830 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Tune i, 1889 
for the rice crop Water was let on from navigation 
canals at stated intervals, and when the water ran low, 
r course wa< had to the basket with double strings, 
and the life being next to nothing, it was astonishing 
how soon a coupie of men could lay an acre under 
water. Wheu the rice came into ear all the grain-eating 
hirds flocked round the devoted patch eg, some of them 
sucking the milky iiuid out of the embryo rice. The 
ryot was equal to the occasion, by planting a series 
of poles one at every 100 feet with the tops slightly 
bent, and a kerosine tin containing a few pebbles sus- 
pended to each pole; these were joined by an endless 
line to the outside of the field, and when an urchin gave 
a pull to the string, all the tin contents gave a sudden 
clatter, quite enough to dismay and frighten the most 
pert of the feathered tribe. While this was going on 
the two men betook themselves to preparing mortars 
and pestles and a barn anent harvest ; the two span 
of bullocks having become so to say a part of the house- 
hold, played with and caressed by the women and 
children. 
Harvest arrived, with need of additional hands, to 
reap the crop while it was crisp and dry ; and here 
came the first clash between manager and rice grower, 
the one wishing to keep his mill supplied, the other 
wanting to save bis rice. I decided in favour of the 
rice grower, as the reaping was not likely to employ 
too long a time. The workers, with a small toothed 
reaping hook, smaller in size but much the same as 
the now obsolete tool formerly used for reaping in 
the old country, cut the head of grain o£E with about 
a foot of stalk, which being made into small sheaves 
after remaining in the sun for a time, were finally 
conveyed to the barn, a rough structure thatched with 
cane bands. A. stake was driven into the ground at 
one end of the barn ; by freely ramming the surround- 
ing earth, a threshing floor was secured say about 12 feet 
in diameter. The bullocks were yoked close together 
and made to walk round this stake, while sheaf after 
sneaf was thrown under their feet and shaken up so 
as to bring every part under the tread of their feet. 
It was simply astonishing how quickly the grain was 
by this means separated fron the straw, toe paddy 
being from time to time swept into heaps and put into 
bigs, for the winnowing operations. This was done 
in a clear space, exposed to the wind, by the well 
known ancient system of letting fall from a sieve. The 
paddy once ready for market, a ready sale for it was 
found on the estate. 
Harvest over, water was let on, and a fine ratoon 
crop came up as by magic, little inferior to the first. 
After reaping this crop, the land was again treated 
in exactly the same way by puddling as at first, of course 
the work being much easier. 
For want of labour, in 1872 the rice cultivation ended. 
The whole of the above description can be applied to 
the venture in rice cultivation which has been carried 
on for several seasons on Novar and Dundee, in the 
Abary district, by the coolie proprietors of those estates. 
While I was watching the rice industry on the West 
Coast, the late Mr. Bascom at Anna Regina tried a 
most interesting experiment among the Chinese of that 
estate. To gain a reservoir supply of water for his 
gang and machinery, he constructed that grand re. 
Bervoir, one of the sights of Anna Regina; a two 
feet earthenware pipe was placed, conducting the water 
from Quackabooka which stands at a high level, un- 
der ground and through the Chinese quaters. Now, 
Chin Chin was not slow to grasp the situation, and, 
unknown to Mr. Bascom, uncovered the pipe, drilled 
a hole in it, inserted a bamboo, and by that means 
secured a never-failing supply of water for his gardens 
which were then covered with eddoes and other ve- 
g^ta ihs. H-iv'ng secured water, they set to work in 
tru-i Chinese fashi >n, and reduced the height of the 
land, by diggin? out certain areas and ra sin^ others, 
making the garden g ound what it remains t> this 
rWv— i picture of C iin we rural scenery. The low 
pi its produce the mjst mai<rtiifieen.t ri^e an I have con- 
tinuedt ) do so for at least 18 years w thout rest ; 
and a reason for this may be found in the following 
passage from De Bow's review: — V The Chinese, who 
pay the greatest attention to the cultivation of rice 
manure their land with all sorts of filth, dung, &c. 
