8 Mr. Good on the Culture of Rice in England. 
dated from Cambridge, on the probability 
and the advantages of cultivating the rice- 
plant in this country; and inquiring whe- 
thee any attempt of the kind has hitherto 
been exhibited. The recommendation is 
certainly judicious ; and, in anfwer to his 
inquiry, I take the liberty of ftating thar, 
in the courfe of the enfuing fpring, I hope 
to be able to point out to him a {pot, not 
three-fcore miles from this metropolis, 
where it will have been cultivated fuccefs- 
fully, and have produced a favourable har- 
vet. During the fcarcity that preceded the 
prefent, in the year 1798, the directors of 
the Eaft India Company thought the exne- 
riment of {uch domeftic cultivation worth 
attending to; and accordingly a very con- 
fiderable portion, and of different {pecies 
(for, contrary to the opinion of botanifts 
in general, it is now clearly afcertained, 
that the oryza, or rice-plant, has at leaft 
three or four {pecies inftead of one only) 
was ordered from Bengal. This feed- 
rice, or, as it 1s termed by the natives, 
paddy, aStually arrived in the {pring of 
1799, and was lodged in one of the Com- 
pany’s warehoufes. At this time, how- 
ever, unluckily for the experiment, there 
was a full profpect of a plentiful harveft 
before us, which was completely realized 
a few months afterwards ; the paddy was 
from time to time forgotten, and after 
having lain in this negleé&ted ftate till the 
approach of laft harvett, it was fold, as I 
am informed, at a very low price, for 
the porpole of feeding poultry and other 
animals. ' 
I was fortunate enough, however, about 
three months ago, to obtaina very ample 
quantity for. an ‘experiment, confifting of 
not lefs than three different {pecies, and 
each fpecies containing two diftin® varie- 
ties. It was of the year 1798, but care- 
fuily preferved by the gentkmaa who 
brought it over, and in very high perfec- 
tion. It was obtained from the province 
ot Napaul, on the north of Bengal, which 
is covered over with {now for a confider- 
able partion of the year, and’ indeed for 
many weeks after the paddy 1s fown and 
has begun to grow. In reality, in this 
guarter, it makes a very confiderable pro- 
grefs in its vegetation underneath the 
fnow, prior to its diffolution upon the re- 
turn of the hot feafon; and, after this 
event, ripens with great rapidity, and is 
gathered in a few weeks. bs 
This fpecimen, together with a detailed 
account of the mode of cultivation adopted 
in the province of Napaul, and immedi- 
ately. communicated by the natives, I have 
committed to a friend in Effex, on whofe 
fpirit and judgment I can fully rely for 
giving the experiment a faw trial; and I 
[Feb. 1, 
I 
hope to be able to communicate to the 
world, in a few months, through the me- 
dium of your Journal, a happy refult. 
My friend has fortunately a piece of 
ground upon his eftate admirably adapted 
to the occafion, confilting of a deep and 
{wampy foil, only dry for a fhort time in 
the middle of fummer, and which feems. 
to require no preparation againft the time 
of fowing. This we propofe about the 
middle or end of March, according to the 
temperature of the fealon ; the rapid ve- 
getation of the rice-plant, and the fudden’ 
and confiderable heat it requires from the 
moment of flowering, prohibiting an earlier 
attempt, 
I agree with your correfpondent in a — 
full belief that the oryza may be made to — 
thrive in this country as well as in many 
parts of the Carolinas, into which it was ~ 
not imported, I believe, till about a cen- 
tury ago; although it already forms a 
ftaple food among the natives, and is daily 
becoming an article ot moft lucrative com- , 
merce. There is, I well know, a confi- 
derabie degree of prejadice exifting againft 
fuch an experiment among ourfelves, even 
at the prefent moment, but it is by no 
means fo great as that which has been oc- 
cafionally manifefted apainft the introduc- 
tion of many other exotics of confiderable 
importance, and particularly of the pota- 
toe, which is now become a food of abfo- 
lute neceffity, but the cultivation of which © 
was fo extremely derided on its firft intrd~ 
duétion into Great Britain about the year 
1620, that it was not till nearly a century 
after its firft importation that it acquired 
any degree of general celebrity as anelcu- 
lent. . 
Should the cultivation of the rice-plant 
fucceed among ourfelves, it will prove 
equally beneficial to the planter and the 
public. It wili produce both a larger re- 
turn and a higher price than any other 
grain with which we are at prefent acs 
quainted: it will flourifh beft in that kind 
of low marth and unthrifty {wamp which 
can only, perhaps, be drained at an im- 
menie labour and expence; and, in its - 
exifent ftate, is only eapable of producing 
reeds or fome fpecies of the falix: and it 
is not likely to be injured by the gemmon 
caufes that operate in the preduction of a 
fcanty harvelt of wheat or fimilar grain. 
Added to which, it is not improbable, 
from the rapidity of its growth, that even 
a fecond crop might be produced in any 
feafon that gives us the unhappy profpeét 
prefented at the commencement of lait lum. 
mere 
Joun Mason Goon. 
Caroline Place, “2 
Guildford-/ireet, Fan. 19, 18016 x 
& 
