The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-10-24

Cur friend has nearly one thousand acres of
rice land, and between two and three hundred
negroes. - many Of these, however, are wo-
meu and children, and infiTm or weakly. that
he will tell you that his force is not e.iual 4,
much more than one hundred strong men. or
what n slaye-deIler terms ..yrims field hands
After you have feI-ted, and slept, and hunted,
and otherwise enjoyed the good cheer and gen
erOUs hospitality OF our planter, he may take
you To the rice fields and satisfy YOUR curiosity
witE regard to their management. We walk
tOwsrd the river. (suppOse 1t u De the latter part
Of March, AMI just at the foot Of the sandy
upland (Which was the bank of the old swamp1.
We come upon q canal some twenty feet wide.
running all along the inner edge of tine fiat rice
ground This brings water for gowing the in
ner fields the swamp WAS - wide, IL was not
convenient 10 arrange all the fields 80 as 20 flow
them directly FROM the river. IL also serves To
take the crop from the outer fields to the barn,
and to send II again down the river. after it has
L=en threshed and cleared. to he shipped bv the
scl.ocners To the city. Three large scows are
kept on tine plantation for this purpose.
We cross the canal on 4 bridge, ut the end Of
which is = trunk like the hume Of u grist mill,
except that IT Is covered over. and It's mouth on the
inside l. ct the bottom of Il ditch. now nearly
dry, which runs all around Il field Of some TWEEN
ty acres. Outside of the ditch il AN earth wall,
which here, where il forms the side of the canal.
IS four or five yards across, but ON the other
sides is not more than two or three wards thick
u the bottom, and one on the TOP. The field i
further divided. rs has been described. by minor
bitches into quarter-acre plots. You may find
here u crop OF oats just s~pringing through the
ground, for Notwithstanding the exceedingly
great original fertility Of this swamp-land and
the continual addition Of fertile material. which
IL doubtless receives from the water with which
II II irrigated, &c is found that il will not bear
heavy crops of rice forever, and that it increases
the subsequent product very much If other crops
are occasionally introduced, particularly if ma
0rrrn - ofY..l rrarI -Nl.a. = 4 -
selves of L character to increase the fertility of
the soil. The cow-pca is frequently used for
this purpose the whole crop, when IL has rip
enei, being p~louglred in, or fed OFF on the land.
Corn, oats. and SEA island cotton, are also some
times cultivated very pruitably upon rice
ground. Oats, when sowed upon rice ground,
are sometimes flowed. This operation tends to
produce q very rank growth of straw, and as the
crop is used like hay, to be fed to horses without
threshing, in IA dry season, it is of considerable
adsintage To 10.
By walking along the top of the cross en-
bankments you come to the outer fields, in one
Of which you find fifty negroes, men and women,
ut work, and in the other, some half dozen.
between the two Is the Oyerseer. He walks to-
the outer, or river side eInbankment, and by his
shouts seems to be Fastening the half dozen
hands in the field on your right. This, if you
look closely, yOr will see is covered, in each of
Its plots, with parallel lines Of shallow trenches
or drills. in which rice in the hull has been
thickly scattered. In the field Oh the left the
hunis are making these trenches with narrow
hoes ; they are thirteen inches apart, two inches
deep, and four wide. Those III the right-hand
field are sowing the seed in the last square,
which they do by quick throws of the hands
with great expertness-
IRRIGATION OF TIE FIELDS.
We walk ON till we come to where the overseer
~ standing. He tells the planter that he has hoisted
the gate and that the tide Will be- flowing in before
the sowing is well done. But how is this? you in
quire. l. the water To be let on the field before the
seed is covered? Yes, examine the seed and YOU will
see that there is Il slight coating of clay upon it,
scarcely perceptible; it has been prepared by
washing in water in which clay has been stirred,
and this is sufficient to keep it In its place, when
the water from the river shall flow over it, as
you shall presently see for now the water COM
ing in at the gate rs the tide rises, first fills, then
Oyer1ows the bitches, and now as the sewers
have all completed their work and leave the field,
1t steals along the drills, and ut length begins to
cover the surface. Some straw, leaves, and
stubble, rise upon the water and drift with the
wind toward the river embankment. When it
has all reached there, it will be raked,
thrown into heaps, and rs soon as again dry,
burned to destroy any seeds that may be in ii.
"a soon as the elevated parts of the field, (or
the water shows that its surface is not a perfect
plane) are covered, the overseer shuts down the
cute. In Il few days, if the weather is warm,
the seed will sprout under the water. 1t is an
advantage of the mode of planting, called plant
ing in the open trench, that, If cool weather
should occur for some time after planting, the
seed is much less liable to rot and be lost than
when IL has been first covered with earth. In
the Litter case, seed is no, clayed, and is lightly
covered by raking earth over it: water Is then
let On - in open-trencI planting. Why the
seed should be more liable to rot in one case than
tine other is not known, perhaps light has the
effect 20 retard rapid decomposition.
When the seed has been first covered with soil, |!
=.
il drawn of, but ON the open trench plan it is
until two leaves are developed, which will
perhaps be- IN Il fortnight after our visit.
Turning now TO the field on the other side of
the trench, You perceive that all hands are en-
gagged in opening trenches or seed-drills. They
not commence planting this field until to-mor-
or unui they are sure they will be able to fl ish
il before the following rise of tide, so that the
hay be impcdiately protected from birds by
fiowiI g it.
Walking around the outside of the field you
several men filling up a trench that they
opened directly across the main eInbank-
lnent. An alligator had burrOwcd under it 80
that ie leaked, and to fill his hole completely and
1t was necessary to open a trench t. it
from the top
Constant attention il required to keep the en-
bankrneuts in order. Sometimes. where there is
bad breach, such as a severe storm coincident
4 flood of the river might have made in
this Place. 1t Is necessary to bring earth from the
upland 10 I'LL 1t up.
SUBSEQU ENT CULTURE
As you walk back towards the barn, YOU in
Iuire about the subsequent culture of the rice,
md are informed that soon after the water IL
lrawL off, the whole field will b. hOed between
he trenches to destroy the weeds, and two or
.hrec weeks later will be hoed again, the water
being admitted during this time, unless
or a single tide to soften the earth if il should !
get very hard OF dry. After the second hoeing
he field is flowed again So Us almost to cover the
ice generally over the field. the rice being eight
II ten inches high at the time. The water is !
eft OH for perhaps two weeks; it depends on the l