The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-05
An Old Farmers Method with Upland
Rice


Mr. w. P. Horne says in the Florida
u,,.,,,er and Fruit GrotCer: | have been
asked by some of your readers if l know
onvtbing about raising rice in Florida; if
en- TO tell them how to raise it on high land,
wing the Weld, etc. To make rice without
s,,,ch work | plant it on new land, before
tho crab grass comes on it. But if planted
on old land where there is plenty of grass
coed it is very troublesome to cultivate, as
the rice AMI grass all come up together, and
10 keep it clear of grass will give somebody
the backache.
So would advise your readers to choose
new land before the crab grass gets there
and then they can grow rice with very little
work and make much better crop, as new
land seems to suit it better. NY plan Of
nlanting is to break new land up twice, bar
row if smooth, run the rows off two feet
anart with small shovel plow, then scatter
some good manure in the burrows. Any
hind of fertilizer will answer, but l gener-
allviuse cotton-seed meal or cotton-seed
composted with lot manure. If the cotton
seed meal is used put on 400 or 500 pounds
per acre. Then bed In the furrow, making
a he'd over the fertilizer with four burrows,
which will plow out all the middles, then
omen the beds with the same shovel pillow
Sow half a bushel Of rice per acre. Cover
it with small harrow or cotton board. If
the land should be very rough cover it with
a rake an inch or two deep.
When the rice is up four or five inches
high pillow it closely with a small plow and
run the hoe over it to take out any grass or
weeds that might come out. Plow again
when the rice is knee high, with a cotton
sweep if possible, so as to plow very shallow
and not cut the roots. This blowing gener-
ally finishes the making of it.
But to be sure you will get all you have
made we generally have to have little war
with the rice birds, and sometimes the black
birds also will want their share. | find that
the best and only plan to keep the birds
from destroying the crop is to get bag Of
bird-shot and double barreled shotgun
and put it into them. The rice birds attack
the rice when it is in the milk state, and if
not kept out small flock of birds will
quickly ruin several acres.
Rice planted this way and fertilized will
yield from 25 to 80 bushels per acre. When
not MANFRED our pine lands make from Is
to 20 bushels, therefore it pays to fertilize it
well and make on one acre what you would
make without fertilizing on two. Every
farmer in Florida should make his own rice
for home purposes at least. 1t will pay
much better to raise it for market than
cotton. There are low, fiat lands enough
in Florida to raise rice for the United States
and our farmers should raise a great deal
more of it than they do.
There is no grain that we can plant here
that would pay us as well. 1t is fine food
for man and all kinds of stock are fond of
it. For fowls it beats anything they can
be fed to make them lay eggs. Let me say
to our poultry raisers by all means plant
rice. If you want your hens to just lay
themselves away and all turn to eggs feed
them on rough rice.
So, my friends, plant lots of rice this year.
There will be rice mills put up if you will
raise the rice and it will be worth a dollar
per bushel in the rough. There is gentle
man in Marion county who will put up a
rice mill next summer if he can buy rice
enough to justify him in doing SO. When
we get so that we raise all our provisions at
home, instead of paying out money for
everything we use and keep our money at
home then we can begin to brag of the good
country we have. But if we merely say we
can raise everything here that is useful for
man and don't do it people will not believe
u.s. Let us show our faith by our works
and there will be no going back on us. We
have got the right country if we will but do
right by it and cultivate it properly.
Early Methods of Cotton Cultivation
A writer in the Winnsboro IS. c. NetCS