Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-10-24
Ilice Culture in the south.

A pound of the best rice N the New York
market costs eight cents. 1t has "a pearly,
transparent CLINT, a beautiful polish and lus-
tire yet very few who use this very attractive
article of food are aware of the labor and ex-
pense required to place II before them in this
perfect state. As an article of food 1t Is sec
ond alone to wheat, and is the grand natural
cereal upon which at least four hundred mil
lions, or nearly one-third of mankind, mainly
subsst
Almost incalculable areas of it are raised in
India and China, the various varieties seem.
ing endless. On the island of Ceylon alone
no less than lGl varieties are known but the
finest is raised in our own states of North and
South Carolina and Georgia, where those vast
expanses OF low-lying 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 sepa-
rately by smaller bitches, by which they are
flooded whenever desired. The rice is fire.
quently sown on the water covered soil, where
II quickly terminates, covering the fields with
a beautifully delicate green grassy carpet
which turns a lighter and yellower tinge as il
ripens
AS most of the fields have been reclaimed
from the rivers near which they lie, they are
continually subject to sudden overhows, the
utmost vigilance being required to guard
against this enemy, which often il one night
ruins the fruits of months of labor. Some of
the larger plantations cover two and three
thousand acres and employ several hundred
men, women and children
From 1920 to 174O the export of rice from
the Carolinas was 143. $50 tons For 174O
alone 80 600 barrels were shipped. At the
outbreak of the war million acres were
under cultivation in South Carolina alone. IL
1860 the production was 1S7, 1872 ,032 pounds,
but the war almost ruined this immense in.
dustry, and in 1870 the combined production
OF the two Carolinas Louisiana and Georgia
was reduced to $1,000, 600 pounds. steady
improvement, however, toward the old time
prosperity is now seen by comparing the pro
auctions of later years with that of sec, when
1t had dwlndled to the comparatively insight
hcant amount of L, OO2, OSO pounds.
Very few besides Chinese and negroes can
be kept on the plantations ss workers, and
owing to the intensely trying nature of the
climate IN summer, with its accompanying
marsh tevers, the question of labor supply il
very serious one TO the planters but while
the old fashioned method of cutting sowing
and transporting still prevail on most planta.
tions, numerous labor saving machines and
improvements have been introduced with
marked success N the various milling pro-
cesses.
Many large mills are to be seen on the low
shores of the Mississippi, in the vicinity 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 crowded with the latest improved ma
chinery for hulling, busting, cleaning, burn
ishing 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 tn- rough grain
from the decks of the river craft while the
elevators, with long armed spouts, dip deep
into and NIL the great holds OF sea going stea.
mers with miiled grain the clouds of drifting
chat dust, the whlr OF machinery, aud hurry
ing of boats and tugs, all present most
charming picture, and Enthusiastically indicate
the rapid revival of one of the most valuable
OF our Southern industries. -Harper's WstL-
g.