THE IRRIGATION OF THE CANE iii 



are dug, along which the water runs into the main drain / and thence to the 

 drainage trench e. 



In the " EngUsh " fields the main drainage trench is dammed at the 

 proper points, and the navigation water is cut into the field, which by these 

 means may be flooded. 



Although the water available in the rivers is very great, irrigation is 

 very little practised, and its resiilts are often harmful ; the best ever accom- 

 phshed is the prevention of the entire loss of crop. The only large-scale 

 irrigation that the writer saw here was in Enghsh fields flooded as described 

 above, whereby a system of lateral seepage obtains. Harrison has demon- 

 strated the toxic nature of the subsoil waters in this colonv ; such a 

 system would bring these waters to the surface, and herein may He the cause 

 of the poor results obtained. 



Java.'" — Irrigation in Java is controlled by the Government in the interests 

 of the native land-holders and of the culture of rice ; the irrigation of the 

 sugar cane is a matter of secondary* importance. During the dry monsoon, 

 usually reckoned to last from Jime 15th to November 15th, the water avail- 

 able is divided between cane ctilture and rice culture, the cane planters being 

 allowed the use of the water from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the native rice 

 cultivators receiving it for the rest of the day. During this period it is voung 

 cane almost exclusively which is irrigated. In the wet monsoon, which lasts 

 the rest of the j'ear, the water is given to the native cultivator entirely. 

 In cases of prolonged failure of the rains, however, some portion may be 

 allotted to the sugar cane. The cane planter, however, benefits indirectlv 

 from the water used in the rice culture, since on taking over the land he has 

 the benefit of the large quantity of water retained by the soil after it has 

 been inundated during the rice crop. A second benefit is obtained from the 

 large amount of silt thus deposited on the land, whereby the use of mineral 

 manures is avoided. Follo\ving on De Meijier,^ the Solo river carries on an 

 average i kg. of silt per cubic metre, the silt of the Brantcis river containing 

 from 0-43 per cent, to o-6o per cent, of potash, from 0-35 per cent, to 0-65 

 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and from 0-25 per cent, to ©•27 per cent, 

 of nitrogen. 



In la^dng out fields in Java, the main ditches into which water is led 

 from a river or canal are usually 75 metres apart. They are usually about 

 3 ft. wide at top, i ft. at bottom, and 3 ft. deep. The laterals run at right 

 angles to the main ditches and are 10 metres apart, 18 ins. wide at top, 

 S ins. at bottom and 16 ins. deep. The cane rows run parallel to the main 

 -ditches, and are usually 5 ft. centre to centre. 



From the laterals water is thrown on the stools of cane by hand from 

 tuckets or long-handled dippers, and less frequenth" the water is caused 

 to back up in the laterals and then to flow down the rows, or again, after the 

 laterals are filled, water may be allowed to reach the roots by means of seepage. 

 At planting the cane is irrigated every three or four days for a month. In 

 the second month an irrigation is given every five to six days, every ten da^^s 

 in the third month, and every fifteen days for the next two or three months, 

 when irrigation stops, and drains are laid out across the fields. 



British India.'' — Irrigation is general wherever the cane i^ grown in India. 

 The land is usually watered before planting, after which irrigations follow 

 at first every five days and afterwards every eight days. The water is ob- 

 tained from weUs or from the State-controlled schemes. The svstem used 



