238 Irrigation and Drainage 



for a full season, starting with the ground in good con- 

 dition as regards moisture at time of planting, making 

 the possible interval 33 to 65 days. 



Fruit trees in Sicily and southern Italy are watered 

 12 to 25 times during one season or once every 7 to 14 

 days. The peach and apple in Mesilla, New Mexico, are 

 watered once at the beginning of winter, once early in 

 January, and four or five times between April 1 and 

 September 30, thus making the interval for the growing 

 season 30 to 40 days. In Algeria and Spain, oranges 

 are irrigated the year round every 15 days in spring 

 and summer, but at longer intervals the balance of the 

 year ; and it is only on the heavy soils that irrigation 

 is dispensed with during the rainy season. Grapes, 

 when irrigated, are usually watered every 10 to 20 

 days, and young vineyards oftener than those more 

 mature. 



Rice in Italy is kept flooded from the time of 

 seeding until the plants are coming into bloom, and 

 then the water is drawn off, but the fields are irrigated 

 afterwards every few days. In Egypt the water in 

 the rice basins is changed every 15 days, and in India 

 a crop of rice gets as many as twelve waterings. 



In South Carolina, Mr. Hazzard informs me that 

 their custom is to clay the seed to prevent it from 

 floating, and then to flood the fields, keeping them so 

 until the rice is well up, when the water is drawn off 

 for 3 days to allow the plants to become rooted in 

 the soil, when the fields are again flooded for 3 weeks, 

 but changing the water every 7 days. The water 

 is again drawn off for 30 days, to give the fields two 



