IRRIGATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1754, 31 January 1888, Page 4

IRRIGATION.

While m a Bmall experimental way the Ashburton Couuty ouucil is very properly elucidating the advantages of systematic irrigation as applied to agricultural lands, it may be of interest to our readers to learn that attention is how being directed to the same .matter m Tasmania. The Hobarton " Meflfury," of the 2nd instant, writing of harvest prospects m that colony, says that tho crops have suffered severely from the excessive heat and drought, which at the time of writing had prevailed for two months. It says : — " Heports reach us from various parts of tbe country of crops being withered and parched up before arrving at maturity, and there is hardly any ground for hoping that the average yield of either grain or fruit will come up to that of last year, whioh was by no means a heavy on • This i-« the more disappointing to agriculturists and orchardists n account of the more than ordinarily fair prospects at the beginning of tho season. Ihe copious rains of winter and the genial showers which fell m th" ear y part of the spring season afforded ground for hoping that this year would be par excellence a year of plenty that the yield of wool, grain, and fruit w uld exceed the average of tho preceding five Jears — but the continuous hoe and dry weather which has prevailed during the last few weeks has, we fear dashed these hopes to. the ground "' Onr contemporary points out that what has happened once may happen again, and urges a scheme of water conservation with a view to irrigation m dry seasons, an! asserts that by a jud : ciou application of water during the pr ceding few wee -B many crops that have been totally destroyed might have been saved, and the yield of others ir.cr-ased by at least 50 per cent. Instancing what has been done, or is being done m other parts of Australasia, tho " Mercory " Bays:— "lv South Australia there is a tract of country called the Mailee, which up till lately has been regarded as a barren wilderness capable only of affording shelter and subsistence for rabbits, but which is now m a fair way of being converted into a thriving and prosperous settlement through the irrigation experiments being carried on by the Ch_ffey Rros. Similar experiments on a small scale are being carried on with some success m various parts of New f^outh Wales, and there is no reason m tho nature of things why they should not prove equally successful m 'J asmania." Jt is, however, admitted that 'lasmanian farmers have not the 1 9-CW9 to eoible tfce» to" eoter v bob tbe i

necessary expenditure for irrigation works, bnt it iB nrged that the matter is one which should be taken up by tbe State, the Government recouping themselves by a charge upon the farmers for the water supplied. In JNcw Zealand there is little or no hope m the present state of colonial finance of the colony borrowing for irrigation purposes, although it could easily be shown that it would pay brfter to do so than to borrow money i'.r ;he construction of mining water-races, which has been done over and over again ; but there is nothing to p_.-vet_t the counties doing bo, and if the ratepayers once realise the immense advantages which would flow from the irrigation of our plains wee are persuaded that m the Ashburton district, at anyrate, the raising of a loan for such a purpose would be regarded as a wise proceeding on the part of the County Council .