﻿102 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



is drawn from the Bacarra or Bubuisan River. This stream 

 rises in the northeastern part of the municipality of Bintar, 

 and runs its entire course to the China Sea through this 

 municipality and that of Bacarra. From its source to the latter 

 town, the stream is made up of a series of rapids, a circumstance 

 which makes it easy to divert water for irrigation purposes. 

 The stream carries a fair amount of water even in the dry 

 season. According to a gauging made in April, 1909 — that 

 is, during a dry month — below the town of Bacarra and below 

 all points where water was diverted there was a discharge of 

 3,300 second liters going to waste. 



There are 8 canals which divert water from the Bacarra 

 River, covering from 200 to 1,800 hectares each, and some 

 35 small ditches, watering from 2 to 70 hectares each. All 

 of these ditches, it is said by the people of the towns, have 

 been built by the landowners and are maintained by them. 

 The larger ditches have been well constructed, and show fairly 

 good maintenance. Diversions are made by temporary dams 

 of bamboo and rock, which are either destroyed or require 

 considerable repairing each year. Rows of stakes are driven 

 into the bed of the stream, and the spaces between are filled with 

 stones and brush. Permanent headgates and wasteways above 

 the high-water mark have been provided on a number of the 

 larger ditches, reducing repair work on the ditches. Important 

 structures employed on the canals such as checks, drops, and 

 culverts are of a permanent nature, and are usually constructed 

 of cobblestones laid in lime mortar. 



It would be beyond the scope of this article, which aims only 

 to convey a general idea of the degree of development of native 

 irrigation in Uocos Norte, to give a detailed description of all the 

 irrigation works in Bacarra and Bintar. In order to illustrate 

 the utmost that has been done in this region, I shall give a 

 few facts regarding the two most ambitious works, the Paratong 

 and the Kamungao canals. 



The former is the largest and most important canal in the 

 province. Heading just above the town of Bacarra, it extends 

 across this municipality and waters about 500 hectares in the 

 municipality of Pasuquin, besides neax'ly 850 hectares in Bacarra. 

 The main canal and the Bacarra and Pasuquin laterals are about 

 20 kilometers long. It is claimed, and I know of no evidence 

 to the contrary, that this canal was built by the landowners 

 without the assistance of any regular engineer. Many repairs 

 are necessary each year, and these are made by the landowners 

 benefited by the system. At one place, where the Pasuquin 



