IRRIGATION 



By J. T. CBAWLBY. 



The subject of irrigation has hitherto received but little attention 

 on the part of the sugar planters of the north and east coasts, partly 

 owing to the fact that drouths are rare, and the rainfall is sufficient 

 for securing large crops of cane. The extended drouth of the past two 

 years, however, has done so much damage that 1 think you will agree 

 with me that the subject is of sufficient importance to be seriously and 

 carefully considered. 



The sugar cane is a plant that requires a great deal of water, in fact 

 it is one that responds very quickly to water whether this be fr(_)m 

 rainfall or irrigation. Although normally the rainfall is sufficient for 

 large crops 1 believe there are many years when irrigation would 

 pay, and in times of drouth like the present, a few thousand dollars 

 spent on pumps and ditches would save hundreds of thousands. While 

 it is not necessary to the maintenance of the sugar business in this 

 vicinity to establish irrigation, yet it would be an insurance. You 

 spend thousands of dollars in insuring against fire, in insuring against 

 accident, and loss of life, in insuring against cyclones, and insuring 

 your sugar on its way to market. But the basis of all of this, of all of 

 your wealth, of your living itself, is the crop of cane. In the final 

 analysis it is the cane itself that gives work to your laborers, work to 

 your Centrals, and wealth to the country, and it is not insured. In 

 times like the present this necessity of insuring against drouth forcibly 

 presents itself, and I believe that irrigation in the valleys of the north 

 and east coasts could be very cheaply and effectivel.v introduced. You 

 have large streams of pure water very near the surface of the ground, 

 and the cost of pumping this on to the land would be very small. 

 Again the ground water is near the surface and is apparently abundant. 

 There are three principal ways of securing the water, first by inter- 

 cepting the streams at an elevated point, and bringing the water to the 

 plantations by gravity, second by pumping direct from the streams to 

 the land, and third, by digging wells and pumping. The first would 

 in most cases probably be the most expensive as it would necessitate 

 long lines of ditches, but after these are established the cost of upkeep 

 should be very small, and you would never have the cost of fuel, pumps 

 and repairs to the same, ditches, etc. 



In Bulletin No- 17 of the Estacion Agron6mica of Cuba, there is 

 a record of some results of irrigating in Hawaii. 



As an average of 28 tests, 46 inches of rainfall produced 1,600 

 lbs. of sugar per acre, while 48 inches of irrigation applied at proper 

 times, in addition to this 46 inches of rainfall produced 12 tons of 

 sugar per acre. 



During a period of three years beginning in 1898 and ending in 

 1900, the following crops were produced: 



