The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1887. IRRIGATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1519, 29 March 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1887. IRRIGATION.

While the County Council is perfecting arrangements for ascertaining by means of an experimental farm the practical value of a thorough system of irrigation as applied to the soil ot this district, it will be interesting to watch the results of the very much larger operations m a like direction which are about to be undertaken m Victoria by the Messrs Chaffey Bros. Those gentlemen were recently banqueted at the town of Wentworth, and Mt George Chaffey, m replying to a complimentary toast, stated some exceedingly interesting facts, and made certain very shrewd and sensible reraai ks, as apposite m the case ot New Zealand as m that of Victoria. He showed, for example, that it js infinitely better to faim a small holding well than to farm a large one indifferently, indeed, he contended that it was more profitable to have small areas. " They did not find that the average holding m their irrigated colonies exceeded 15 acres, and the largest was 40 acres." Speaking of Victoria — and the remark applies with equal force to New Zealand — he said: —"Here people were crazy on the land question. Every man tried to get a large quantity of land, which he could make no use of, and the expense of working kept him poor." Of the rich lands m the Murray district be asserted that the three essentials to successful settlement were : u first, water; second, again water; and third, yet again water, with a little brain." He declared that there was plenty ot gold m the soil of the country and that the means for extracting it was ' water and brains.' " While m the Home country farmers were waiting for the season at which they could get the crops from the land, here they might farm it throughout the year, by using water with brains, and the more brains they used the better would their crops be. This was a climate m which every known fruit may grow." This, of course, was spoken of Victoria, but it might equally well be said of New Zealand, hence if the ' water and brains ' process will avail to turn the soil into gold m that colony so also will it m this. Primarily, it would seem from the remarks following, the system of the Messrs Chaffey is directed to the raising of fruit trees, but the results of irrigation will, we are confident, be found equally beneficial m the cultivation of root, cereal and other crops. The mode they intend to adopt is thus described. " Their proposition first was to take a tract of land and split it up into' 10-acre blocks. The water would be conveyed m drains made of cement and m pipes. The mode of irrigating was to run a light furrow; enough to allow the water to run within 3ft or 4ft of the trees. If the water ran right up to the trees it was found > that the trees did not live or thrive. . . . Their plan was to put a street round every 160-acre block, and to bring water on to every 20 acre lot." But the speaker went on to show that irrigation without cultivation will not suffice — that both processes must be carried on simultaneously. Upon this point Mr Chaffeysaid : — " In California many men made the mistake of thinking irrigation meant cultivation. They might put water oh the land, but they must keep on cultivating too ; by continually putting water on it the finer parts of the soil were washed down and sank to the bottom, where they formed a hard cake through which a pick would scarcely penetrate. The land required constant cultivation to prevent this, and then instead of the fine deposit caking at the bottom and impoverishing ihe ground it was kepi mixed with it and made the soil mure fertile." But that cultivation with irrigation is capable of producing immensely more satisfactory results than it is possible to produce by cultivation, however careful and scientific, without irrigation there is abundant evidence m the practical results attained m all parts of the world, and there is none, we think, m which the benefits of an abundant supply of water as an aid to the agriculturist would yield a more generous return than on the plains of Canterbury. Enormous benefit has accrued from the system of races which the Ashburton county has already m operation, and we are sanguine that still greater advantage will be derived from a thorough system of irrigation such as that which the Messrs Chaffey are introducing m Victoria. The adop tion of such a system m this county is, we feel sure, only a question of time, and should the tentative experiment about to be undertaken by the Council result satisfactorily, as there is every reason to believe that it will, then no doubt we shall speedily see irrigation undertaken throughout the county upon ( at) exjens>9 and complete scale, <