Smyrna times., 1859-11-10
MISCELL AN EO U S.
The Rice Fields of the South.

The little pearly grain, rice, which gives
food 10 greater number of the humaff Smily
than any other variety oE,the cerealsEwhich
sustains millions of dwellers by the Ganges and
the great river Euphrates," whicr is the
"statf of life " to the myriads of thetGfleslial
Empire and to their numerous cousins, The Ja-
panese, to say nothing of countless hordes in
other parts of the worId-fnds congenial soil
on the swampy shores of our Southern States,
and there yields prolific and profitable return
to the enterprsing planter. This has especial
ly been the case in the Carolinas and Georgia,
although Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana
might easily compete with those States, as they
have millions of acres adapted to its cultivation.
The mode of raising this valuable grain in
the aforementioned States, is made the subject
Of an interesting and handsomely illustrated
article in the November number of HarPer'S
NagGzi
Although rice will grow and is largely cult.
vated upon high lands. it hourlshes in its full
perfection oAly in low and wet localities. In
the Caroiiuas and Georgia the scene of its pro-
duction IS lhe rich loam of the tide-water lands,
enough, and near enough TO the sea to be over
flowed at the pleasure of the planters by the
flood tides of the rivers, and yet far enough
from the coast to be quite beyond the reach of
salt water, which would be even more fatal to
the crop than would the absence of the tidal
flows The coasts of the Carolinas and Geor-
gia afford stretch of fifty miles and more of
this low swamp land, which, in its primeVal
condition. is for the most part occupied by
great, dense cypress swamps and reedy marsh
es The overAowing rivers are forever enrich
ing the soil of these low grounds, with the de-
posits which their waters bring down from the
mountains, to which is added the sillciOus wash
of the neighboring shores and the rich silt OF
the salt lagoons.
To clear these rank, intricate wildernesses is
atollsome costly, and dangerous labor, so dense
and capricious is the vegetation, so abundant
the water and so numerous the snakes and al
lgators. Sambo, however, becomes used to it,
and with his axe quickly clears plantation
The method pursued is this: The trees and
vines are cut down over a border about fifty feet
in width around the area which it is proposed
to clear. A ditch is then dug at low tide with
in this open space, the earth thrown up in the
process, making an embankmeDt sufficiently
strong to keep out the ordinarily returning wa
ter, and thus leaving the iuclosure dry enough
for the hands to continue their work. Alter
this a second and more substantial embankment
10 made upon the site of the first opened ditch,
asa barrier not oDly against ordinary tides, but
any food that is likely to occur. The wide
excavation within the bank, and properly re-
moved from it, serves as a reservoir from which
10 feed the lesser ditches and as a canal for the
transport of the crops from the field. While
these dikes and moats are in course of construc-
,ocfb fbo hu cuff mr.
down trees and underbrush, and collecting
them in piles to be burned in dry weather.
Whensthe land is cleared, it is next divided
into fields, or squares, by embankments of equal
magnitude with the main levee, their office be-
ing to exclude the wafer from one section while
il is being used in another. Their height is
generally seven or eight feet; and ditch al
ways dug alongside of them. Each held OF
division is afterwards furnished with trunk and
gate, by which to admit or keep out the water
By this arrangement the fields may be flooded
10 any extent aud for any length of time, ex
cept upon plantations TOO near 10, or too remote
from, the sea, where the planter has to watcE
for favorable periods of tide or food. The tint
for preparing the ground and planting the seet
isusually from the middle to the end OF March
The ground is first chopped or broken ruaely
and then mashed or pulverized. For this labo
the hoe is almost universally used, the excep
tons being old and we'll cleared plantations
where plows are sometimes employed. In
next operation is to form trenches about thrice
inches apart, into which the seed ls freely sea
tered, two or three bushels of rice per acre Dc
ing the average for sowing. The seed is yer
lightly csyered as fast as planted, which
likewise done with the hoe. The number
hands employed in drilling and sowing mel
must always be large enough to finish the wor
on the day it is begun, SO that at The next tid
the Geld may be flooded.
The frst aow Il called the sprout flow, al
islast deep enough to entirely cover the Ian
i Whea too deep the seed or light covering
earth is liable to be foaied away. This no
remains till the seeds germinate, when u
Withdrawn and the field kept dry until Il
young plants appear. when the water i is
second time spread over the ground. This
continued far about week, or until the plan
are about three or tour inches high The "
4 terry covering is at this stage an important q
/ fence against The numberless birds which !