Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-10-09
UPLAND RICE.

How They Grow it IN Georgia with Success.
The following, in view of the attention
being given to rice culture in California,
will prove of interest in California, and
may be of value here notwithstanding the
difference between this climate and that of
Georgia. The letters are from j. 81. Mich
OILS and Fl. II. Jones, of Nacoochee, Ca, to
a local paper of the South:
l have been quite successful in the cult
ure of upland rice on my place here. On
my best land l have grown it at the rate of
ninety. three and one.half bushels per acre.
The common impression that it requires
damp land Is erroneous, as my best yield
was on land which was as dry as any of
my valley farm. l prepare the land thor
oughly In the spring, blowing deep, and if
the land is disposed to be cloddy, harrow
well after blowing. Lay off in shallow
drills twenty.four or thirty inches apart,
and cover lightly. Sow the seed as soon as
the danger of frost has passed. In the first
working great care must be taken to remove
all the grass and weeds, as the rice. plant is
delicate. Afterwards, good hoeing and
blowing with narrow bull.tongue pillow is
all that is necessary. In the fall see that
none Of these little morning glory vines
which infest our bottoms are allowed to re.
main in the drills, as it ia impossible after
cutting to separate the vines from the rice
straw, and the seed being black, Injuries
the appearance of the rice.
J. H. NICHOLS.
The experience of the past few years has
fully demonstrated the fact that by far the
most profitable employment for the far.
mers of southern Georgia is the cultivation
of the white or highland rice. The writer
has tested the matter fully, both by expe.
rience and observation. While this va
riety of rice hourishes best in wet alluyial
soil, producing as large yield under such
circumstances as the Carolina golden"
yet it does remarkably well on ordinary
uplands, which are usually devoted to the
growth of cereals or cotton. Indeed, it
may be stated as a fact that any land, how.
ever elevated or sandy, that will make un-
assisted, say from eight to twelve bushels
of corn per acre, will easily produce from
fifteen to twenty-five bushels of rice with
the same cultivation.
The only difference between the upland
or Carolina rictsexists in the outer covering
or hull OF the grain, which is of pale light
color in the former and bright yellow in
the latter. In weight, quality aud excel.
lence, as an article Of food, the one is equal
to the other.
Upon corn or cotton upland, planting
should begin about the Goth of March, and
may continue with success as late as the
first of June.
By the way Of preparation simply flush
Up the ground with a turning pillow, and
smooth the surface, if possible, with an or.
binary wooden or iron harrow. Then, with
a narrow scooter, open trenches two feet
asunder and apply in the drill any fertilizer
that may be provided. If the soil is high
and dry the eed in small handfuls, saw
thirty to forty grains, should NC deposited
at intervals of fifteen or eighteen inches,
to allow the free passage of the hoe in Gull
tivation. Coy',r with board as you would
cotton. Where the land is low and strong,
more especially if by lying fallow the crab
grass has been eSterminated, the seed may
be drilled at ;he rate of about one and a
half bushels per acre. Thus treated, fifty
bushels may be easily made in average
seasons.
Cultivate land with frequent blowing
between, and keeping the hills free from
grass or weeds.
No crop is more easily made or will
prove as remu aerative. With equal sea.
sons. and planted side by side with corn,
the rice will produce double the yield of
corn, and is worth, in the rough state,
fully third more in the market. The
writer has seen forty bushels produced on
the light sea island cotton lands on the
sea coast of Liberty county. He has also
cultivated the rice as you would peas, in
the middle of corn, where the soil was low
and moist, raising full crop of corn and
fifteen bushels OF rice to the acre. In
the latter case the rice received thor
ough working after the blades of the corn
were removed for fodder.
The rice straw, if protected from the
weather, furnishes good provender for
sheep, horses and cattle, and oftentimes,
III wet season, the stubble will put
forth a second growth, which can be cut
when green and cured, making the very
best OF hay. II. H. JONES.