624 THE SMALL GRAINS 



water, at such times, is carried over the levees on to the 

 rice fields, through siphons. At the lower stages of the 

 river, it must be pumped into reservoirs built inside the 

 levees and sufficiently higher than the fields, so the water 

 will still flow through the siphon, over the levees. 



697. The size of the subfields or cuts depends chiefly 

 on the degree of slope. They range from 60 to 100 acres 

 in the Texas-Louisiana rice district, to 1 or 2 acres 

 near the Mississippi River. In the Carolina rice district 

 a field is divided into rectangular cuts, of about 40 acres 

 each. In oriental countries the cuts are often no larger 

 than ^ acre. The entire field must be practically level, 

 so the water will stand all over it at about the same depth. 

 The greater the slope, therefore, the smaller the fields 

 must be made. The possibility of effective drainage 

 must not be overlooked in laying off the fields. 



698. Pumping. In Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, 

 which produce nearly all of the rice in this country, " all 

 but 2.5 per cent of the irrigated land in rice is supplied 

 with water by pumping, and wells afford a supply for 

 about of this area " (Haskell, 1915, p. 3). Wells and 

 their pumping equipment are usually owned by the in- 

 dividual farmers. In other instances the irrigation water 

 is supplied from large canals, owned by companies or 

 individuals, who furnish it to the rice-growers on a rental 

 basis. The height to which the water is elevated varies 

 from 10 to 80 feet. Some of the largest and best equipped 

 pumping plants in the world are used in rice irrigation. 

 Main canals, with a volume of water equal to that of some 

 rivers, are employed, as in western irrigation (Fig. 182). 



699. Levees. The water, brought to the field through 

 the main canal and laterals, is held there by a large levee 

 12 inches or more high, built around the field. Other 



