'1 
l63 
THE TRomcwi. AGWrntn-TumsT. 
fSEPTEMBER I, 180I. 
T>ie to^nl qnontitv of fuel ' ooBBumed on Indian 
railways in 1890 was : — 
Tool S'tRft"! tons 
Coke la s«fi „ 
Pfttpnt fuel''.. .. 1ft „ 
Wood 318 731 „ 
Total ..1.195,722 „ 
A quantUv wlnVb wiH infrppsp year by ypnr, 
nnlpPB seipnce nrnkps poitip grand di'spovprv in thp 
dtrpotinn of tVio ohpnp «>ir>n1iefit!on of pleftrio forcp. 
Snf-h a diofovpry would be of immprfe innnort- 
ence to '^pylnn, bv settincf free for ncrrifnlhifl 
purposes lar(?e areas of forest now reserved for 
rniWiv fiip]. 
The mileftPft for wb'ob nonrly 1.200.000 tons of 
fup' werp Qonounipd wai obont ^fi O"0, eq Jf is 
hope''. rip*'rolpum in qua^ti^'' i" rlioenvpTod in Tn^lid 
tbpvp will be in tbe oanp of the adj'»e°nt pmnlre a 
d'^nVilp a-lvantasp ovpr Ceylon, in two better forms 
of fupl tbnn wood being availnbln. Aa our own 
railway evstpm extenWa tbp drain on our fovents 
will be verv serious, apart from tbe inoonvenipnoe 
of tbe bulky nature of tbe fuel whiob bas to bp 
tran=inortpd to anri on tbe railway. For our rail- 
ways and for our 5!*ea fnetorips onr hope is in 
tbp disftovpry in tbe n^ar futn^e oF a ebpfln 
metbo'i of ntilizing the all-pervading force called 
electricity," 
THE EICE FIELDS OF CAEOLINA. 
Frnm the «' Louisiana Pln.nter and Manufictitrer 
Coloppl John Serovpn, a distingnisbed rioe plantpr 
of Sn^'anndb, some fonr ypar<? oincp, in a ruiil'C 
a(1/Irea°, vf^rvpil to a riep nlin+ation as a " greit 
aeripnVnral fan^nrv." Mr. Trenbolm of OViarlpoton, 
Intoly a prom'n°nt mpmber of the Unitp'^ Statps 
pj<7;i HPrv'ce pnninii=sion, a year or two afterward 
mailp "<5e of nearlv tbo same wnr'^s. tboueh 
pvi'lontW i" icnorancpof tbeir prpviou" emnlovmpnt. 
That Bntlr-r'ti^o BO bigb and pntirplv in-lep^nrlent 
s>iO"''l mntn-'l'v pmnloy thp same p^nressio" is moot 
Pxr«ol]p"t ririmff facie pv'dence of its applicability 
and ppiorammatio fiti^ess. 
Anil a factory truly a rice plantation is in the 
ftiVeot Bppse of tbe word ; for Nature — nasaionlpsi 
sfpnmother that pho is — pxprts so slight, and 
attontivR nrt so complete and watchful a control 
ovpr PVPTV proi-pop attpnding its production, that 
rif " is unbatanf.inllv " roanufacturpd ." not cultivntpd. 
But in this instance utilitarian art Llends nn- 
oonocloucly a wondrous beauty with its practical 
pconnmips. No fairpr prospect exists in the whole 
rpnlm of asrricnlture than the landscape of a 
well-anpointpd ri"e plantation, whetbpr viowed in 
the earW pprinc bpfore planting, with tho tawny 
SPima of its embankmer:tfl intprpe"t'ne thi^cheekerpd 
Fquar°8, the mellow mould still stfiamicifi from tbe 
plow, and the whole viaiblo area apparently aa 
clpaolv fTOpp*-, and garnished as a parlor floor; 
or later, durinr? thp nursery reign of the fostering 
"stretch watpr." each square a lake, its wavelets 
rippling undpr thp fresh SPa breeze, with the tons 
of the vonoR plants immprspd, for forein? — in 
lono, wavinc lines of tpn'lrils floating on the water 
an'' the russpt banks, peparatin;? hike from lakp, now 
paths of emerald, thfir grss'y carppt blowins in 
the April sun; or lat»r still, during the "long 
water," tbp ei>tire Iwndocflpe oop wavins? sea of 
grppn, broken only by th" crystal ribbons of canals 
and qnartrr drains; or. finally, in the full noontide 
of harvest-timp, the I'-vel field", now lakps no 
morp, .but vast etretohns of stubble, dotted with 
stacks of golden grain, as if an army tented 
there. 
