Rice. 109 
pheric influence, this alone shows how well our soil is adapted 
for rice. By the way, there is a considerable area of fine 
rice grown in many districts of the colony in navigable 
canals, when these are out of use. Some planters obje6t, 
because of the tendency of the sides of a dry canal to 
break in, and there is reason in this objection. The 
canal bottoms are specially suitable for a paddy garden 
because of the ease of irrigation. 
These Anna Regina garden lands have been held rent 
free, being simply the garden grounds attached to the 
cottages: For several years past the industry has been 
spreading, the waters of the Quack-a-booka, a fresh 
water canal, having being laid under contribution ; and 
on the coolies applying for land on which to grow rice on 
a sound tenure, Mr. GlLZEAN very readily acceded to 
their demands, and now there are over 200 acres — it will 
in a few months be 300 — of grand paddy fields, adding 
quite a charm to the surrounding scenery. Before 
explaining the mode of dealing with Anna Regina paddy 
fields, I must ask you to allow me to turn for a moment 
to what I shall denominate "Manna Rice," or that grown 
in a semi-wild state on the savannahs of the East Coast. 
The idea of a spontaneous spread of this growth from 
particles let fall by labourers when working on service 
canals might have been entertainedhad these people carried 
paddy, instead of rice prepared for the pot, which latter 
is the condition in which all rice is used as food, and is 
no longer in a condition to germinate. The fact is, small 
patches of rice have been grown on spots since the East 
Coast water scheme brought the savannahs into notice ; 
and the fires of '82, '83, and, '84 having cleared off all 
the rough herbage, ferns, &c, &c, the state of the land 
