November, 1910.] 



4ii 



Edible Products. 



arrangements were made by which a 

 small sample of selected seed was for- 

 warded to this station upon the comple- 

 tion of the harvest. 



In Hongkong, which is an important 

 jobbing centre, I later found that some 

 twenty varieties of rice were distin- 

 guished by the trade. From among 

 these I have selected ten varieties as 

 having possible value in Hawaii. These 

 are erumerated in the list below. The 

 Chinese characters are added as con- 

 fusion often results from romanising 

 Chinese names, which, as usually applied, 

 may mean any of a dozen different 

 things. 



1. A fall variety considered the best 

 grown in China. Used especially as a 

 curry rice by foreigners and wealthy 

 Chinese. Its culture is restricted to the 

 Tsang Shing district, which is near Can- 

 ton. Its exportation is prohibited by 

 Government, but a small quantity is 

 said to be smuggled intoHongkong where 

 it brings an exceptional price. 



No. 2. is another standard variety 

 in demand by those who can afford it. 

 This is also a fall variety, as the best 

 varieties generally are said to be. 



No. 3. is a small grained rice of excel- 

 lent quality. It is also a fall variety. 



No. 4 & 5. are comparatively soft 

 grained rices, for which reason they are 

 called " old man's " rice. The latter is 

 one of the earliest varieties grown. Both 

 varieties are spring rices and for this 

 reason would probably be suitable as 

 " all season " varieties in Hawaii, to 

 judge from experience with other spring 

 croppers grown by us. 



No. 6, is not much grown because of 

 its poor yields, but the quality is said to 

 be very fine. It is classed as a spring 

 variety. 



No. 7, is characterised by flakiness 

 after cooking, for which quality it is 

 highly prized by some. It is a fall 

 variety. 



No, 8, is called "Cantonese rice." It is 

 the most generally grown rice in the 

 south. It is of excellent quality for 

 spring variety. 



No. 9, the variety most generally 

 grown in the fall, is one generally ob- 

 tained from Hawaii. I was unable to 

 get paddy samples of this variety and 

 cannot, therefore, say whether or not it 

 is of our present standard rices. 



No. 10 is a fall variety said to be 

 especially suited to brackish water, and 

 is possibly the same variety growu 

 under brackish water conditions in 

 Hawaii, 



Mr. Stuart Fuller, Acting Consul- 

 General at Hongkong, who has had con- 

 siderable correspondence with the Agri- 

 cultural Department at Washington, 

 informed me that a rice, signifying 

 " Long kernel," coming from Annam, 

 Indo China, where it iskuown as "Suan- 

 ese garden rice," is said to be a very fine 

 rice. A small quantity of the seed was 

 recently, upon urgent request, sent to 

 the Department at Washington, 



Since my return to Hawaii, a generous 

 sample of rice has been received from 

 the General Consul at Canton. This is 

 one of the best Spring varieties and is 

 extensively grown in the Hum Hoi 

 District. Mr. McClintock, for many 

 years a missionary on the island of 

 Hainan (China), has kindly sent me 

 samples of the two best varieties grown 

 in that region. 



This list seems to include the best rices 

 grown in China. For the data I am in- 

 debted to a number of persons, among 

 whom should be mentioned Mr. S. T. 

 Dunn, Botanist in charge of the Botanic 

 Gardens at Hongkong, who has made 

 exhaustive studies of the rices of South- 

 ern China ; to Mr. Wo Fungi Shop at 

 Hongkong ; and to Mr. T. Tong, in 

 charge of the party of Chinese students 

 recently sent to America by the Chinese 

 Government, who, as a fellow-passenger 

 on my homeward journey, kindly went 

 over my notes, correcting the Chinese 

 names where necessaiy. 



The cultural methods of rice produc- 

 tion are similar to those followed in 

 Hawaii. Two crops per annum are 

 grown, except on the river deltas, where 

 the spring floods frequently carry away 

 the first crop. Seed is sown in nursery- 

 beds, for the spring crops from March 

 1st to 20th, and for the second or fall 

 crop, from June 1st to 10th. The seed- 

 lings are transplanted from April 20th 

 to May 5th for the first crop, and for the 

 second, from July 23td to August 7th. 

 The average age of the seedlings for . 

 spring plantings is about thirty days 

 and for fall planting about forty days, 

 at which ages the seedlings will average 

 twelve to eighteen inches in height. 

 Three to six seedlings are set in a clump, 

 the clumps being spaced nine iuches 

 apart, in rows nine inches apart, The 

 fields are flooded immediately after 

 planting, to a depth of two to three 

 iuches iu the spring, an inch less in the 

 fall (except where irrigation is less 

 under control, when the plants may 

 be completely submerged, or the field 

 parched for want of water). The 

 average time from planting to harvest, 

 tor the spring crop, is 115 days, and 



