122 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



lift water from the streams into these canals, and 

 thousands of acres are irrigated from one canal. En- 

 terprises of this kind are operated by corporations 

 which charge fees or a per cent, of the crop as rental 

 for water furnished the rice grower. One-fifth of the 

 crop is a standard charge. 



Wells. It costs from two to six dollars per acre to 

 supply water from a well. Where well water is used 

 the wells are bored to a depth of 200 to 325 feet, and 

 are generally ten or twelve inches in diameter. One 

 well should furnish enough water for 200 acres or 

 more. It costs from three to four dollars a foot to 

 put down such wells. A pump costs six or seven hun- 

 dred dollars. Steam or gasoline power is used to 

 drive the pump. A horse-power of thirty-five is con- 

 sidered desirable for this work. The cost of the 

 power ranges from a thousand to fifteen hundred dol- 

 lars. About thirteen thousand five hundred gallons of 

 water are required daily for an acre of rice. 



Harvesting. The water is withdrawn as the grain 

 begins to turn yellow, which is usually ten days to two 

 weeks in advance of the harvest. Harvest begins in 

 early August, and continues until the middle of Oc- 

 tober. Where the soil is firm, and the levees not too 

 close together, the crop is harvested with the grain 

 harvester, \vhich will cut about eight acres a day with 

 first-class team power. The grain is tied in bundles 

 by the machine with a hemp string, and the bundles 

 dropped in groups ready for shocking. Harvesting 

 costs about one dollar per acre. The harvesting ma- 

 chine costs $175 and should last five or six years when 

 properly cared for. The bundles are assembled in 

 shocks of sixteen to twenty or more, the bundles 

 standing on end, and are capped with two bundles, the 

 straw of which is broken in the middle sufficiently to 

 cause both ends to droop when the bundle is supported 

 in the middle. These serve as a cover to shed water 

 and protect the grain from sunshine and birds. Two 

 men can shock the grain as fast as one machine can 



