The morning news., 1889-03-04
PERSIAN RICE.
How 1t is Produced and How It is
Treated.

4ESdL00s
The state department at Washingtod has
received an interesting report from A 81.
SCHNEIDER, United States consul at Teheran,
Persia, descriptive of the rice and sugar
industries of that country. Of the former
product he says:
"Rice is cultivated in all parts of Persia.
wherever water is abundant. 1t thrives
well near the rivers and perennial streams
in the hot lowlands at the head of the Pers-
ian gulf. all over the plateau of Persia, at
attitudes varying from 1000 to 5000 feet
above the level of the sea, and best in the
lowlands forming the southern littOral Of
the Caspian. 1t may be said that all dis
tricts in Persia which possess river or a
perennial stream produce rice. A great
part of Central Persia, and almost the whole
southern littoral, extending from the head
of the Persian gulf TO the frontier of Inde-
pendent Beluch stan, are devoid of rivers
and do not produce rice. The greater part
of the cultivation of Gillian and Mazanderan
is of rice, and those provinces are on that
account very insalubrious in summer. No
one has been able to give me any informa-
tion as to the yearly produce OF rice in Gilan
and Mazanderan, but there is no doubt of its
being very considerable
THE TREATMENT OF RICE.
"Rice is divested of its husk by small
handmills of stone, and is then further
Leaned by machine called dang This
machine is moved by water power in
Mazanderan and Gilan, in Sengan, and
some other districts, but ia towns generally
in a more primitive manner. The machine
consists of heavy beam of wood, which
swings vertically on fulcrum, like a see
saw, and is armed at one end with hollow
steel cylinder a foot long and fixed at right
angles to the longitudinal section Of the
beam, at the other end with a ccunterpose.
The machine works as follows: Four or
five men jump on to the end of the be I'm
with the cylinder; their weight makes the
bea n descend and the cylinder at the end is
forced into the rice. The rice is kept in a
tank about or 5 feet in diameter and 4
feet in depth and constructed in the ground,
its aperture flush with the surface, and is
mixed with coarsely powdered rock salt to
increase friction. The men then jump off
the beam on to "A platform at the side and
the counterpoise at the other end Of the
beam raises the end with the cylinder. The
fall of the counterpoisa is arrested by block
OF wood and as soon us the men hear the thud
Of the counterpose on the block they again
Jump on the beam, go down with it, and
jump off it.
THE PAY.
"The work requires neither intelligence
nor skill, but is very fatiguing, and 1t is
matter Of astonishment that It is so badly
paid. The five men on the beam receive
for twelve hours work per diem, during
which they 20 up and down 100 times per
hour. 2l5 krans Chat is n kran, or at tine
present rate Of exchange a little less tnan
cents each) and their midday meal. The
superior qualities of rice are generally
cleaned twice. For TIE first cleaning the
charge is 1874 to 1873 cents per khawar (649
pounds. for the second cleaning 62 to 81
cents. Many families clean their own rice
at home by putting 1t together with rock.
with a wooden pestle This practice is
principally followed in the south
OF Persia ani in the province of
Arabistan, at the head OF the