Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-08
UNION AND AMERICAN.
FARM AND GARDEN.
THE CULTIVATION OF RICE

THE CULTIVATION OF RICE.
At present prices, there is a great
deal Of money II the skiIlful cultiva-
ton of both swamp and upland rice,
and both varieties Of this cereal may
be raised In Tennessee and Alabama as
readily IS in any other part Of the
world. Good rice is selling in Nash
vile by the barrel at $3.50 per 100
pounds. Wheat sold at the same rate
would bring $50 a busheL. One hun
dred pounds Of wheat is worth consid-
erably more than the same weight of
rice TO repair the daily waste in the
brain, bones, muscles and nerves Of
man. Still, rice IS a very valuable ar
ticle Of human food, and as a substi-
tute for the best Irish potatoes it has
probably no equal. Put rice at two or
three cents a pound lit can be grown
for three cents or less, and the home
consumption by u forty million peo-
PIE viii be something enormous IN a
few years. Let Us study the rice prob
lem by the light Of recent facts.
We learn from the Rural CaroIiRjaB
that Mr.. BisseII, a Confederate soldier,
came out Of the war between the States
with nothing but his hands and mis-
wisdom as capital 20 start the business
Of turning labor into rice, and rice into
money. This branch Of agriculture has
prosDered so well TO reward his indus
try and skill, that this spring he Is able
to plant four Thousand acres IN rice,
and pays all his field hands every night
for their services during the day. tn
not likely that his crop viii bring less
than one hundred dollars to the acre
this year; and if not, lie IS pretty sure
Of IN income Of four hundred thousand
dollars, and it may 60 70 a million.
Here Is a farmer who started in the
world anew since war, with no help but
brains, and agriculture IN the mud.
He has already developed truths in
farming Of incalculable moment.
For unknown milleuniUms rice has
been cultivated in Egypt, Persia, In
dia, China, Japan and other warm
countries; yet, the possibilities Of this
plant are Just beginning to be appre-
ciated and utilized. Curious, IS it not,
that its vitality in South Carolina
should expand and grow from a few
seeds in eight or nine years, to all that
can stand on four thousand acres, ana
pay their way from year to year, prac-
ticaIly feeding and clothing hundreds
Of human beings Where laborers
are paid every night for their work,
through the day, there is no trust,
NJ sham. Nh. Bissell studies and
obeys Natures laws; and nature pays
him down for his wisdom, as she al
ways does from her inezhaustible
wealth, hepays his operatives IN the
same way and they are satisfied.
Riches accrue from the simple or
gauie evolution Of life in the germ, by
which one seed may become a bQshel
and n bushel a million. One hun
dred pounds Of rice burnt in the open
atmosphere all turns to air and vapor
except about a pound Of white ashes,
worth in the soil less than 4 cont.
Practically the raw material that forms
one hundred pounds Of rice, worth in
this city $3.50, costs nothing. In
India a pair Of light oxen draw easily
over a pulley from a deep well, at one
pull. $50 pounds OF water in a raw-hide
or leather bucket, to water either up
land or lowland rice. At first sight
this would appear not to pay, as a boy
or girl must mind the oxen; but the
water so raised produces grass and
rice enough to feed the oxen, several
COWS ard many people. The OK and
the sun do the great gog6. and both are
worshiped.
We, Tennessee farmers, pity the poor
heather Hindoos, and think ourselves
wise when we let a world Of rain-water
run to waste, our land grow up TO sedge
and briers, and pay ten cents a pound
for rice, after raising and selling ten
pounds q corn to get the dime. Re
suit: we are in debt, and more than
half discouraged, while farmer Bisseu
as harvesting fortune evcryyear. Two
good irrigati0ns make a crop Of rice,
and the water need not stand On the
ground at all.
The Tropical Agricuitprist, edited by
Mr.. Porter, gives US many interesting
statements. but we have hardly room
for citations. British engineers and
gold are laying a broad planting foun-
dation IN the valley Of the Gauges,
and Americans viii hear from
them in a few years. In
large districts the average water
tanks hold each from 800 to 500 acres
of water, from 4 to Is feet deep. Such
reservoirs. or tanks, !" as they call them
in India, might easily be formed on
the afiuents Of the Tennesseeand Cum
berland rivers; but all such "evolu-