THE TROPIML AQTm5in.TUm8T 
fSEPTEMBRR 1, t8oi. 
Tbe total qaantit; of fuel oonaumed on lodian 
railwaya in 1890 wai : — 
Coal 845, (TJl tons 
Coke la dRfl „ 
Patpnt fuel .. .. 18 694 „ 
Wood 818,781 „ 
Total ..1,196,722 „ 
A qnantlty whirb will ineresni’ year by yaar, 
onlsPF soicnoft makos enme qrard diaoovery in the 
direction of the cheap applioatioiT nt electric force. 
Such a diecovory would be of imtnenpe imrort- 
anoB to reylon, by setting free for agricnltaral 
purpcses large areas of forest now reserved for 
railway fuel. 
The mileage for which nearly 1,900,000 tons of 
fuel ware ocnaumad was about lO.OiO. If. as it is 
hoped, petroleum in quantitv is diecovered In India 
there will be In the case of the adjacent empire a 
double advantage over ('eylon, in two better forma 
of fuel then wood being available. As onr own 
railway system extends the drain on our forests 
will be very serious, spart from the inoonvenianoe 
of the bulky nature of the fuel which has to be 
transported to and on the railway. For onr rail- 
ways and for our tea fiiotories onr hope is in 
the discovery in the near future of a cheap 
method of utilizing the all pervading force oalled 
“ electricity.” 
... ^ 
THE RICE El ELD, S OE CAROLINA. 
Frnm the “ Louiiianti Planter and Manuf icturer 
Colonel John .Screven, a dnlinguislied riee planter 
of Saviinnah, soma (onr yeare since, in a pi|t>lin 
address, referred to a riee plantation aa s " great 
agricultural taotory.” Mr. Trenhnim. of Charleston, 
lately a prominent member of the Unite, 1 States 
civil aervics oommissiau, a year or two afterward 
made use of nearlv the same Words, though 
evidently in ignorance of their previons employment. 
That authorities so high and entirely independent 
should mutual y employ the same expression is most 
excellent prima facie evidence of its applicability 
and epigratnmatio Qtress. 
And a factory truly a rice plantation is in the 
ful'est sense of the word; for Nature — passioiileRs 
stepmotlier that she is— a-xerts so slight, and 
attentive art so CD j plete and watchful a control 
over every proaess attending its production, that 
riee is cuhstantiully “ uiaaufaaturud.” ilut onliivated. 
But ill this instance iitili'arian art tlents nn- 
oonsoionsly a wondrous besuty with its practioal 
eoonomirg. No fairer prospect exists in the whole 
realm of agriculture than the lendsoape of a 
well-appoinltd rice plantation, whether viewed in 
the early spring before planting, with the tawny 
seams of its embankmontB mteree .*tiiig the checkered 
squares, the mellow mould still sr«:iiuiny fioio the 
plow, and the whole visible area appare-itly as 
cleanly swop* ard garnish,..! hs a parlor floor, 
or later, during the nurserv r»lgn of the fostering 
"stretoh water,” esAl, squi re a Jake, its wavelets 
rippling under the fresh sea breeze, with the tong 
of the young plants immersed, for forcing— in 
long, waving lines u.' tend; d fluati'.g m the water 
and the russet banki, ep.tra'iugl ke fr m lake, now 
paths of emerald, th' ir gras y carp. I blowing in 
the April sun; or later still, dliring' the “long 
water,” the entire Isndi-roiip one waving sea of 
green, brokou only by h cr> i tal ribbone of canals 
and quarter drains ; or. fl. r.l'y io the full noortide 
of harvest-time, the level tielda, now lakes no 
more, but vast stretches of s'ubble, dotted with 
stacks of golden grain, as if an army tented 
there. 
The wheat fields of Dakota are impressive, hut 
their unbroken, nnrfUeved monotonv Isalmotnaln. 
ful. The vfnetolad hills of the Upper Ohio are 
novel and intereating, the velvetv slopes of the 
valley of the Roapokb and Kentuekv'a blue-graaa 
meadows Prnttv and attra«tive • hat a stndv of 
the rioa fields of 'the Atlsntie deltas is simnlv 
fasoinating. 
