March, 1009.] 



Edihle Products. 



In the Carolinas and Georgia the lands, 

 as a rule, are prepared for planting in 

 December f»nd January. The ground is 

 ploughed three or four inches deep, run 

 over with a disk harrow, an J then by a 

 roller which breaks up the clods and 

 makes the surface level and compact. In 

 different sections the time of ploughing 

 varies and the methods differ. In some 

 instances the soil is so stiff that it is 

 necessary to flood the fields before they 

 can be ploughed. 



Rice is a shallow feeder. Some planters 

 are therefore of the opinion that deep 

 ploughing is unnecessary. It might 

 appear, however, that deep ploughing 

 would give new land each year for the 

 plant. In upland culture the land is 



Srepared as it is for corn, and in North 

 arolina the crop is raised in much the 

 same way. 



On lands that are flooded by rivers 

 which carry a rich sediment, sufficient 

 nutritive material may be deposited to 

 insure its continued fertility. On lands 

 not so favourably situated the soil be- 

 comes greatly impoverished if some ferti- 

 lizer is not used. Many different kinds 

 of fertilizers are in use in the rice belt. 

 Among these are cotton seed meal, dried 

 blood, bone meal, kainit, and tankage. 

 The last named is a special mixture for 

 these lands. Most fertilizers contain a 

 large percentage of potash and are 

 spread with very satisfactory results. 



Rice is generally planted with a drill 

 in rows which are 14 inches apart, and 

 covered by means of a harrow. The drill 

 is gauged to put in from 54 to 81 pounds 

 of unhulled seed to the acre. In some 

 fields trenches about 2 inches deep and 

 14 inches apart are made with trenching 

 hoes and the seed dropped in and covered . 

 Sometimes, in what is known as the open 

 trench method, the trench is left open 

 in order to save time and labour, the 

 seed having been clayed in order to 

 prevent it from floating when the field 

 is flooded, Claying consists in stirring 

 the seed in clayed water until a coat of 

 clay covers each grain. 



In the North Carolina uplands the 

 common corn drill is used in planting. 

 Planting with a drill insures equal dis- 

 tribution, one of the essentials for the 

 greatest productivity of a given piece 

 of land. The amount sown per acre 

 varies, the average, however, is esti- 

 mated at thiee bushels. 



One of the most important features in 

 the culture of rice is flooding. Many 

 planters flood the field immediately 

 after the seed is sown, planting and 

 watering on the same day. This first 

 water, called the " sprout flow," protects 

 the grain from the birds and causes ger- 



mination. The sprout flow is left on the 

 field till the seed sprouts. In early 

 planting 1 this requires from six to eight 

 days. Rice planted in June sprouts in 

 twenty-four hours. When the sprout 

 flow is taken off the field remains with- 

 out water until the plants come up, and 

 the rows across the field can be plainly 

 seen when the water is again turned on. 

 This is called the "stretch flow," and 

 remains on the field until the plants are 

 5k or 6 inches in height. This requires 

 from two to six days, the time depend- 

 ing very largely on the weather condi- 

 tions. The stretch flow serves the 

 double purpose of rendering nourish- 

 ment available to the rice plant and of 

 impeding and destroying the growth of 

 weeds and injurious grasses. 



When the plants have grown sufficient- 

 ly high under the stretch flow, the water 

 is gradually lowered to an average depth 

 of four inches, where it remains from 

 thirteen to thirty days, according to the 

 strength of the soil, the condition of the 

 plants, and the temperature. The stretch 

 flow is taken off, and the following period 

 of forty or fitty days, when the crop 

 grows under dry conditions, is known as 

 the "dry growth." During this period the 

 crop is cultivated with horse and hand 

 hoes. All weeds, grasses, and self-grown 

 rice are uprooted and the ground is 

 thoroughly stirred. It is during the dry 

 growth that conditions are most favour 

 able for grubs, and an intermediate flow 

 is sometimes necessary to protect the 

 crop from these pests. 



When the plants begin to joint, the 

 " harvest flow " is turned on. First the 

 water is raised until it covers all the 

 high places in the fields, and is held so 

 for three, four or five days, after 'which 

 it is lowered to the level reached by the 

 stretch flow. In a few days the water is 

 again raised till it almost touches the rice 

 heads, where it remains until the grain 

 is ripe. The harvest flow extends over 

 sixty-five days, and in order that the 

 water may not become stagnant it is 

 shifted every ten days. When the grain 

 is ripe the heads bend low. The field is 

 then drained for harvest. 



Rice iscut when the straw barely begins 

 to colour, when the lower part of the head 

 (about one-eighth) is still "in the milk. " 

 If cutting is delayed until the entire head 

 is quite ripe, the quality is inferior and 

 the quantity greatly reduced by the loss 

 incurred by shelling out in handling. 



It is cut 10 or 12 inches from the ground, 

 leaving a high stubble on which the grain 

 is laid to cure. In about twenty-four 

 hours, when the grain is thoroughly dry, 

 it is bound into sheaves, tied with straw, 

 and shocked, or stood upright in the sun 

 to dry. As soon as possible the sheaves 



