86 



On April 25, 1898, the ground was broken and harrowed, fertiliser dis- 

 tributed broadcast, rice sown, and both harrowed in together. This was 

 nicely accomplished by harrowing both ways. The following are the experi- 

 ments with manures used per acre : 



Plat Ko. 1. 'No fertiliser, yielded 1,382 pounds of grain. 

 Plat No. 2. Seventy -five pounds sulphate of ammonia, yielded 1,.392 

 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 3. Three hundred pounds cotton-seed meal and 150 pounds acid 

 phosphate, yielded 1,664 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 4. Seventy-five pounds dried blood and 37 pounds bone meal, 

 yielded 1,543 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 5, No fertiliser, jrielded 1,056 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 6. Two hundred pounds cotton-seed meal, yielded 1,344 pounds 

 of grain. 



Plat No. 7. Two hunared pounds cotton-seed meal and 100 pounds acid 

 phosphate, yielded 1,884 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 8. One hundred pounds of cotton-seed meal, 25 pounds of fish 

 scrap, 25 pounds nitrate of soda, and 100 pounds of acid phosphate, yielded 

 1,677 pounds of grain. 



Plat No. 9. No fertiliser, yielded 1,559 pounds of grain. 



These results are quite unsatisfactory, because there is a wide 

 divergence in the yield between the best and poorest unfertilised plots. 

 The difterence in yield between plots 9 and 7 is not so marked as 

 between 9 and 5, and the increase from the use of the best of the ferti- 

 lisers amounts to little more than the cost of the application. 



It is quite probable that the yield depends as much on the thorough 

 aeration of the soil and the abundance of the organic matter present as 

 on the mineral elements. Complete drainage in winter,followed by deep 

 ploughing and then disking, harrowing, and rolling until the seed bed 

 is fine, will probably serve better to increase the yield than an applica- 

 tion of the best commercial fertilisers without j:roper cultivation. This 

 can be supplemented by an occasional summer crop of cowpeas or velvet 

 beans to supply humus and organic nitrogen. 



SOILS ADAPTED TO RICE. 



The best soil for rice is a medium loam, containing about 50 per 

 cent of clay. This allows the presence of sufficient hnmus for the 

 highest fertility without decreasing too much the compact nature of the 

 soil. The alluvial lands along the Southern rivers, where they can be 

 drained, are well adapted to rice cultivation. Occasionally such lands 

 are too sandy. The rich drift soils of the Louisiana and Texas prairies 

 have shown a marvellous adaptation to rice. These soils are underlaid 

 with clay so as to be retentive of water. The sand is exceedingly fine. 

 There is about the right proportion of potash, phosphoric acid, other 

 essential mineral elements, and humus to be lastingly productive. 

 They are sufficiently remote from the coast to be free from devastating 

 storms and the serious attack of birds. There is no expensive clearing, 

 ditching, or leveeing to prepare the lands for rice. The drainage is 

 good and the lands can be cultivated to winter crops, thus preventing 

 the growth of red rice and injurious weeds and grasses. Such cultiva- 

 tion enables the planter to plough deeply in the fall and fertilise* 



