IRRIGATION OF FIELD CROPS. 103 



moisture to make them moM in the stack if not dried 

 before hauling. Peas put up in this way will be as 

 pvi'ii in January and February as they were in the pre- 

 vious June and July. 



Rice. In growing this crop by irrigation in the 

 South, it is best to select a tract of level land, which 

 should lie so that it may be surrounded by a low L 

 for the purpose of retaining the water on the field. It 

 is plowed into beds fifty feet in width, thoroughly pul- 

 verized, and put into condition to receive the seed. 

 Eighty to ninety pounds of rice to the acre is sown A\ ith 

 a seeder in the latter part of March, or in April, some- 

 times as late as June, though the late-sown rice is not so 

 apt to make a good crop as the earlier sown. After 

 seeding, the ground is thoroughly harrowed, that all the 

 seed may be well covered ; then the harrow is followed 

 with a roller, in many instances, to crush down clods 

 and lumps, and make a good, smooth seedbed. When 

 the young rice has grown to four or five inches in 

 hight irrigating is begun, usually by pumps, putting 

 On an average of two inches depth of water over the 

 whole field, but not enough to cover the young plants. 

 As the rice grows the water is increased in depth, 

 following the growth of the rice with the water, until 

 there is a depth of six to ten inches over the whole 

 field. This depth is maintained until the rice is headed 

 out, and the grain formed and grown well out of the 

 milk ; in fact, until the dough stage, as it would he 

 called in wheat. At this time the water is drawn off 

 the land, and by the time it has dried out so the binder 

 can be run, the rice is ripe and ready to cut. It is 

 cut with the ordinary self-binding harvester, is shocked 

 up in shocks of twenty-five to thirty bundles each, 

 these shocks well capped with four bundles broken 

 down at the band, and then left until well cured and 

 ready for the separator. 



