11 



grain is put away in grain eries constructed of straw twisted into ropes and wound round bamboo uprights 

 planted in a circle, the whole being raised from the ground on a rough platform of posts, a couple of 

 feet high, as a protection against damp and rats. The structure is carefully thatched ; the outside is 

 plastered over with clay, the inside lined with mats, and it is when complete, quite weather-tight and 

 substantial. 



Rice. — The operation of husking the paddy and transforming into rice is done generally by women. 

 Two kinds of implements are used, the process being in both instances to pound the grain until the husk 

 is detached. 



The implement most commonly used in Lower Bengal is the Dhekoli ; this is a heavy log of wood 

 about 8 feet long weighing about 2 or 3 cwt. into which a short staff, shod with iron, is fitted at right 

 angles at one end ; a cross bar passes through the log about half way on which it rests horizontally on 

 two short uprights, the iron shod shaft resting in a wooden cup imbedded in the ground. This imple- 

 ment is worked by one, or more frequently two women, by depressing the free end of the log with their 

 feet ; a cross bar is fixed breast-high on which the women lean, standing on one foot and depressing the 

 log "with the other ; the end on which the shaft is fixed is thus raised and let fall into the cup in which 

 the grain is collected and the operation is repeated until the charge is all pounded when the husk is 

 winnowed out. The operation is slow and laborious, and there is considerable waste by grain being 

 broken. 



The other implement for husking rice is the TJkldi, a block of wood about two feet high and a foot 

 and a half across, hollowed out to half its depth, and roughly shaped ; the paddy is placed in this mor- 

 tar and pounded with long shafts made of heavy wood, about three inches in diameter shod with iron. 

 The shaft is about 5 feet long and is grasped in the middle, the shod end poised over the mortar, it is 

 raised to the full extent of the arm, and then dashed into the grain. Usually two, and sometimes even 

 three women stand round the mortar pounding the paddy alternately, and keeping time so that the in- 

 struments do not clash. 



There is considerable waste by either process above described, as the broken rice is winnowed out 

 with the husk and dust. This broken grain is eaten only by the poorest people. 



The winnowing is done also by women. A small quantity of rice is placed in a flat tray-like basket 

 called a " Soop," which is shaken and manipulated with great skill so that the solid grain separates en- 

 tirely from the husk and dust. This work is, like the rest, very slow and tedious, but it is well done 

 the woman being exceedingly expert in the use of the Soojy. 



Although the process of preparing rice is slow, it is preferred by natives to the European Mill, as 

 they consider that more rice is broken and wasted by the mills than by their own process ; and also as 

 the work is done by the cultivators family the cost is not calculated, whereas milling has to be paid for. 



The greater part of the rice prepared for the market passes through a steaming and soaking process 

 before being husked, the husk separating more readily after this process, and there being less broken 

 and wasted grain than when the unboiled and more brittle grain is pounded. The paddy is steeped in 

 water for two days, less or more according to the variety, and is then put into an earthen vessel with a 

 small quantity of water and placed over the fire, the water being merely sufficient to steam the whole 

 contents of the vessel. This process lasts about half an hour, after which it is dried over fire, exposed 

 to the sun for two days and then pounded. 



The rice so treated is considered much more wholesome than rice husked without boiling ; the use of 

 the latter is confined almost wholly to Hindu widows and to Europeans ; the former in accordance with 

 Caste rules, and the latter because the rice is whiter in appearance, hence it is called " table rice," and 

 has not the smell which soaked grain has. 



Although the process of boiling and sunning described involves additional labour, the rice so pre- 

 pared is cheaper than rice not so treated ; the labor.involved not being a consideration, and the differ- 

 ence being due to one being a less wasteful method than the other, and also because of the increase in 

 weight due to moisture. 



The rice shipped to the West Indies is almost all rice that has been treated as above described, that 

 being the kind used by the emigrants. It is purchased in the open market and without any further 

 special treatment bagged and shipped. The quantity of white, or table rice, sent to the "West Indies is 

 infinitesimal compared to the other kind. 



R. B, 