In other agrionitural nnrenits man's efforts are 
the sport of the elements, and largely dependent 
nnmi the eaprice of nature. In D’is men works 
with flod, In the verv shadow of bis presenee^ 
with IntelMgenee and judgment regn’a*lng the wav- 
ward freaks of nature, grafting ohemloel affinity 
and physical force, and directing hn*h to an and, 
reaaonahly certain if properly compassed. 
The high plane of ihonght necessarily traversed 
by the planter pnraning this avoeatlon frnm genera- 
tinn to generation, na'nrally indneed a broader 
Intellio'enoe, greater elevation of mind, "nperinr 
refinement, and a more univeraal a^d thorough 
ehsmopoliianivm thanhaa ev"rbe, n attained either 
before or since in anv other kindred employment. 
Yet this ineidontal super-refinement was far 
removed from eff“rainaoy. During the late war, 
whenever a c«is«on stook fast in the mud the first 
volunteer shon'der under the wheel waa that of 
the young rice-nlanter, who a month previous had 
daintilv aired himself in hia apotless white-dnek 
suit; whila Jake and Pat, the stevedore and the 
ditcher, invariably “ stood afar off.” watching 
the performance, nor lent a helping hand except 
•' under orders." 
The word ” riee” is evidently of eaatern origin: 
Tamil, ariei ; Arabin, nriie; Latin, orj/jn; italian, 
rieo; Preneh, riz. It is only second in importance 
among the nereala to wheat, and forma the grain 
fond of over ona-third of the hnma n race. 
Its nao hy the inhabitants of Ohinn and India 
extends as far back aa tbe earEest records of 
cither eonntrv. A Chinese elaasio describes minnlely 
the drainage and irrigation works oopotmeted bv 
the P.mpernr Tn on the Yingtap-kiane 4038 
years ago. If was enltiva'ed in P'gynt full ’ fifty 
centnriea ago, though not the nrineipal (nod of 
the latter oonntry. Preqner.t biblioal references to 
riee are found. Herodotus fully devorihes it, as 
does Pliny in his treatise upon the food plants 
t,f India. While Gibbon oonsiders that it was 
oiiitivaled in Spain at the time of the Roman 
oecnpation, it ^ner*ainly, sa an industry, altained 
no TWominep^ee in E.nrona nntil eompsrativelv modern 
times, and it is generally be'ipppfi 'n have been 
introduced hy the Moors into Andalusia during 
^0 eievinth century, and to have oroased from 
Spain into Italy abppr p cen'nrv later 
Riee is now grown ip nearly every portion of 
,heglohe_,n .Tava, Brazil, Hawaii, Amerioa Ita'v, 
.Tenan Indie, hut prineinaliy in China and B‘>rmah. 
Ti,,. Burmese omn is p.„,iy a’l exported, the 
innabiter s fu luisting on some cheaper food, aa 
railli f or dniirrliaj that of China is principally con- 
ftnmed at home, though a good deal finds its way 
into this country. 
Rice varies as grea'’y in ita anpaarance as it 
in ouniTaHriTi habitn of 
RO^hnritv, H. R Prnotof, fowhont aok'i-'i'v 
lorii/ment ia mf'Hn for mnob infor 
mR^if^n on this ^nhjrot, onyp* “ ar© far 
moro of r’np fliff'T'nt inoro 
frnm rnrh otbor fhan thorp am nf lyhonf or anv 
other of tb'’ craJn f 0 I 3 . Th^ Karoop. a hill-n o 
In British h'.ve namei for ft r^v v- rlpt ea. 
Dr, Moore m'^ntions one hnn»^r''f1 an^ on'^ 
varie*ifta growing in Ceylon, beRidep nthich there 
are thiao (ii'OWii in Vfrroa, China, Ja^an. nnd 
other p&rts of tho \7orld. The oolors of tho 
