Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1858-07-30
very considerable portion of this rice finds its way
to Europe and the quantities imported into the leading
countries were as follows

These hgureS give idea of the immense impor-
lance OF the rice crop to the human If conte-
plate the details OF the trade are struck with the fact
that in the preparation of an article of such prime i'm
portance for the market advance not even in the mid
die OF the 10Th century has been made above barbarsm
We may here quote from Tomlinson's Cyclopadia of
Useful Arts as follows:
Rice in its natural state or before it is separated
from the husk, is named paddy The husk adheres very
closely and should be separated without breaking the
grain In India and China the operation is performed by
beating the grain in kind OF rude mortar with conf
Cal stone, attached to lever worked by hand or foot
or several such levers are worked by arms projecting
from the axis of a water wheel. preferable mode is
to employ mill in which the stones are sufficiently re-
moved to detach the shell and not crush the Grain A
sitting and wnnowing apparatus is attached to each pa
OF stones. When the husk is removed the grain is
passed through whitening machine for the purDosc OF
removing the inner cutice or red skin"
The Chinese mode Of cleaning is to work the rude
pestle by hand or water The water power is a wood
en- beam fashioned in the shape of a spoon This is
supported near the bowl of an upright of about two feet
From the long end depends the pese which drops into
the rice held IN wooden basin little stream of water
is led into the bowl Of the spoon which when full weighs
down. and by so doing lifts the peste at the other end
the water then spills out of the spoon and allows the
peste to fall into the rice There are some other equal
y ingenious applications Of power to the cleaning of the
rice In Sumatra, the punches Of paddy are spread on
mats and the grain rubbed out by the action of the feet
the operator supporting his hands by bamboo placed
horizontally over head the whole suggestive of sailors
hornppe In Java, the cleaning is performed by equal
~ deXterouS movements of the feet but to some extent
wooden pestes and mortars are used by the women r
JAPAN the mode of cleaning is equal to that of any 9th
er country not excepting that of the United States
An undershot waterwheel turns the shaft to which arc
affixed short arms; these as they move work row Of
wooden Founders dropping into mortars the same as
may be SEEN less artstcay made working for the same
purpose IN New York to-day. The Patent Office Re
port for 1854 page 49, describes rice cleaning in h
United States as follows
The rice is first run through pair of heavy mill
stones, which grind off the husk thence into large
wooden mortars in which it is pounded by large iron
shod pesteS, for the space Of some two hours. Th
pounded rice is then elevated to the attic whence de
scends through rolling screen to separate whole grain
from the broken, aid flour from both and also through
wind fans to vertical brushing SCREEN revolving rapid
y, which pollshes the iny grain and delivers it full
prepared into the barrel or tierce which is to convey
to market"
This Is nearly the present process in the UniteC
States, where, whole it done better than in AM
other part Of the world After being separated from
the kusk by stones it is pounded from two to three hour
III orSars from these II passes through SCREEN theme
through brush. From the brush it passes fnal,
through screens which assert the qualities les
broken.
The loss in this mode of cleaning is 80 per cent, O
which onehal is incurred by breaking and pulverzns
the rice All the rice imported into the United State
and Europe from other countries requires to be receane
before it is merchantable OF late years it has beer
found that rice keeps better in the husk than whel
sheed and it has become more the custom to send it
its place of destination in the husk What has her
been sad at suggests the vast benefit to he derives
from machine which will readily clean rice withou
breaking the grain If the loss by the present mode
10 per cent only it would $25OOOOO per annur
on what is used in Europe alone Thus the production
being 63,835,O62,0OO h. its value at 81 per 100 b.
$638 335 062 Of which o per cent saved bv ceapin
} properly would give $63. .S33. .5O6 per annnm