Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1871-09-15
THE GREET REtE FIELDS OF
TIE SOETH.


Courier writes Oft rice lands:
"There is belt of land stretching from
Virginia down the coast to the Gulf of
Mexico, and most of the distance it lies
very low, very little above the level of the
ocean, and some of it is covered with water
at every high tide. The greater portion of
this land may properly be called swamp
land-not altogether given up to the domain
Of the water, but always damp, and too
wet for any grain except rice. 1t is not
every swamp or wet piece of land that is fit
for the cultivation of rice. The alluvial
wamps lying along the banks of rivers,
having a deep soil, composed of dccayed
vegetables, is best fitted for the purpose,
but it must be so located that it can be
overlooked at high tide, or it is useless for
the purpose. The lands must also be pro-
tected from the salt water. and from the
rapid currents occasioned by freshets.
South Carolina is the great rice state, more
being cultivated than in all the United
States beside. The rivers flowing down
from Tie table land of the interior reach
this low land, and force themselves to the
sea, spreading and forming a broad, deep
channel. There is Il volume of water sufli-
cient, 50 that the tide will cause it to set
back for many miles. Along many of
these ravines the land is as level as the sea
and IT can he flooded at pleasure. Gates
are constructed through artificial embank-
mcntS along the banks OF the river, and
when the tide is high the wafer is let in,
an the lands flooded and the Gates closed
When it becomes necessary To draw the
water oil, the gates are opened at low tide.
Some of these fields are very large and in
tcresting when being prepared for crop,
and are very beautiful when the rice comes
up through the water and shows its needle
like spears. These fields must have Sc
cure cmbankmcnt along the river, and
must be thoroughly drained by artificial
channels, so n to take the water entirely
away when necessary. In large fields some
Of the channels have capacity enough to
float a fiat bottOmcd boat, which is used to
convey tie harvest TO the place of storage.
1.-THE land is plowed in winter and in the
first warm days in spring is flooded. The
p! cparation of the ground commences in
March. The ground is made as mellow as
II garden. The seed is sown in trenches
about fifteen inches apart 1t requires
about three bushels of seed 10 an acre. The
seed is lightly covered with the soil, and
the water let in, to remain about week, by
which time the grain sprouts, when the
water is drawn OF; but when the grain is
but few inches above The ground it is
again flooded for four or five days, and
then drawn of, and the grain is then al
lowed to grow for four or five weeks, when
it is cultivated and the ground thoroughly
stirred and then the water is let on, and
is flooded for a few days, and then gradual
~ drawn down and again cultivated and
after the second cultivation the water is
again let ON 10 remain until the crop ma
lures, which takes about two months, when
the water is drawn of, and it is harvested
very much as we harvest buck wheat The
crop in . favorable season is a profitable
one. The grain is threshod and cleaned in
mills. 1t is frequently sent to market be-
fore the hulls are removed. There are ex-
tensive mills at Liverpool and New York
for huline the rice and they enable the
dealer to put it on the market fresh and
white. There are mills at Savannah and
Charleston, where the rice is hullod for the
local market. The best hulling machines
cost from $4,000 to $4,000, and have very
intricate machinery. The rice before be-
ing hulled is called poddy. The machine
takes of the hulls and asserts the grain.
After the hulls are removed, il is moved
out on inclined screens, which are fine at
first, and all the small and broken rice
| passes through, and then little coarscr,
and the rice called 'middlng rice drops
| through, and last the Prince rice The
latter quality is passed through another
screen, which is called polishing and in
that process is swept clean and bright
| Rice Is cultivated in all the warm countries
| of the world, and is used for food by more
| people than any other cereal except wheat
1t is cultivated very extensively in the
East Indies and along the coast where
| the lands are marshy, il is the only crop
raised. 1t is staple crop in Africa, the
south of Europe North and South Ameri-
"a. Ceylon produces large quantity in
excess Of consumption. There are several
varieties, some Of which grow on dry land,
but the Carolina or water rice as II is called,
is as fine as any in the world. 1t grows
very rapidly, and Is often six feet high.
When it is sufficiently high to cover and
| hide the water ii presents a beautiful sight