The grain is universally cut with a reaping hook, bound in bundles about three inches in diam eter and hung on bamboo poles or laid on the levees of the fields for curing. The rice grains are then removed by drawing the heads through a hatchell or by pounding them over a log, or by piling the sheaves on a clay floor and driving oxen over them, as the custom of the country may ap prove. The grain is spread on mats or floors and dried in the sun, and is then stored.
The hulls or husks are generally removed be fore the grain is sold. The sacks for holding the rice in transit to market are commonly made by the farmer out of rice-straw. [Further discussion of rice-growing in tropical countries is found in Vol. I, Chapter II, pages 10S, 119, 124, 125. Figs. 60, 129, 130, 132, 133, 140, 141, and Plates VI and VII (Vol. I) are interesting in this connection.] Rice-culture in the United States.
The larger part of the rice produced in the United States is grown on the low alluvial lands along rivers, in reclaimed swamps and marshes and tide-water lands, and on level tracts capable of irrigation. The tide-water lands lie back up the rivers above the meeting of fresh and salt water, so that the fields are not liable to flooding with salt water. Next to the river a levee is con structed sufficiently broad and high to keep out the river water. This is provided with tide gates. The field is then thoroughly ditched and drained, and the land is plowed and prepared for a crop.
Soil.—Rice prefers a rich, clay loam soil with the surface thoroughly pulverized at the time of sow ing to the depth of three inches. The soil is pre pared as for wheat. The soil below should be firm, such as would result from fall-plowing. The clay subsoil should be retentive of water.
Excellent drainage of the soil is an important condition of good rice-farming. Good drainage allows earlier planting, makes possible a more thorough preparation of the soil, insures a better stand, improves the quality of the grain, allows prompt and complete removal of the water of irri gation at harvest-time and provides one of the most important conditions for curing the crop.
The soil of the Gulf coast prairies varies from a sandy loam to a black clay loam and is uniformly underlaid with a clay subsoil more or less tena cious. The soil is generally rich in plant-food ; the surface of the land is mainly smooth and falls slightly toward the Gulf or some drainage stream.
The numerous rivers flowing through these prairies to the Gulf furnish an abundant supply of fresh water for irrigation.
The rice-fields vary in area from ten to one hun dred acres, depending on the variation in the level of the surface. Many of the best rice-farmers do
not allow a variation of more than three inches in the total levels.
Planting.—Rice is planted in drills or is broadcasted and har rowed in at the rate of fifty-five to eighty pounds of seed per acre. On land which has been long in cultivation the larger amount of seed is advisable. Rice should not be planted till after the wheat crop is in, as it germinates at a slightly higher temperature. The seeding period extends from March 15 to June 15, but ordi narily the seed should be in by the middle of April.
Watering.—As soon as the rice is up, watering begins. The depth of the water is increased as rapidly as the growth of the plant will permit, till such a depth is attained that the weeds in the field are destroyed.
For watering the rice-fields, surface canals are constructed (with many later als), running from the river banks across the prairies, and into these the river water is elevated by powerful pumps and distributed to the rice fields. The elevation of the canals above their water-supply varies from five to sixty feet, with a probable average of twenty or twenty-five feet.
Along the Mississippi the water is siphoned over the levee (Fig. 770). In the Carolinas, a different method is followed. After the first water has been applied to sufficient depth to kill gram and weeds, it is then slowly withdrawn and the crop hoed, and a few days allowed fur dry growth, when the field is again flooded and kept in that condition continuously till the crop is nearly mature. (Fig. 771.) A critical period for rice is when it comes into bloom. If heavy showers are frequent at this time they will wash the pollen off, thus preventing fertilization.
Harresting.—Rice should be cut a few days before it is perfectly ripe, when the straw begins to turn yellow, and should be shocked with a good cap to protect as many grains as possible from the direct rays of the sun, as the too rapid drying may produce sun cracks, causing the kernel to break in milling. The milling quality of the grain is improved by stacking, if the bundles are dry and the stacks are small. In the past the crop was generally cut with a sickle and bound by hand, and it still is to a considerable extent. But the draining of the fields and the using of modern harvesting machinery is a marked advance over the old method and is taking its place wherever practicable. (Fig. 772.) In the United States considerable rice is mark eted with the hull on, because there are no appli ances on the farm for removing it, and the kernel is better protected from insect enemies if incased in the hull during the period of storage.