The evening times., 1899-12-26
THE CULTURE OF RICE.
Prospective Planters watching Ex-
perimentn With Kfnshu Seed.

Prospective Planters Watching Ex-
periments With Kfnshu Seed.
There was used in the United States last
year 1so, ,2s5. .315 pounds OF imported rice.
besides the homegrown crop Of 116.401, 76o
pounds. OF the common cereals. barley.
maize. oats. rye. and wheat. the United
States produced during the same period
In addition to the domestic CONSUMPTION,
an export quantity Of 24.2o5. .4s9. 356 pounds.
In the case of only one. cereal.. rice, the
United States produced only about one-half
the amount consumed. OF all the others,
the country produced an enormous surplus
for export. This anomalous condition is
due to the fact that rice. lin addition to its
tropical or subtropical character. is a crop
grown chiefly on wet lands. where it has
hitherto been impossible to use harvesting
machinery.
The crop must, therefore. be cut with a
sickle. and American hand labor has been
thrown into competition with the cheap la
Dor Of the East. competition that has not
proved profitable to the American.
Under dry-land cultivation rice is pre-
carious crop. From all these crcum-
stances rice cultivation in the United States
has not attained in past years the full de-
velopment of a prosperous industry.
In 1880 peculiar prairie region extend
ing along the coast Of southwestern Lou
isiana was opened up by the construction
of railroad. In 1884 enterprising settlers
began the development Of a new system
Of rice culture, by which. as now perfected,
the elevated and periodically dry prairie
lands are flooded by system of pumps,
canals, and levels. and when the rice is
about to mature the water is dained off.
leaving the land dry enough for the use
Of reaping machines.
Under this system. the cost of harvesting.
and therefore the total cost of production.
have been greatly reduced and the indus
try has undergone rapid development
In 1896 the depressing effects Of a new
difficulty began to be heavily felt The va
rieties Of rice most productive and other
wise satisfactory from a cultural stand
point under the new system were defective
commercially. because the percentage Of
grains broken In the process of milling or
preparing the grain for market was very
large. and the proportion of head rice"
made up of unbroken grains. was low. The
difference in wholesale price between head
rice and broken rice is about 9 cents per
poun1 When the broken rice ran up to 40.
SO. or even so per cent. and in the face Of a
close market the whole industry was men,
aced.
on July 1, 1873. an appropriation Tor the
introduction of valuable seeds and plants
from foreign countries. asked for by the
Secretary Of Agriculture in his estimates
Of the preceding year. became available.
and on September 1. 1885. DR.. S. A. Knapp,
OF Louisiana, was appointed as an agricul-
tural agent. with instructions TO visi, ia
pan. investigate the rices of that country,
and purchase a stock suited TO meet the
requirements of the American problem.
DR.. Knapp returned in the early spring Of
1899. with ten tons of Kinshu rice, which
was distributed to experimenters in south-
western Louisiana and elsewhere in the
rice belt. The result OF the milling tests
is now awaited. II the high milling quality
Of the Kinshu rice is maintained under our
cultural conditions, the last apparent OBJ
stacle TO the complete success of an Amer
ican system of rice cultivation will be re-
moved.