Experiments on the Cultivation of Chinese Mountain Rice in Tyrol

News for Patriotic Agriculture.

Bozen, 15 Oct. It should not be unwelcome to receive some news about the experiments made by now also in this country with the cultivation of Chinese mountain rice, whose easy growth even in higher, dry soil and whose excellent productive power are praised so highly by the "Österreichischer Beobachter" of 18 April of this year, No. 108, that it boasts the name of the "Thousandfold". What a stroke of fortune for a country like Tyrol, which with its extremely arduous farming achieves only meager reward for its sweat, which at the failure of its few customary types of crops immediately finds itself oppressed by price increases and distress, and which finally still possesses many uncultivated grounds, – especially when the marshes are drained and new land is gained through the regulation of rivers and wild torrents to meet its needs; – what a stroke of fortune for this country if that so nutritious plant, which as a healthy and delicate food must be placed alongside the noblest crop types, but in fullness and richness of reproduction far surpasses them all, should also find its growth here, gradually acclimatize, and in its expanded cultivation show its fertility without polluting the atmosphere as in Italian rice farming. It was the Governor Vice President Count von Chotek who, upon hearing of the advantages of that planting, was the first to apply for a few seeds of this foreign crop type and to begin the important experiments of this planting in the various soil types of our mountainous land. He was able to obtain only 30 grains, nevertheless he initiated the intended experiments with them. Fifteen grains came here. It is striking how dangerous and difficult their planting became. The trials of cultivation were undertaken, perhaps with too many precautions and anxieties, yet by a very experienced and proven economist in a threefold manner. Five seed grains were planted, after preliminary overnight soaking in water, on a slope in the so-called Leiten near Bozen; five grains without such soaking in the plain on the shaded side; and five grains in the same manner in the plain on the sunny side in garden soil about 3/4 inch deep – yet because of the delayed receipt of the seed, this planting took place only on 8 May of this year, whereas in this region even melons are already set in the month of March. On the 20th of the same month, i.e. after 12 days, very thin green stalks sprouted from every seed to a height of one inch and in the shape of a very fine knitting needle, and of all the plants only two on the slope (Leite) failed to appear. There now seemed to occur a formal standstill in growth, which however visibly resumed in June, and from the 20th of this month to the 24th of July drove the green stalk into a 14 to 16 inch high and relatively thick rounded stem, from the tip of which an ear of 2 to 4 inches in length developed, which on 28 July blossomed with white threads like rye and contained 50 to over 70 grains. Simultaneously with the blooming of this main ear, new stalks (side shoots) began to sprout from the ground on both sides, which grew up faster, yet with their continuous multiplication on both sides decreased in height and strength of the stem and in length of the ear, and in an almost regular gradation took over the flowering stage from one another. The 10 seed grains in the garden soil formed 6 to 12 stalks and ears from a single seed, whereas the 3 plants that appeared on the Leite, probably due to ill-conceived soaking of the seed and the prevailing unusual drought and heat which even damaged the grapevines, consisted of only 2 to 3 stalks and ears of smaller size and lower quality. It must further be noted here that a few times, when due to the quite extraordinary drought of this year the young plant was threatened with wilting, it was watered only lightly. The flowering period in general lasted for the whole plant until 14 August, and only individual side shoots that appeared late on two plants are currently still finishing their bloom. Ripening has so far occurred in only two plants in the garden soil on the sunny side; and the yield from these two seed grains consisted of: 150 perfectly good grains, larger than the received seed — and 447 blind grains, probably due to too late planting — thus together: 597 grains. The ripening of the remaining standing plants seems about to occur shortly, and, with the exception of those on the Leite, allows an even better yield to be expected. The consequences of these first trials could become of the highest importance for our country; especially if active and zealous farmers find encouragement in this to contribute to the improvement in the treatment and cultivation of this plant through expert observations and well-meaning advice. In the coming year, we shall not fail to give a new report on the further results of this culture.

Trient, 14 Oct. Certainly deserving of the greatest attention, especially in the valleys of our mountainous fatherland, is the description that travelers and public papers give of "Chinese mountain rice", which thrives in mountainous and dry soil and feeds the immense population of China. Through the efforts of Vice President Count von Chotek, we succeeded last spring in obtaining 10 grains of that plant. With these we began the trials; but since the season was already too far advanced, namely in the second half of the month of May, the result was not what could be expected; all the less so as the soil was plagued by pests that bit off some sprouted plants. Only one plant thrived; however, as the plant was weak, the farmer cut away two side shoots; the ripe ear yielded 20 grains, and a shoot beside it 6 grains; the rest did not ripen. Had the sowing taken place earlier, so that all shoots of that single plant could have ripened, the farmer who conducted the trial calculated that this single plant would have borne 188 grains. The same farmer notes that he can attribute this partial failure only to the delayed sowing and to those unknown meteorical causes that reduced the grape harvest of the garden where he conducted the trials to half of the previous year's yield. Yet even through this partial success, the confident hope should be given that future trials will produce more certain and highly important results for our fatherland.