On the Culture of Rice* 
85 
to be kept clean, and free from vermin; and 
may then go on their way rejoicing. 
We can only repeat, that no one can be suc¬ 
cessful in raising anyizmft. of stock without care 
and good attendance. These are indispensable, 
and the females, and young, and old folks, on 
the farm, can always attend to this department. 
The time of the farmer and out-door laborers 
should never be abstracted in the busy seasons 
for small choring of this kind. We have 
known many farmers’ wives, and quite genteel 
folks too, who have raised their score, or half¬ 
score of calves annually, and they hardly knew 
that they had eaten anything from the material 
of their dairy. L. F. A. 
We have been favored by a highly intelligent 
and esteemed friend at the South, with the fol¬ 
lowing article on the cultivation of one of our 
southern staple articles. We commend it to the 
careful perusal of our southern readers. 
On the culture of Rice, from the pen of the late 
Hugh Rose, Esq. being in answer to queries from the 
late William Washington, Esq., both of whom were 
most respectable Rice planters in the State of South 
Carolina. 
Query 1. What preparation do you give your land 
before you begin to plant 1 
2. When do you begin to plant ? 
3. Do you select your seed, and how do you know 
the best seed 1 Do you prefer seed from the 
North or South, and how often do you change 
your seed ? 
4. How many rows to the task or quarter of an acre? 
How many bushels of seed to the acre ? 
5. Do you scatter in the trenches, or as it is techni¬ 
cally called, string plant? 
6 . Do you point-flow ? If so, assign the reasons. 
7. How many times do you hoe before you put on 
the water ? 
9. If in grass, would you put on the water or not ? 
What do you call a good crop to the acre, or 
to the hand ? 
10 . Have you ever ploughed your land while the crop 
was growing ? or do you object to it, and why? 
11. Do you keep your land dry all the winter, or do 
you flow it ? 
12. Have you ever used salt or brackish water, and 
what has been the result ? Have you ever 
used lime on your land, and how do you apply 
13. How do you know the best time to cut rice, and 
what is the task of a laborer in harvest ? 
14. Is there any peculiarity in your preparation of 
rice for market ? 
15. Do you ever judge by the roots of the health of 
your rice ? 
16. Have you ever practised a succession or rotation 
of crops, and if so, which do you most approve 
of? 
Answers as follows in the order in which the above 
queries are submitted. 
Query 1. I cultivate inland swamp, of a strong tena¬ 
cious blue clay, which I strive to reduce to a 
good tilth, by ploughing a portion, and always 
digging what I cannot plow. I harrow twice 
before planting, in as dry a state as is prac¬ 
ticable. 
] 2. My land being cold, I seldom begin to plant be¬ 
fore the first week in April, and never earlier 
than the 25th March. 
3. With respect to the first question, I reply, that I 
occasionally change my seed, and procure it 
from tide swamp, of light and rich soil, not re¬ 
garding whether it is north or south of me. I 
judge of seed by its weight and being free from 
grains of white and red rice. 
4. I plant altogether in half acres, 150 feet square; 
and after repeated experiments, to ascertain 
the distance best adapted to my land, I have 
determined in favor of 14 inches, and sow two 
bushels of seed to the acre. 
5. I observe a medium between the two, and neither 
sow very broad or narrow. I have never plant¬ 
ed on string, as it is termed. 
6 . Being dependent on reserve water, I never have 
had recourse to the point-flowing, 
7. I hoe twice, and do not then water, unless a dry 
state of the land renders it necessary. I do 
not advocate for early or long watering. I do 
not water beyond ten or twelve days, until rice 
is in the second joint. 
8 . My reply to the last query will answer this also. 
9. There is much grass that flourishes in water, and 
unless in a very young state, would not be de¬ 
stroyed. The red and white shank for instance, 
with other water grasses. If there is a large 
portion of the crop grassy, I would have re¬ 
course to wrnter, as much of the grass would 
be destroyed. I consider fifty bushels of rice 
to the acre a fair and good crop on an average, 
or ten barrels to the hand. 
10 . I have ploughed a small portion of my rice, when 
I planted the distance of 16 inches, but I soon 
discontinued it, as no material advantage re¬ 
sulted from it. 
11. I kept my land flowed until February, if practi¬ 
cable, for the use of a reserve mill. 
12 . I have never used salt or brackish water on my 
land. I have this year limed an acre of rice, 
at the rate of 22 bushels spread on the land 
after ploughing, and harrowed in previously to 
being trenched. I am at present ignorant of 
the result from personal observation, but am 
informed there is no visible difference in favor 
of the part limed. 
13. When three or four of the lower grains are be¬ 
ginning to turn yellow, is, I think, the proper 
time to begin to cut; and if the rice stands 
well up to the husk, three-quarters of an acre 
is a reasonable task in cutting. The tying and 
carrying to the bam yard must be regulated by 
distance and other circumstances. 
14. I used one of Mr. Lucas's water mills,* without 
any peculiarity as to preparation. 
15. No answer to this query. 
16. I have not paid much attention to a systematic 
rotation of crops; but doubtless, very benefi¬ 
cial results would reward the agriculturist who 
did it. 
Permit me to suggest another query, highly impor¬ 
tant to the interest of the rice planter, viz ; The most 
eligible time of turning off the water, previous to the 
cutting of rice ? 
Opinions differ much on this subject, and it is a 
desideratum really worthy of investigation. 
* The above were written in the year 1828, before Strong & 
Moody’s Patent Rice Mill was invented, which was not until 
about the year 1833. 
I will here add, good rice sells on an average for from 75 to 80 
cents per bushel, though this year it will not exceed from 70 to 
75 cents per average on account of the very large crops xnado 
this year. 
