1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



369 





WELI.S ON IRRIGATION PI.ANT OF CARY & SONS, NEAR JENNINGS, LOUISIANA. 



quired on some of the large canals, 

 owing to the necessity of several lifts 

 to get the water into the canal. 



The land to be planted in rice is usu- 

 ally broken and leveled in December and 

 January, levees turned up around the 

 fields, and cross-levees put in, the levee 

 work being accomplished by means of a 

 large plow made for the purpose. Rice 

 may be planted any time from February 

 to June. One and one-fourth bushels 

 of seed are used per acre, being sow^n 

 broadcast or drilled, as preferred. When 

 the rice reaches a height of from 6 to 8 

 inches the water is turned on the land 

 to a depth of 2 to 10 inches to secure 

 the best results. Stooling begins when 

 the rice is about 1 1 inches high. The 

 w^ater is kept on the land until the heads 

 are filled, when the levees are cut and 

 the water turned off to permit the rice 

 to ripen and the ground to become dry 

 enough for the harvester. Herein the 

 prairie region possesses a distinct ad- 



vantage over the delta lands. In the 

 former the crop is harvested the same as 

 wheat in the northwest, while in the 

 latter, owing to the moist soil, harvest- 

 ing must be done with the sickle and 

 requires many laborers and much time. 

 The numerous pumping plants, draw- 

 ing millions of gallons daily from the 

 streams and bayous, in many places 

 have lowered the water levels, and some 

 alarm was occasioned as to the future 

 of the water supply. It was then as- 

 certained that this region is underlaid 

 with inexhaustible beds of water-bear- 

 ing gravel, and flowing wells, or wells 

 with pressure sufficient to bring the 

 water nearly to the surface, are employed 

 in large numbers to augment the supply. 

 Many of these are of sufficient capacity 

 to supply water to 100 acres of rice with- 

 out diminution in their flow. A well 

 and pumping outfit sufficient to irrigate 

 200 acres cost from $1,500 to $2,000. 

 It is estimated that not less than 25,000 



