Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-10-30
Rice Fields ON the Savannah.

On nearing the Savannah river VI
came to Thunderbolt-a most sineuls,
name for q quiet summering place. II.
rice fields we're now entered, which form
70 important q position of the wealth ant
trade of Savannah. They extend or
each side up and down the river fol
many miles, until the limits of brackist
II salt water are reached. The best rics
knds are those which feel the influenc1
81 the tides without, however, beins
touched by saltwater, whict kills tn
rice. 1t may not be generally known
that the incoming of the tide checks the
flow of rivers, and to a degree pushss
hack the fresh water until ebb tide sets
out gain. A rice field should also sbe
beloy the line of freshets. There are
many varieties of rice, and ssoie kinaI
cah be raised on a dry soil, when it'd
capable of irrigation, but most of the
southern rice requires marsh fQrds easily
overaowed. The preparation of a dee
field requires a large outlay; embank.
mentem must be raised, bitches, sometimes
lafgG enough to hoat boats to carry offthe
crops must be dug, and ~Hoodgates
must be constructed. The land is
plOughed during the winter; it is allowed
II d{y in March, and in April the seed
is s0Wn, sometimes soaked in clay water
to keep it from blowing away, and some
times it il merely covered with q thin
layeg of earth. Great care il regulate
in tlb selection of the seed. Water is
t~henturned on it for several days, until
itsprouts. After five or six weeks It Is
hoed twice, and then what is called the
"long water is let ON, and allowed to
remain . fortnight. With the appear.
ance of the first joint in the stalk the
rice is hoed again, and is then, over
flowed for two months by the "joint
water" By that time the grain has
matured, and it is harvested with q
sickle, and carefully dried BY being
spread on stubble. When cured, it Is
stacked. .
Formerly most Of the southern rice
VA threshed in..mortars by the slaves on
the plantations, and the poorest was re-
tanned for their use. But now, with the
exception of what is reserved by the
negroes, it is all sent to the large mills in
the cities to Be threshed.- The largest Of
these is to be found at Charleston. In
these mills the grain, is.rubbed between
shines until fried from TIE husk; IL is
them shaken in revolving sleeves or wire
screens with perf0ratiens gradually in
creasing In size. First the Hour is sifted;
then the different grades of the kernel up
to the last and best, ranked az prime,
which is swept in q brushing screen
and cleaned of all the -four cling
ing to il. The average yield Of
rice to the acre is thirty bushels; on the
best land sixty bushels are not uncom-
mon, while ninety bushels have occasion
ally been obtained. The crop from the
southern states reaches an average of
10000 tons per annum. The rice lands
are very unhealthy, and NO white man
should spend the night in their vicinity
after the crop begins to come up. They
are infected with the most poisonous
malaria. The negroes build their rude
shanties on the dikes and hummocks in
the midst Of the rice swamps, and dance
and play on their one-stringed fddles
with infantile security. No doubt they
endure malarial exposure and q blazing
torrent of sunlight far better than the
whites. but even they not rarely sue
cumb. A planter told me that In one
deadly summer he lost most of his ne
groes on . rice plantation.-S. G. W.
Bcmjamin, u Harpev's Magazine.