The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-10-02
8be farn1.
Mr.. Paul F. Hammond on Upland
Rice-NO q.

ter / have planted three distinct sub-varie-
ties. and there are, probable, several others.
The hardest and most productive IS q hat
rice, known under several names-Gulnea,
Gopher, Bullshead, &C.. &c. Owing to the
p~eculiar form of the grain it is not adopted
to the machinery in the pounding mills, and
the millers have found it be so troublesome
to prepare for market that they decline to
work it on toll. This great diminishes its
value as a market crop. Two years ago L
bought seed from the West Indies. The
plant crews larger and more luxurlently
than our native kinds, resist drought and
heat better, does not fall or lodge, is fairly
productive, and the grain OF the first quail
ty. 1t is. however, peculiarly susceptible
to the influence of cold, and liable to rot
Gin the sprout,' white it requires fully two
weeks longer to mature. These are o bjec-
tons which becomes very serious where the
lands are cold or the season short. The
The third variety is the ordinary white rice,
commoly found in the markets., and familiar
to all who have had much to do with rice.
1t is important that the platter should get
good seed and what the rice planter means
by good seed, IS simply sound, well-ripened
seed, free from mixture with volunteer rice.
Volunteer rice is red rice, and its presence
Injuries the market value; but worse than
that, it ripens sooner than the other rice,
and falls out, causing in this way often the
loss Of a considerable percentage of the
crop.
KINDS OF SOIL.
Rice may be grown, but will not fruit well,
ON very light soils. 1t prefers moist loans
and the lighter clays. The soils along our
rivers, creeks and branches-mud bottoms,
marsh ands when drained and not too much
inclined to peat, and second lOwlands, if not
two stiff-are we'll adopted to it. 1t can be
grown, and sometimes with favorable sea-
sons very successfully, on high dry uplands
Of good quality, but its culture there is
hardly to be recommended.
CULTURE.
The culture is almost indentical with that
of cotton. Pulverize the ground well with
the plough and harrow. When the time
has come for planting, run off shallow fur
rows with a light shovel plough, three and a
halffeet apart. If the land is warm and dry,
drop in the furrow in hills eighteen inches
according to the strength of the soil, and
cover lightly. If the land is cold or wet,
throw in bed. The after culture is with the
side harrow and sweep and the hOe-just
sufficient to destroy weeds and grass. There
is no grain that tillers SO much as rice. |
have watched a hill this season which came
up a single blade and now has ninety-one
stalks. 1t may be doubted, however, if it is
desirable to encourage tillering by thin plan
ting. 1t seems probable that when enough
seed are used to produce at once all the
stalks the land should bear, the rice will
head out and ripen with more uniformity;
and that is a matter of not a little impOr-
tance. Rice may be planted in middle
South Carolina as late as the last week in
May on cold lands, or as early as corn, than
which it is little more subject to injury from
frost latter it has come up where the soil is
warm. The critical period is when it is in
the sprout. Too much cold and moisture at
that time will canse the sprout to rot and de-
the ground for a month, and when they did
not sprout, make a good stand. But if you
find your seed have sprouted and the blade
does not appear in a few days, the sooner
you plant over the better. To avoid this
this difficulty, the covering should be done
very lightly. This is one of the essential
points in planting. Rice will not come up
we'll if covered deep, and especially if the
earth is pressed upon it, differing curiously
in this respect from::nearly all other seed.
THE YIELD.
Several years ago the Georgia State Fair
gave a prize to a planter of Southwest Geor-
bushels. The land was described as pine
land which had been cow-penned. | have
known an average of sixty-four bushels per
acre gathered from twenty-one acres. A
neighbor claims last year forty bushels from
from a half acre, and six-hundred and thir-
ty from thirteen acres. With the exception
of one year, when, from excessive heat and
drought the crop was almost a complete
failure, [ have averaged forty to forty-tive
bushels, with a maximum on one acre of
sixty-six. In these last instances the land
planded was a strong black loan, well adap-
ted to rice.
EXHAUSTION, ROTATION, MANUREs.
1t is often asked, rs rice an exhaustive
crop?' A personal experience ofonly a few
years hardly authorities one to answer this
question positively. Unquestionable rice,
like many other plants, grows better on land
which has been resting, or after other crops.
Rotation with ploughed crops performs a
special service in cleaning the land of '~'volur-
teer," which comes wherever rice is planted
continuously. On fresh lands rice does ex-