HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
295 
which are piled up like bricks or peat, that they may he 
thoroughly dried, and all the weeds destroyed; the period 
immediately following the rice harvest, being the driest 
season of the year. After remaining some time in this 
state, the clods are spread over the field, and mixed with a 
suitable proportion of manure. Water is then let into the 
field, and soon softens the clods, which when moist are 
easily broken, and reduced to a very fine earth. The field 
is then made as level as possible by a thin sheet of water 
being conducted over its surface. It is now deemed ready 
for the seed, which in sowing is literally cast upon the 
water. 
The bursting of the buds of the ambiaty (a common 
shrub,) which generally takes place in the month of 
September, is regarded as the commencement of spring, 
the time when seed-rice is prepared for sowing. This is 
done by steeping the grain in water for one or two days, 
and afterwards keeping it in a warm place until it begins 
to sprout. In this state it is sown, after which the water 
is drained off*, and instead of harrowing the ground, some 
very fine manure, generally of wood or grass, is scattered 
over the newly-sown rice. The field is now allowed to 
remain a day or two without water, until the young shoot, 
causing the earth to crack, indicates the approach of the 
blade to the surface. The whole is then again covered to 
the depth of about two inches with water, which is shortly 
afterwards drained off*. After this, the tender blade soon 
appears above ground. 
The seed is sown very thickly, and the growth of the rice 
in this stage requires great attention till about five or six 
inches above the ground, when it is considered fit to be 
transplanted to other fields; this, however, is seldom done 
until after the rains have begun to fall in October and 
