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excavated but little below it and confined by levee walls on each. side, for a distance sometimes of 1½ miles.

The area in rice is increasing rapidly. One planter, Mr. J. E. Broussard, of Beaumont, has 750 acres this season (1897), whereas last season he had but 250 acres. He estimates that the total area watered from Taylors Bayou alone, in Jefferson County, in 1897, was 8,500 acres. From his statements the following facts were derived: Planting of early rice is begun in March, from about the 15th to the 25th, if ground and weather are suitable, and continued until the 1st of June. Many persons plant as late as the 15th of June, but this is probably too late to make a good crop. As soon as the rice is up to a height of 6 or 8 inches, if the ground becomes too dry for it to grow well, the usual practice is to give it a good soaking, but not to hold the water very deep upon it the first time. As soon as the rice becomes well rooted, the land is flooded and the attempt is made to keep it in this condition until the rice is ready for harvest. Most farmers turn the water off about two weeks before harvesting, although there is considerable difference in this matter. The size of field inclosed under each set of levees depends altogether on the lay of the land; if very level, there maybe as much as 50 acres in one "cut," but where the land has much fall the average piece under one set of levees will be about 5 to 8 acres. The lands are so level that when the water is from 4 to 6 inches deep over the lowest part it will wet the highest portions. The depth of flooding rice in this section is about 5 or 6 inches; some farmers prefer deeper water, while others do not care for so much. Experience has shown that when water is held very deep on rice all the time the quality of the grain is not so good; it is sufficiently heavy but is somewhat " chalky." There are several farms that have from 500 to 1,000 acres under cultivation in rice. The average yield is reported to be 40 bushels to the acre of rough rice, or 10 barrels of clean. One hundred pounds of rough grain will make about 72 pounds of clean rice.

Mr. F. H. Catron, of Orange, has been one of the most successful planters. He has been irrigating since 1891 with a Menge pump, operated by a 50-horsepower steam engine, pumping from a bayou into a surface ditch 1 mile long and 20 feet wide, the lift being about 8 feet. The total cost of the canal levees and ditches was $5,000, and the engine and other parts of the pumping plant cost $1,500. The pumping capacity is 5,000 gallons per minute, or 11.14 second-feet. In 1896 he irrigated 500 acres of rice.

Irrigation of orchards and gardens is resorted to in this humid region, particularly in the vicinity of Galveston and Houston. This is due largely to the fact that artesian water can be had, and the land is so nearly level that water can be readily applied. In spite of the abundant rainfall, experience has shown that fruit and garden crops are greatly improved in quantity and quality by the application of