i66 
THE TROPtCAL AGRIGULTURIST. [September i, 1891. 
suits him aoblj ; he oaa go " half lo sleep" 
betweon liie uandles and yet maimge to hold a 
pretty straight lurrow. Bui put him at any work 
that required the sliguiost menial exertiou or is 
otherwise tlian absolutely meohanioal, aad he is 
at once out of his eiemeut aud wornod accordingly. 
In irom ten daya to six weeks, acaording to 
the season auu temperature, the '• streloh water" 
is put on, and according to the exact stage in 
which the young sprout is at the time, is called 
either the "stretch Irom the point" or the "stretch 
from the fork." 
The careful planter always endeavors to stretoh 
from the point. It is wall known that lu aii 
vegetation certain roots and sets of roots beneath 
correspond with curtain leaves or other portions 
of the plant auuv^, and th.s is especially true 
of noe, the greatest care being necessary in 
watching their relative developments. 
As soon as the germ root pushes out under- 
Beath the grain in search for food, a minute 
point is visible aoove ground, reaching up for 
1-1,. ^ J ^iy. rji^-_j jg ^jjy embryo stalk, and 
0 • V .-^ . : ...A the germ root. The pUnt is 
livr. »ii ona proper siage for forcing, and the 
Btretch water should be put on at once. 
It sometimes happens, however, that the water, 
from tidal or otuer causes, is delayed, and the 
point, whiuh is similar lo that of barley or wheat, 
only sharper and more delicate, , divides and 
asbumes tne " fork" stage, and the stretch that 
follows IS from the forJc instead of from the point. 
The contingency is unaesirabie, as the plant is 
thereby somewhat ledsened In vitality. 
The water is at first turned on deep, entirely 
covering tne surface of the squares, anu tiu young 
plant, drinking lu the hte-giving fluid, commences 
10 rear its tiead alott aud reach up for light 
and air. Tnenver v?ater is seldom clean — always 
more or less tinged with mud — And the tenuer 
shoot battles nianiuily with its semi-translucent 
covering to bask in the comforting rays ot une sun. 
After the rice fias become suhicieutiy stretched, 
or a few inches high— a period extending throUi',h 
from two to ten days — the water is slackeU down 
to what is known as " slack water gauge," so as 
to show the tops of the plant and give it 
necessary air and sunshine. If tne plant is longer 
than tne water is deep, which is generally the 
Can, i. floats its upper leaves on uie surface 
in long waving lines across the squar. s — a ein- 
guluriy attractive and beautiful pictum. 
it seldom happens, however, tnat the whole 
plantation is undei the same treatment at the same 
time ; for, with Ave or six huuuied acres to sow, 
11 is a uiflioult matter in early spring, with 
frequent interruptions from rains and bad weather, 
to fated down so large an aoreago in time for 
utilizing any one spring tide for flowing, A large 
plantation will run Ave or six grain drihs at 
once, and put in someiimes sixty-flve or seveniy 
acres aaily; but even witn as rapid wark as tnis 
it Id impoobiole to get all in contemporaneously. 
Consequently it is a common thing to see pernaps 
One lourih ol the squares under the stretch water ; 
another lourlh uuuer charge of the "gun squad," 
waiting lor the tender jjoint to shoot ; another 
series under tne sprout water, and the lemainuer 
in jjiocess of planting, all at once- This ueceasarily 
auuB greater interest and diversity to the process 
aud prospect. 
tiometimeb, too, the riue comes up mixed with 
" voiuuteer ;" tnis is the product ol the grain shaken 
out during the piuvious harvest aua scattered 
uroaUcabt over tuu lauu. This can gcueiaiiy be 
ifcuioveu uy the hoe, but where itis very thick it 
bouiciimes necesijitateg rcpioughing and seeuiiig, thus 
(hrgwiPK lute h {lOrtdoD 01 tfie crop. This voluateet: 
rice is hardy and proliflc, and externally similar 
to white rice, but the objection to it is that the 
berry is red, and greatly reduces the grade ol noe 
with which it is mixed, besides totally unfltting 
It for seed. To destroy this obnoxious tare, the 
fields are sometimes thrown into dry crops for 
a year or two, or kept under water for a iiRe time. 
it will be remembered that each square is under 
separate control, and except whore two or more 
are temporarily united by tne check bauks washing 
through.can oe flowed and drained independently at 
the pleasure of tne planter. 
A walk over the oauks of a plantation at this 
period IS replete with interest ; at every step the 
' tiddlers," scurrying from under your feet aud 
ducking into their holes, each one, as he disappears, 
waving aloft in defiance nis disproportionate maniole. 
Yonder are small squads of negroes in twos and 
threes, dragging with long wooden rakes the floating 
trabh and stubble blown by the wind in masses 
agaiust the lee banks, aud piling it on the palhivays. 
Over there the rattle of the grain drills is heard 
seeding down the few belated squares, iiere is 
the trunk-minder with his assiataut fiard at work 
repaiiing a leak, On the canal bank is the overseer 
in consultation with the planter on his uaily 
visit to the fields, his little sail boat rocking at 
the wharf down by the quarter. Attention is called 
to a defective trunk or a dangerous banK ; stretch 
water, to-morro\v, must be turned on numeber six 
and numoer eight, and spruuc water let lE Irom 
seventeen and tw>,nty-ihree. The Ijng cord of 
the submerged thermometer is drawn in hand over 
hand, its reading careiull^ taken, and tne mean 
temperature ol the water for the mouth in tne 
overseer's haudy note-book is compaiea with that 
of last year, aud dependent operations deduced aud 
determined. From the higu and dry squ-ies on 
the further side comes tne casual pop of the 
musket, while flocks of daws and hu<..giy crows 
circle ovtrhead, a vvaiting their opporiunitj to settle 
down on the sprouting grain, iiiveryihing worKs 
in its appropriate groove and little is leit to chance. 
Tne streich wathr is held at the slack gauge 
from twenty to forty days, when the ''dry roots" 
and the leaves corresponding to it have put out. 
The amphibious and pampered plant has now had 
enough of its stimulating though strictly leiuperanoe 
beverage, aud is ready fur a period of " prohibition," 
or dry growth, 
The dovjiopmant of tae dry root is manifested 
to the skilled planter by its aocompanying and 
corresponding leaves. To one ignorant of the 
subject the external appearance of the plant would 
indicate nothing at ail, but :.ue close student is 
familiar with every shoot anuj jint, and reads taeir 
story as from a printed page, (ieneraily, however 
the leaf alone is not depended on, but for cettaiuty a 
sake the plant itself is pulled up aud examined 
and if the dry root has attained a length of from 
one half to tnree fourths of an inch, the plant 
is considered ready for tne change. 
The stretch water is now taEen off gradually 
thorough a period of two to three ua^s. As soon 
as the ground is dry — and these rice lauds are so 
thoroughly drained that they dry much more quickly 
than one would suppose— the piOW and the hoe 
commence their work, sometimes the one preceding, 
sometimes the other, but always at proper intervals. 
{To be continued.) 
TisA V^EBBUs QoiNiNB. — The growers of cinchona 
in boutU America are so disgusted at the prices 
realised luat many of them are foolishly rooting 
up highly productive trees, aud planting tea shrubs 
ia their flaoe.—H, and 0, Mail, 
