6 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



These are called " upland," or "hill"' rice. The 

 "wet" rice includes all the varieties that must 

 have water about the roots, or they die of thirst. 



The famous "Carolina gold" variety was de- 

 veloped by a planter who went into his fields at 

 harvest time and selected for seed the best heads 

 with the longest kernels he could find. Year after 

 year he persevered. The variety was thus "fixed." 

 Many great plantations of the Far East send 

 to the Carolinas for seed, rather than grow the 

 short-grained native sorts, for the Carolina rice 

 greatly increases the yield. Japan has a famous 

 rice called Kiushiu, in great demand for seed in 

 other countries. Its kernel is short and broad, 

 and does not break in the mill as does the long- 

 grained rice. 



The Chinese Empire has a tremendbus popu- 

 lation, but few large cities. The people are 

 thickly distributed over the country, where they 

 live on what can be raised on little farms — we 

 would call them mere patches of land. The 

 failure of crops means famine. Rice is the princi- 

 pal crop. No wonder the wise Emperor, Chin- 

 nong, in the year 2800 B.C., established the 

 annual ceremonial of the sowing of the "five holy 

 plants, " that the people should keep in mind that 

 these stood always between them and famine. 