They preserve all the scrapings of pig's hair, the 
barbers carefu'lv preserving the human hair, which 
is no small quantity where the head is shaved, and 
the cultivators of the soil readily purchase this 
compost at a penny per pound and barges are to be 
seen on the canals entirely laden with nothing else. 
The Chinese cultivators look upon hair, of whatever 
nature, as of exrreme value in rice cultivation. It is 
not unusual for them to mix lime with the water 
of irrigation, which they consider draws off insects 
and gives warmth to the ground." 
Those whose pass to the leeward of the Chinese 
gardens of Anna Regina in the spring time will read- 
ily recognise that this pecular habit of conserving 
manurials has not been forgotten in British Guiana. 
Although the Chinese thus carry out their inborn 
habit of allowing no matter to go to waste, I do not 
think the rice plant in the deep rich soil of this colony 
really calls for manure. We see crop after crop raised 
on the same land, with a tendency towards improve- 
ment rather than a falling oS : and wheu we see 
the luxuriant crops grown in the bottom of canals 
where the soil is far under atmospheric influence, this 
alone shows how well our soil is adapted for rice. 
By the way, there is a considerable area of fine rice 
grown in many districts of the colony in navigable 
canals, when these are out of use. Some planters 
object, because of the tendency of the sides of a 
dry canal to break iD, and there is reason iu this ob- 
jection. The canal bottoms are specially suitable for 
a paddy garden because of the ease of irrigation. 
These Anna Regina garden lands have been held 
rent free, bsiug sdmply the garden grounds attached 
to the cottages. For several years past the industry 
has been spreading, the waters of the Quack-a-booka, 
a fresh water canal, having being laid under con- 
tribution; and on the coolies applying for land on 
which to grow rice on a sound tenure, Mr, Gilzean 
very readily acceded to their demands, and now there 
are over 200 acres— it will in a few months be 300 
— of grand paddy fields adding quite a charm to the 
surrounding scenery. Before explaining the mode of 
dealing with Anna Regina paddy fields, I must ask 
you to allow me to turn for a moment to what I 
shall denominate "Manna Rice,'' or that grown in a 
semi-wild state on the savannahs of the East Coast. 
The idea of a spontaneous spread of this growth from 
particles let fall by labourers wheu working on service 
canals might have been entertained had these people 
carried paidy, instead of rice prepared for the pot, 
which latter is the condition in which all rice is used 
as food, and is no longer in a condition to germinate. 
The fact, is, small patches of rice have been grown 
on spots since the East Coast water scheme brought 
the savannahs into notice; and the fires of '82, 'cs3, 
and, '84 having cleared off all the rough herbage, ferns, 
&c, &c, the state of the land naturally invited the 
rice growers to extend their operations, which they 
did to some effect, 
The laud behind the La Bonne Intention is very 
favourable for this wild system of cultivation, as the 
canal which I dug to gain water has a trunk or 
syphon underneath the main service canal by which 
the water behind that section of coast can be regulated. 
The water connection being continuous, by the navig- 
able canals direct to the sea, to relieve the rice growers' 
lands throws no additional strain on the drainage of 
the estate, but rather does good, by keeping the 
channel open. In this way, every dry season, tne 
water can be lowered to allow of harvesting and 
burning off the rough surface preparatory for another 
sowing. In the figures supplied by Mr. Imlach it 
must be cleirly understood that they relate to semi- 
wild cultivation, as follows: — 
A bag of rice for seed will plant about 4 
acres, and costs ... ... ... $ 2 40 
Wee. ling and burning ... ... ... 8 00 
Planting I day. I man 24 
R.-apiu^, 4 strong men, 6 days at 52c. 12 48 
Threshing and cleaning 96 
$ 24 08 
