BEITER FRUIT 



April 



Figure 3— CLEARING BRUSH IN IMPERIAL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 



rapidly taking the place of farthcn head 

 ditches. These flumes vary in width 

 from eight to t\vel\-e inches, and the 

 openings are cuntrolled l.iy metal or 

 wooden gates in the manner shown in 

 Figure i:!. Throughout the southern 

 and central portions of California cement 

 flumes and pipes of \arious kinds are 

 Cjuite generally used t(_) distribute water 

 to furrows. A common type of flume is 

 shown in Figure 14. In the process of 

 building, and before the cement hardens, 

 small metal tubes are inserted on the 

 side next to the orchard, the flow 

 through each tube being regulated hy 

 a gate of the same material. When pipes 

 are used a line is laid across the lop of 

 the tract to be watered at the proper 

 depth below the surface, and at regular 

 distances standpipes are inserted to bring 

 the water to the surface, where it is 

 divided between a number of furrows In- 

 special devices. 



Where water is pumped from wells, 

 and where it is conducted from gravity 

 canals under pressure, a convenient way 

 of irrigating certain crops is by means of 

 surface pipes. These pipes are made at 

 the factory into convenient lengths, usu- 

 ally ten feet, of various diameters, and 

 of different weights and kinds of metal. 

 When not in use they are stored in an 

 outbuilding or shed and carted to the 

 field which is in need of water. In the 

 main feed pipe, which is laid under- 

 ground acr(}ss the top of the field to be 

 watered, there are standpipes at regular 

 intervals, and a length of the movable 

 pipe is attached to the lowest standpipe, 

 using heavy canvas hose to make the 

 connection. To this length others are 

 attached until a line extends on one side 

 of the field to within a short distance of 

 the b(jttom. When the water is turned 

 on a section of can\as hose serves to 

 distribute the water down the slope and 

 as far on each side as the hose will reach. 

 Se\eral lengths of pipe are then removed 

 and carried over to an adjoining strip. 

 The hose is again attached and another 

 block of land watered, fn this manner 

 an entire strip on one side of the field 

 is watered, and the pipe is again strung 

 out in such a way that the strip next tri 

 the first can be watered. 



In ]909 the farmers of Louisiana, 

 Texas and Arkansas received more than 

 $18,000, 000 for their irrigated rice crop. 

 The well drained, rich soil of that warm, 

 humid region, when abundantlj' supplied 

 with water at the proper time, is well 

 adapted to the needs of this crop. Unlike 

 most crops, rice must not only be 



Fjguke 7— LATER. \L DI'fCH IM.OW 



flooded, but the top soil must be kept 

 either continuously moist or submerged 

 for a considerable part of the time. In 

 the river sections of Louisiana two sys- 

 tems (if culture — the wet and the dry — 

 are emploj'ed. In the wet method the 

 fields are flooded and plowed in the 

 water to a depth of two and one-half to 

 four inches in April or early in ]\[ay. 

 The seed is sown broadcast and har- 

 rowed in, after which the water is turned 

 off, and the rice speedily germinates. 

 In the dry method the land is plowed, 

 harrowed and seeded from the middle 

 of March to the first of July in a manner 

 similar to the treatment given other 

 cereals. Under both methods a little 

 water is turned on when the rice is four 

 to six inches high. If the water is cold 

 it must be used sparinglj' on earl}' rice, 

 while on late rice a sufficient depth of 

 water must be maintained to pre\-ent 

 scalding. Unless the crop is attacked by 

 insects the water, after being turned on, 

 is kept on continuously until withdrawn 

 previous to the harvest. 



In the prairie districts of Louisiana. 

 Texas and Arkansas, where o\er eighty- 

 five per cent of the total yield of this 

 country- is grown, the fields are plowed 

 two to three inches deep at any con- 

 venient time between the harvesting of 

 one crop and the planting of the next. 

 Unless the soil is very hard no irrigation 

 is needed bef(jre seeding. The most 

 common \-arieties are Honduras and 

 Japan rice, the acreage in the former 

 being about double that of the latter. 

 Japan rice grows more slowly, re(|uiring 

 about fifteen days more time to mature. 

 .\d\-antage is taken of this to increase 

 the length of the growing, as well as that 

 of the irrigating season, in order that 

 the largest possible acreage ma}- be 

 handled by a g-i\-eii number of laborers. 

 The time of seeding extends imm the 

 i-niddle of March to Jul\-. The Honduras 

 rice is planted first, and there is usually 

 suflicient rainfall to germinate the seed. 

 In case irrigation v/ater is needed to 

 sprout the seed it should not be allowed 

 to rei-iiain more than a few- hours or it 

 will cause the seed to rot. Water, as a 

 rule, is not needed on the Japan rice, or 

 again on the Honduras rice, until the 

 plants are from four to six inches high. 

 Water is at first used sparingly, but the 

 surface is flooded when the rice attains 

 a height of six to ei.ghl inches. As in 

 the case of the ri\er rice the fields are 

 continuously flmided from this time until 

 shortly before the crop is har\-ested. 



In the river districts of Louisiana the 

 water required is obtained by siphoning 

 it o\-er the le\-ees from the river, or, in 

 case of low w-ater, froi-n pools into which 

 it has been pumped. In the prairie dis- 

 tricts large canal systems, supplied by 

 pumping plants, Figure 2, and irrigating 

 extensive tracts are common. The pump- 

 ing- plants operate against heads ranging 

 from ten to seventy feet, and are made 

 of suflicient capacity to furnish seven to 

 eight gallons per minute for each acre 

 irrigated. One cubic foot of water per 

 second would thus ser^-e about sixty 

 acres of land. 



Modifications of the check method of 

 land preparation prevail throughout the 

 rice districts. In the past the levees 

 were far apart, but later practice has 

 fully demonstrated the advantages of 

 having three to five contours in each 

 foot of vertical ele\-ation instead of only 

 tw-o, as was the former custom. This 

 allows a corresponding reduction in the 

 height of the le\-ees and the size of the 

 checks. The lesson which experience has 

 taught in the rice fields of the Gulf 

 States, as well as in the San Joaquin 

 Valley of California, is that the low 

 levee with a broad, evenly trimmed base 

 is best, and presents the least obstruction 

 to farm operations. 



Stated .generally, alfalfa is irrigated by 

 flooding in the Rocky Mountain States, 

 from furrcjws in the Northwest and in 

 borders and checks in the Southwest 

 and California. The amount of water, 

 usually designated the "head," required 

 for flooding- varies from fifty to two hun- 

 dred miner's inches. This (luantity is 

 conveyed to the highest point of the 

 field in a supply ditch and is there 

 divided among two or more field laterals, 

 the number served depending- on the 

 total head. The least head for any one 

 lateral is seldon-i less than forty inches. 

 When water is admitted into a lateral 

 it is checked at a point 100 feet or more 

 below the place of ei-itrai-ice. These 

 checks i-i-iay be earth, coarse manure 

 co\ered with earth on the up-stream 

 face, camas or wood. The effect of any 

 one of these checks is to raise the water 

 until it flows over the low i^laces or 

 through oijenii-igs made with a shovel. 

 This partial floofling and absorption by 

 the soil is shown in Figure S. Ariy 

 excess water is caught up by the next 

 lower lateral, and when the soil is thor- 

 ou.ghb' soaked to a depth of about twelve 

 inches the check is either broken or 

 rem(j\e(l to a point lower down and the 

 flooding of the adjacent i)iece of land is 