The wbpat fiei'ls of Dakota are imnrpRoivB. but 
+Vpir nn^'rokpn, iinrrlipvpd monotpn'" Ir almo-tpain. 
ful. Tbp vinp-elad bi^B of t>ie Unnpr Ohio are 
povpl nnd intrrostina, thp vpIvp^v f;loppa of tVie 
vnllev of tbp Roanokp a"d Kpntu^k'^'s bhip-o-vflsa 
mpa''ows prpttv and attrn'tive ; Vint a ptn''v of 
t.bp ricp fields of the Atlantic deltas is simnly 
faopinating. 
In othpr acrieultural pur«n!ta man's efforts are 
tbfl sport of thp pl°mentB; and Ibt^pI' deppndppt 
unon the oanrioft of natnrp. In tbiq man works 
toith riod. in thfl yprv shadow of liis prpspnne^ 
with intpl'loen^e and jndgmp'^t reflrn^atinff the '"■av- 
ward frpoVs of natnrp. grrnfting cb°minal affinity 
and pVivB'pal forpp, and di'pptlnff Vioth to an end. 
(•PO'-O'^a'^lv pprtain if nronpr'v o''mpasBod. 
TVo Vi-Vh planp of tbonght nPPpBsarily trpvprs°d 
V>v tViP pla'itpr Tinvsning tbis avopRtinn from fenora- 
+ion +n ffpppratio", ratnro''lv ind'ioed a broodp). 
intellipenpp, erpa'er plevation of mind, snporior 
r''finpmpnt. and a morp universal nnd tborontrh 
poomopoiitnnism than baa pvpr Vior p attainpd either 
before or ainen in nnv other kindrpd pmploympnt. 
Yet this ineidpntol suppr rpfinempot was far 
removed from effpminaev. T^nring tho late war, 
wVpnevr a cisson stnck fast in tbp mnd t.bp flr^t 
volnntper sbon'dpr nndsr thp wbppl ^8," that of 
tViP vonnp ricP r^lantpr, who a, month prpvioyg had 
dointilv airpd bim^plf in h's pnntlpos wbite-dn^k 
sp't; whilp Jakp and Pat the ptpvedore and the 
ditchpr. invariably "stood flfar off" roatcbinp 
tVie pprformanc°, nor lent a helping hand exoept 
"nndpr ordprs." 
Thp word "ripe" is pviden^V of e«stprn orinfin: 
Tamil. aW.s/ ; Arab'p. nruz : Tj'>t\'ri. nryzn; Italian, 
riso; Fi-pn''b, riz. It is only spcond in importanoe 
amons tbp Bprenls to whpat, and forms the grain 
food of over onp-tViird o' tho Oilman racp. 
Itg nsp bv tbp inViabitanta of Oliina and India 
eytpnds as fqr Viapl'' as f^p parpgot rppords of 
•■itbpr Ponntry. A flbinpae nlasaio dpserib's rrinntply 
tlie drainasp and irrieat'on works oont^trnotpd Vw 
tbe F.mperor Yn on tlio Yamjtop.kionfr 493f) 
years ago. If was cultivated in T'cvnt fnllv tiftv 
cpntnrlea aso, though not thp rrineina.l food of 
the latter eonntry- Frequent Kiblioal rpfprpnees to 
rice are found. Herodotus fully dpocribps it. ns 
does Plinv in his treatise upon the food plants 
(.f India. WViilp Q-iVibon oonsidprs tbat it was 
cultivatpd in fpain at the time of the 'Roman 
ooi'UPation, it certainlv, as an industry, attniopd 
no promin°npe in Eurone nntil pomparativplv mo^prn 
times, and it is sepprally Vielipvpd to havp bppn 
introduced by the Moors into Andalusia durina 
the plpvt-nth century, and to have crossed from 
Spain into Italy aViout a contnrv latpr. 
Rioe is now frrown in noarlv pverv portion of 
'he globe — in Java, B'az'l. Hawaii, Americi.. Ttalv, 
.T<ipan India, but prinpipal'v '"n OVn'na and B'^nnah. 
Thp Burmese p-op is nearly all pxportrd. the 
inhabitnntq ou'isisting on some otipappr food, as 
millot or dourrba; that of China is prinnipa'ly con- 
sumed at homo, though a good deal finds its way 
into this eonntry. 
Rice varips as sreat'y in its appparanne as it 
•lopB in its eultivat'on and Viabita of crowth. An 
Figlish authority, H. B Proctor, to whom .acknow- 
ledcment is l^ere made for much va1uaV,]i infor- 
mation on this snbiPot, says: " Th^rp are *ar 
more cultivatpd varipties of rice diflovJno; more 
from each other than thero are of %vhPBt or nn" 
other of tho srain foods. Tbn Karons, n liilLrn^e 
in British Burmali, h«ve names for fnrtv yf>vlpties. 
Dr. Moore mpptions one hundred and s'xty org 
varieties growing in Cevlon, besidps vbic>i thnr 
are those grown in Africa, China, .Tanan. an 
other p&rts of the world, The oolors of the gr^i 
