which for the most part of a reddish clay, or
foxy earth, is converted into a smooth soft mud. The seed grain, put
into a sack of woven grass, is submerged in a running stream until it
begins to sprout, which happens sooner or later, according to the
temperature of the water and of the atmosphere, but ordinarily takes
place in three or four days. This precaution is adopted for the
purpose of getting the young shoots as quickly as possible out of the
way of a small snail, which abounds in some of the watered lands of
Kashmir, but sometimes proves insufficient to defend it against the
activity of this destructive enemy. When the farmer suspects, by the
scanty appearance of the plants above the water in which the grain has
been sown, and by the presence of the snail drawn up in the mud, that
his hopes of a crop are likely to be disappointed, he repeats the
sowing, throwing into the water some fresh leaves of the Prangos
plant, which either poison the snails or cause them to descend out of
the reach of its influence. The seed is for the most part thrown
broadcast into about four or five inches of water, which depth is
endeavoured to be maintained. Difference of practice exists as to
watering, but it seems generally agreed that rice can scarcely have
too much water, provided it be not submerged, except for a few days
before it ripens, when a dried state is supposed to hasten and to
perfect the maturity, whilst it improves the quality of the grain. In
general the culture of rice is attended with little expense, although
dearer in Kashmir than Hindostan, from its being customary in the
former country to manure the rice-lands, which is never done in the
latter. This manure, for the most part, consists of rice straw
rejected by the cattle, and mixed with cow-dung. It is conveyed from
the homestead to the fields by women, in small wicker baskets, and is
set on the land with more liberality than might have been expected
from the distance it is carried. Many of the ripe lands are situated
much higher than might be thought convenient in Hindostan, and are
rather pressed into this species of culture than naturally inviting,
but still yield good crops, through the facility with which water is
brought upon them from the streams which fall down the face of the
neighbouring hills. In common seasons the return of grain is from
thirty to forty for one, on an average, besides the straw.

The rice of Bengal, by the exercise of some care and