“3. When the proper season has arrived for beginning the work of planting, and the elders have come to an agreement with the Pawang, then on some Friday after the service in the Mosque the Pĕnghulu addresses all the people there present, saying that on such a day of the month every one who is to take part in rice-cultivation must bring to the Mosque half a quart of grain (for ‘mother-seed’) in order that Maulud prayers may be read over it. (At that time kĕtupats[192] and lĕpats[193] are prepared for the men who are to read those prayers.)

“When the Maulud prayers are over, every man goes down to the rice-field, if possible on the same day or the next one, in order to begin ploughing the nursery plot, that is, the plot which is near his house or in which he has been in the habit of sowing the seed every year.

“But if a man has a great number of plots, he will begin by ploughing half of them, and then at the end of the month of Zilhijah he must diligently prepare the nursery plot so as to be ready in about ten days’ time.

Of Sowing

“4. Before sowing one must first of all lay out the grain, both the seed-grain and the ‘mother-seed,’ each separately, to dry. It must then be soaked in a vessel (a bucket or pot) for two days and two nights, after which it is taken out, strained and spread quite evenly on a mat with fresh leaves (areca-nut fronds are best), and every afternoon one must sprinkle water on it in order that the germ may quickly break through, which will happen probably in two days’ time or thereabouts.

“5. While the seed is soaking, the nursery plot must be carefully prepared; that is to say, it must be ploughed over again, harrowed, levelled, ditched, and the soil allowed to settle; the embankments must be mended, and the surface made smooth. When the germs have sprouted the seed is taken to the nursery plot. Benzoin supplied by the Pawang is burnt, and the plot sprinkled with tĕpong tawar.[194] Then a beginning is made by sowing the ‘chief of the seed,’ i.e. ‘mother-seed,’ in one corner of the nursery prepared for the purpose, and about two yards square; afterwards the rest of the seed is sown all over the plot. It is well to sow when the plot contains plenty of water, so that all the germs of the seed may be uppermost, and the roots may not grow long, but may be pulled up easily. The time for sowing must be during the dark half of the month, so that the seedlings may be preserved from being eaten by insects.[195]

“Three days after the seed is sown the young shoots begin to rise like needles, and at that time all the water should be drawn off the plot; after seven days they are likened to a sparrow’s tail, and about the tenth or fifteenth day they break out into blades. At that period the water is again let into the plot, little by little, in order that the stalks of the seedlings may grow thick.

“The seedlings have to remain in the nursery for at least forty or forty-four days from the time of sowing before they are sufficiently grown; it is best to let them remain till they are about seventy days old.

“6. While the seedlings are in the nursery the other plots are being ploughed, one after another; and this is called the first ploughing. Then the embankments are mended and re-formed with earth, so that the water in the field may not escape and leave it dry. After the embankments have been mended the harrowing begins: a start is made with the plot that was first ploughed (other than the nursery plot), for there the earth will have become soft, and the weeds being rotten after many days of soaking in the water will form a sort of manure. Each plot is so dealt with in its turn. Then all have to be ploughed once more (which is called the second ploughing) and harrowed again; for the first harrowing merely breaks up the clods of earth, and a second is required to reduce them to a fine state and to kill the weeds. Most people, having first used an iron harrow, use a wooden one for the second harrowing, in order that the earth may be broken up quite fine. Their rice is sure to thrive better than that of people who are less careful; for in rice-planting, as the saying goes, there is ‘the plighted hope of good that is to come,’ in the way of bodily sustenance I mean. So day by day the different plots are treated in the way that has been described in connection with the nursery plot in paragraph 5 above.