648 Culture of Rice. 
CULTURE OF RICE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
Rice is, perhaps, of their agricultural products, the article upon 
which the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands most depend for 
food and profit; of this they have several different varieties, which 
the natives distinguish by their size and the shape of the grain: the 
birnambang, lamuyo, malagequit,bontot-cabayo, dumali, quinanda, 
bolohan, and tangi. The three first are aquatic; the five latter 
upland varieties. They each have their peculiar uses. The du- 
mali is the early variety; it ripens in three months from planting, 
from which circumstance it derives its name; it is raised exclu- 
sively on the uplands. Although much esteemed, it is not exten- 
sively cultivated, as the birds and insects destroy a large part of 
the crop. 
The malagequit is very much prized, and used for making 
sweet and fancy dishes; it becomes exceedingly glutinous, for 
which reason it is used in making whitewash, which it is said to 
cause to become of a brilliant white, and to withstand the 
weather. This variety is not, however, believed to be wholesome. 
There is also a variety of this last species which is used as food 
for horses, and supposed to be a remedy and preventive against 
worms. 
The rice grounds or fields are laid out in squares, and surround- 
ed by embankments, to retain the water of the rains or streams. 
After the rains have fallen in sufficient quantities to saturate the 
ground, a seed-bed is generally planted in one corner of the field, 
in which the rice is sown broadcast, about the month of June. 
The heavy rains take place in August, when the fields are plowed, 
and are soon filled with water. The young plants are about this 
time taken from the seed-bed, their tops and roots trimmed, and 
then planted in the field, by making holes in the ground with the 
fingers, and placing four or five sprouts in each of them; in this 
tedious labor the poor women are employed, whilst the males are 
lounging in their houses or in the shade of the trees. 
The harvest for the aquatic rice begins in December. It is 
reaped with small sickles, peculiar to the country, called yatap; 
to the back of these a small stick is fastened, by which they are 
held, and the stalk is forced upon it and cut. The spikes of rice 
are cut with this implement, one by one. In this operation, men, 
women and children all take part. 
The upland rice requires much more care and labor in its cul- 
tivation. The land must be plowed three or four times, and all 
the turf and lumps well broken up by the harrow. 
During its growth it requires to be weeded two or three times, 
