Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-08-14
Rice Culture In The south.
Harpers Weekly.

Rice Culture In The South
Harpers Weekly.
A pound of the best rice in the New
York market costs eight cents. 1t has a
pearly, transparent CLINT, a beautiful pol
ISL and lustre; yet very few who use this
very attractive article of food are aware
of the labor and expense required to
place it before them in this perfect state.
As an article of food it is second alone to
wheat, and is the grand natural cereal
upon which at least four hundred mill
lions, or nearly One-third of mankind,
mainly subsist.
Almost incalcu1able areas of it are
raised in India and China, the various
varieties seeming endless. On the island
of Ceylon alone no less than 161 varities
are known; but the finest is raised in our
own States of North and South Carolina
and Georgia, where those vast eXpanses
of lOW-lylng sWampy lands and heavy
vegetable soils render its cultivation
comparatively easy and profitable.
The great fields lying low along the
river banks are divided into sections
and trunks and canals carry the water to
each one separately by smaller bitches,
by which they are flooded whenever de-
sired. The rice is frequently sown on
the water-covered soil, where it quickly
terminates, covering the fields with
beautifully delicate green grassy carpet,
which turns a lighter and yellOWer tinge
as 1t ripens.
As most of the fields have been re-
claimed from the rivers near which they
lie, they are continually subject to sud-
den overfiows, the utmost vigilance being
required to guard against this enemy,
which often in one night ruins the fruits
of months of labor. Some of the larger
plantations cover two and three thou
sand acres, and employ several hundred
men, women, and children.
From 1920 to 1740 the export Of rice
from the Carolinas was 143, 1856 tons. For
174O alone 10000 barrels were shipped
At the outbreak of the war one million
acres, were under cultivation in South
Carolina alone. In 1860 the production
was 1877 1852 ,032 pounds, but the war al
most ruined this immense industry and
in 1870 the combined production of the
two CarOhnas, Louisiana, and Georgia
was reduced to 100000 pounds. A
steady improvement, however, toward
the Old-time prosperity is now seen by
comparing the productions of later years
with that of 1866, when it had dWindled
to the comparatively insignificant amount
Of II ,002080 pounds.
Very few besides Chinese and negroes
can be kept on the plantations as work
eTs, and owing to the intensely trying
nature of the climate in Summer, with
its accompanying marsh fevers, the ques-
ton of labor supply is a very serious one
to the planters; but while the old-fash-
toned method of cutting, sowing, and
transporting still prevail on most planta-
tons, numerous 1abOr-saving machines
and improvements have been introduced
with marked success in the various mill
ing processes.
Many large mills are to be seen on the
low shOI es of the Mississippi, in the vi
cinity of New Orleans, but those at
Charleston and Savannah are perhaps
the largest and most complete in their
appointments. Many are lofty buildings
Of brick or iron, their many stories crowd
ed with the latest improved machinery
for hulling, busting, cleaning furnishing,
and packing the grain ready for ship
ment. Situated at the waters edge, their
tall chimneys pouring forth heavy
columns of smoke, their derricks lifting
the rough grain from the decks of the
river craft, while the elevators, with long
armed spouts, dip deep into and fill the
great holds Of sea-gOing steamers with
mHled grain, the clouds of drifting chaf
dust, the Whir of machinery, and hurry
ing of boats and tugs, all present a most
charming picture, and Enthusiastically in
dictate the rapid revival of one of the
most valuable of our Southern industries.