and probably the earliest practised mode of
cultivating rice, consists in taking from forest lands a fugitive
crop, after burning the trees, grass, and underwood. The ground is
turned up with the mattock, and the seed planted by dibbling between
the stumps of trees. The period of sowing is the commencement of the
rains, and of reaping that of the dry season. The rice is of course of
that description which does not require immersion.

The second description of tillage consists also in growing mountain or
dry land rice. This mode is usually adopted on the common upland
arable lands, which cannot conveniently be irrigated. The grain is
sown in the middle of the dry season, either broadcast or by dibbling,
and reaped in seven or five months, as the grain happens to be the
larger or the smaller variety.

The culture of rice by the aid of the periodical rains forms the
third mode. The grain being that kind which requires submersion, the
process of sowing and reaping is determined with precision by the
seasons. With the first fall of the rains the lands are ploughed and
harrowed. The seed is sown in beds, usually by strewing very thickly
the corn in the ear. From these beds the plants, when 12 or 14 days
old, are removed into the fields and thinly set by the hand. They are
then kept constantly immersed in water until within a fortnight of the
harvest, when it is drawn off to facilitate the ripening of the grain.

The fourth mode of cultivating rice is by forcing a crop by artificial
irrigation, at any time of the year; thus, in one field, in various
plots, the operations of sowing, ploughing, transplanting, and reaping
may be seen at the same period.

The fertile, populous, and industrious countries of the Eastern
Archipelago export rice to their neighbours. The most remarkable of
these are Java, Bali, some parts of Celebes, with the most fertile
spots of Sumatra, and of the Malay Peninsula. Rice is generally
imported to these western countries from those farther east, such as
the Spice Islands. Java is the principal place of production for the
consumption of the other islands, and the only island of the
Archipelago that sends rice _abroad_. The rice of the eastern
districts is generally superior to that of the western. The worst rice
is that of Indramayu, which is usually discolored. The subdivision of
the province of Cheribon, called Gabang, yields rice of fine white
grain, equal to that of Carolina. The rice of Gressie