IREIGATION. i5l 



to suffer from drought He is therefore more 

 sure of his crop than if it were subject to the 

 caprices of the weather in more favored agri- 

 cultural regions. 



One acequia madre (mother ditch) suffices 

 generally to convey water for the h-rigation 

 of an entire valley, or at least for all the fields 

 of one town or settlement. This is made and 

 kept in repair by the pubhc, under the super- 

 vision of the alcaldes ; laborers being allotted 

 to work upon it as with us upon our county 

 roads. The size of this principal ditch is of 

 course proportioned to the quantity of land to 

 be Watered. It is conveyed over the highest 

 part of the valley, which, on these mountain 

 streams, is, for the most part, next to the 

 Ms. From this, each proprietor of a farm 

 runs a minor ditch, in Uke manner, over the 

 most elevated part of his field. Where there 

 is not a superabundance of water, which is 

 often the case on the smaller streams, each 

 farmer has his day, or portion of a day allot- 

 ted to him for migation ; and at no other time 

 is he permitted to extract water from the 

 dcequia madre. Then the cultivator, after let- 

 ting the water into his minor ditch, dams 

 this, first at one point and then at anotlier, so 

 as to overflow a section at a time, and with 

 Hs hoe, depressing eminences and filling 

 sinks, he causes the water to spread regularly 

 over the surface. Thousrh the operation 



O 



^ould seem tedious, an expert hrigator will 

 Water in one day his five or six acre field, if 



and everytliing well arranged ; yet 



