Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-08-09

serliy follow that the topography Of
the country will largely determine the
size of the fields.
Where rice lands are along a river
1T is customary to run a canal to the
outer rim Of the rice field. entirely sur.
rounding II. The dirt taken from this
canal Is thrown upon the outer bank
to form n protecting levee against sud
den rises from the river. Water 10
flood the rice fields Is let In from the
stream. The larger tract Enclosed by
the main canal is now cut up by small.
or canals into fields or subtields Of
suitable size and small leyees are
thrown upon each side. 1t is essential
that the surface Of each OF these sub
fields be level. The main canals av-
erage from 10 to 30 feet wide and are
about 4 feet deep. They, connect with
the river by food gates. The sub
canals average from 6 to 10 feet wide
and are nearly as deep as the main
canals. Boats are used to reach any
point of the growing areas, and some
times the levees are made wide
enough to form roads.
Various methods for preparing the
soil for the crops are used, some grow
ers advocating deep blowing, while
others use the shallow method. Nat
urally, the character of the soil should
, govern. One of the advantages claimed
for deep blowing Is that, AS the rice
does not feed much below the plow
line, the deeper the plowed area the
p more food is placed at the disposal
S Of the growing crops.
o After the ground is plowe1, a disk
o harrow Is u over the surface, fol-
G lowed by Il smoothing harrow. and
often Il heavy roller is used to break
G ! up the cl0ds.
y, Sowing is done early in spring and
about two bushels of seed are used
a to the acre. While there are several
D. methods Of planting the seed, the best
p results are said to be obtained witt
a drill. This insures the equal distri
Ia button of the seed Mt Il uniform depth
D. Flooding Is the most important fea
I'd ture Of rice growing. Except where
II water is necessary for terminating thu
seed. flooding Is not practiced until TIN
he rice is 6 or 8 inches high. When tn
rice reaches that height water is Ri
D. onto the land to a depth from 3 t
llf 6 inches, 1t Is constantly changed I
IN prevent %stagnation. The principe
re thing to watch is the height Of the W :,
es. ter, as 1t is essential that the waite
IRE be Kept at the same depth throughO,
ce, the entire field, otherwise n part
"a the crop will ripen before the other.
Harvesting machines are brought o
re- the land as soon as the grain Is rip
1t takes about six months to grow
be crop Of rice In this country. Whel
nd the drainage is good and the grour
I'll dries quickly, reaping machines al
Ill generally used. In California Il
er- track-laying tractors are almost ur
,us y~ersally used in the rice fields, N
ear the harvesting car be commenced
res week or two earlier by their use.
In harvesting, the rice is cut fro
)od G to - inches from the ground and 4
md cut grain Is laid on the stubbles
ing keep 1t Off the wet soil. After a da!
IN curing the grain Is removed from t
BPS, field and stacked on dry ground. i
tier treme care must be taken In shock
eat the grain to prevent the rice from
'ers ing lost. The bundles are stack
lily against each other. with the heads
nar- Slow curing In the shade produces I
had toughness Of kernel necessary to wi
the stand the milling process. The rice
by left In the shock until the straw
cad cured and the kernel hard. ]
less threshing r. done by the regulat
the ~threshlng machine.
mud The rice as 1t comes from the thre
rae or IL called paddy or trough re
y to It still has surrounding It the husk
for close.ftting cuticle. The process
nch. milling removes this husk and polls
king the rice. This polishing Is more a
and than n necessity, for by 1t some OF
most nutritious parts OF the rice
Will lost.
liter The improved method Of milling
IL quite complicated. The paddy
field first screened to emove foreign
ions. stances. The hulls are removed
field rapidly revolving stones SET ABOUT !
cres, thirds Of the length OF q rice ke'
can. apart. The product goes over b
cres, zontai screens and blowers that
the arate the light chaif and the vi
ayer. and broken kernels. The grains
.er Ia now u Into huge mortars nol'
iepth from four to six Dushe's each'
bounded with pestles weighing al