Here you see an old way of harvesting grain-by sickles. This is a Japanese harvesting scene in the rice fields. Instead of using machinery, such as mowers or binders, the Japanese use the sickle. The Chinese and East Indians do likewise. The sickle is used because the farms of Japan and China are generally small. All the work is done by hand because man labor is cheaper than machinery and animals. Then, too, rice straw is valuable so it must be handled carefully. Mats of rice straw are used in most Japanese houses for carpets or rugs. These are always woven the same size-6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 inches thick. Rice straw is also used in making sandals, ropes, and rice bags. The rice you see harvested here will be tied in bundles and set in shocks to dry. Then it is carried by hand to a threshing floor where it is beaten out by hand. The grain and chaff are tossed in the wind to separate the two. The rice is cooked with the rough surface on it, and is eaten with fish in those families that can afford fish. In Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, where most of the rice in the United States is grown, modern machinery is used. The rice is cultivated much as corn is, and it is cut with a rice binder. A thresher is used to remove the hull from the grain just as such machines are used to thresh wheat. The grain is then run between stones to remove the rough outer covering, and the rice is polished. Polished rice is better to look at than rough rice but it is not such good food. In Asia the grain is not polished. The people like it better in the rough form; and it is cheaper and better food when so used. Tell how wheat and oats are harvested in this country. Study the view for the Japanese dress. Keystone ID: 14789 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.