is then turned on the land to start germination, 

 after which it is drained off again until the plants are well 

 started. 



169. Caring for the Growing Crop. — When the plants 

 are about six inches high, the field is again flooded and 

 the water kept on it at a depth of from two to six inches 

 for about two months. The water is constantly renewed 

 to prevent its becoming stagnant or the water weeds 

 from becoming estabhshed. 



When the rice is in the milk stage, the water is drained 

 off and the land allowed to dry while the grain ripens. 

 The crop is cut with an ordinary wheat binder wherever 

 possible though it is necessary in certain places along the 

 lower Mississippi to use the sickle. The bundles of rice 

 are shocked and later threshed with the ordinary threshing 

 machine. 



160. How the Grain is prepared for Use. — The rice 

 grains are covered with rough hulls when they come from 

 the threshing machine. At the rice mills, these hulls are 

 removed by rapidly revolving " miUing stones," after 

 which the outer coat, or cuticle, of the kernel is removed 

 by special machinery. The grains are then run through 

 machines which polish them by friction against cyhnders 

 covered with moose hide or sheep skin. The polished 

 rice has less food value than that which is not pohshed, 



