The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-02-21

p4AI1 Rice.
iHr fUsnl wishes RI Hear frtsut n-
upon the ~uhg@f II Upland Elre W.
ar ignorant ~ the .xsst.nc. of anv
euca peculiar plant. hat w- kno~ frsm
experience thtt noe can - pusftatIv
grown ~ tbs iatltud. on &ns * car
bottom lands to- vet FOR yoru H<fore
the war we never thaueht = buvine
uc.. for we grew It atundantly. ana
thought. possibly imagined. ii ua.t-t-
t"r nee than We couIi buy We ~
dom grew les than twenty txe bash
els u the acre. and one YEAR "" made
~eventy-ive bushels II rough nc.
upon a little mnr than two s.rvs ~
land. We ouc knew prr hundred
and nifty bushels II rough rice To- .
grown III Fairfield county on ls>S than
three ACRES AMI a half ~ cotton land
0ne m.tho~l WAS - plant rlc- sue
ceselvely IL the same bottom. The
first year the labor was heavy and con
unuous 10 prepare the land Suts~a-
quently ~ found lltl. trouble ~ cul
tlyatlnE TIE crap.tfor tile land Ma
usually turned over late ~ tll. fall and
left IN FAIR condition for >yrag work
free OF weeds and grass 4 soon
after lst April a, the land was ar,
enough, II VA. simply scratched wltL
short narrow scooter plouChs. and then
beat and chopped up nn- With the eve
and blade of a hoe. Drills about TWO
ftct apart We're drawn about 18th
April, with the point ~ the hoe. ana
from n and q quarter 10 one and a
half bushels of seed per acrv drilled
in by hand AMI covered with the hoe
or rake. When the rice Was ~ and
the smallest grass made il appearance.
we ran a sweep through the rows. IAN
old fashioned buZzard WIN or ashoy.l
and heel sweep If too Net for This
we chopped the rows With hoes with
III a week the grass WAS ~couttnding
with the ric... This We picked out
with the fingers. and was the only
really tedious, labOrlous part of the
cultivation. As the area we planted
small we watched il carefully. and
never allowed the grass To put IN AN
appearance again. and scratched over
the land two or three times during the
growth of the crop. either with the
hoe or plough. depending on the con
dition of the land.
When the rice began To- throw out its
heads we ceased working il. and a. soon
as the heads were ripe enough to shell
out the grains easily by rubbing in the
hands, we ordered the crop harvested.
which was done bv an experienced ne
gro man, who had been raised upon a
rice plantation in the lower part OF the
State.
An Alabama planter reported about
the same time, in the Mobile ReqiSter.
that he had made on the pinev-woods
lands Of that State, on one acre. near
Y IhIrrV ItrrnIS nt rnltUl rico urIisI
cleaned out fourteen barrels of pure.
white rice; had this been sold at
ST.. 30 per barrel. ii would have been a
net yield of S242.20 per acre, besides
the straw which he baled and weighed
out; aggregating four tons. This was
fed to his own stock, which ate il
v~oraciouslv. and he thought was worth
to him one hundred dollars more.
We are satisfied that there are now,
we may say, thousands of acres of al
bottoms IN middle and upper
South Carolina gong to waste. aban-
dO1ed, given up to briars. willows and
bushes, that if they could be re-
and cultivated III rice would
yield a profit equal to any crop grown.
We would not advise any farmer to
undertake growing rice with the an
of equalling those Alabama
farmers. but we do believe every
should raise all the rice he con
1t can be done anywhere in
South Carolina with as little cost per
acre as any other crop can be grown.
and the threshing and cleaning could
be be done during rainy DAYS, which
are general idle DAYS on most Of
our farms. One acre to every three
or four hands could be pitched. Guilt
waited and harvested without interfer-
ing with the remainder Of the farm or
any way impeding the cultivation
Of the crops upon a diversified farm
Courier.