2 BULLETIN 1155, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Many years ago attempts were made to grow rice in California, 
but these did not prove successful. In the statistical report of the 
California State Board of Agriculture for 1919 these early attempts 
are briefly reviewed as follows: 
Half a century ago experiments were made in the cultivation of rice in California, 
but they were not successful. In 1860 small quantities were raised in Alameda, 
Tehama, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma Counties, but the total amount pro- 
duced was only 2,140 pounds. * * * In 1862 the following premiums were offered 
by the legislature: For the first 1,000 pounds of rice, $250; for the first 5,000 pounds, 
$500; for the first 10,000 pounds, $1,000; and the same sums for the first, second, and 
third succeeding years. 1 
These financial inducements failed to stimulate the growth of the 
rice industry in California at that time, though it has been developed 
during recent years. In 1906 Japanese rice was grown and matured 
in Fresno County, Calif. In 1907 Prof. W. W. Mackie, then of the 
Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture, in 
cooperation with O. H. Miller, of the Sacramento Valley Develop- 
ment Association, sowed Japanese rice on the farm of Mr. Gates at 
Elk Grove, in Sacramento County, and at Stockton in cooperation 
with the State Insane Asylum, but both plats failed to mature. In 
January, 1908, Prof. W. W. Mackie met the Biggs Chamber of Com- 
merce. With H. S. Brink, a member of that organization, he in- 
spected the adobe lands west of Biggs and reported that they were 
suitable for rice culture. Later, in cooperation with the Biggs 
Chamber of Commerce, the Sutter-Butte Canal Co., and the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Co., several acres of Japanese and of Honduras rice 
were sown on the Crane ranch, southwest of Biggs. The Japanese 
rice might have matured had it been properly irrigated, but condi- 
tions were unsuitable for the Honduras rice and it failed to mature. 
The rice was harvested by George Harvey and J. Crane, of Biggs. 
In July, 1908, Dr. B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry, sent Charles E. Chambliss of the Office of Cereal Investi- 
gations to California on a reconnaissance trip to arrange for experi- 
ments in suitable localities to determine the possibilities of commer- 
cial rice production in that State. With H. L. Blanchard, then in 
charge of cereal investigations for the Bureau of Plant Industry 
at Ceres, Calif., and Prof. W. W. Mackie, Mr. Chambliss inspected 
the rice growing at Biggs. He discussed the possibility of rice pro- 
duction with ranchers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys 
and arranged for preliminary experiments, which were conducted 
under his supervision by the Office of Cereal Investigations the fol- 
lowing year on the ranch of William Grant, about 9 miles west of 
Biggs. About 300 varieties and selections were grown, each occupy- 
ing four rows 1 rod long. On the basis of their performance under 
these conditions, 26 varieties were chosen for growing in 1910 on 
tenth-acre plats on the Grant ranch, 2 where experiments were also 
continued in 1911. Ranchers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
Valleys cooperated with the Office of Cereal Investigations in grow- 
ing rice on a small scale in 1910, 1911, and 1912. In 1911 arrange- 
ments were made through O. H. Miller of the Sacramento Valley 
Development Association for varietal experiments near Willows, Calif., 
» Rice. In Statis. Rpt. Calif. State Bd. Agr. 1919, p. 84. 1920. 
1 Chambliss, Charles E. A preliminary report on rice growing in the Sacramento Valley. U, S. Tept. 
Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Circ. 97, 10 p., 4 pi. 1912. 
