IRRIGATION—AN EXTENSIV SCHEME.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1869, 16 June 1888, Page 2

IRRIGATION— AN EXTENSIV SCHEME.

The name of Chaffey Brothers is m- ] tfmately connected with irrigation works ■ |on scales of great Qtiagnitu.de. They ! have been termed " the world famed irrigationists," and justly they deserve the title. In California their name ]s widely known, and m Australia they have now established themselves permanently to Jjrjng fotp prominence their groat land gettlement ' and irrigation schemes. There aro three brothers iv the firm. George, W. B. and 0. ¥. t3ba#e}r. They are Canadians by birth, and made themselves famous by their irrigation of farm lands m California. They have recently acquired from the Government of Victoria a tract of country 250,000 acres m extent m the Mildura district, and an equal area of land from the South Australian Government at Renmark. They believe it will be a good thing for themselves and they think also it will be a i?c#d thing for the colonies when they have improyjed and irrigated the land. Mildura is about 800 mi Job from Melbourne, and JRenmark is aboui the eaxnCj distance from Adelaide. The conditions on which they hold the land is that they V'rjgaio it, subdivide it and generally impro-TO ii a#d make it productive. They have erected exieusjLye jyorks and machinery upon the land and tfyey undertake to Bpend £10,000 during thq first twelve months, £35,000 during the $ret five years, £140,000 during the second &ye years, £75,000 during the third five years, apd £#0,000 during the fourth five years, or £3QO,.G,QG. during 20 years. The . landa hold are ,ou' tiipj Murray river m both caseg and from this ' they will be irrigated, The f»o4e of procedure m improving th© land is something like this. First s Mock js laid out as a sito for a future towH*hip ; streets laid out, town and villa allotment /surveyed, and the surrounding land cut up into fruit farms and other farms. The town lot* hjj,ve AC eighth of. an acre, tha villa or suburban allotment 2^ acres, and the horticultural blocks tGn'&cres each. Any individual may buy up to 160 acres, but aot beyond that. Up to date tl^o total area surveyed as toyn allotments is 200 acres, suburban lots .8.00 sores, and horticultural lots 5000 acres, There ie also about as much more surveyed so far as tie j road? go, b»t tho &>ubd.iyißJonjf we oot yet

made. All this is done m the same ? manner as that adopted by the Crown Landß Department of the colony. Ot these lands there have been sold to date 458 town lots, 54 suburban lots, and 1610 acres of horticultural and agricul tttral lauds. The Mildura colony of 250,000 acres consists of two blocks of 25,000 acres on the Murray river, to which they have each a frontage of i about six miles, and enclosing these a block of 200,000 acres, extending back about 18 miles from the river. There have been completed channels, m five lines, four of which start directly from the river bank, and the remaining one is a branch fed from one of these. These channels are laid out on a grade of about six inches per mile, bed widths varying from 15 to 25 feet, and carrying depth generally three feet. Trial surveys h»re been made of about 12 miles* of additional channels. The lines of main channel already made will provide for watering about 25,000 acres. Of the channels snrireyed 8f miles are under I contract for construction, and about ;5| mileß are practically completed, i The average cost for earthwork is about £320 per mile. The clearing of the sites has been done by day labor at a cost of some £35 per mile. The land is disposed of on the following rates and terms :— Town allotments, £ apre each, £20 per lot; villa allotments ot 2^ acres, £100 per lot ; agricultural, and horticultural lands. £20 per acre. They sell either for cash or credit. For cssh sales, a discount of 2£ per cent is made ; on credit sales, interest is charged on the principal, and the payments extended over periods of five or ten years. All lands are* sold with water rights, and carry interests m irrigation works, which are included m tho above prices. These are secured by making purchasers shareholders m the irrigation company. What each person buys, therefore is an allotment of land, together with a right to the water needed for its irrigation, and a p-o rata interest m the works, by means of which the water is made available. It iB intended to put a ring of rabbit and dog-proof fence round the entire 250,000 acres, and tenders have been called for 56 miles of it. It will consist of wire netting, 36 inches wide, with one black and two barbed wire 3 above. Machinery and plant on the ground includes three traction engines, and a porti »ble engine used m clearing and preparing the land, with a ditch-digging machine, a steam cultivator, a steam plough, and a steam harrow. Other engines and plant are en route for the settlements. Pumping plant consists of a pumping barge, adapted to drive two 20-inch centrifugal pumps ; also two steam force pumps, and one 6-inch and one 18 inch centrifugal pump. There is also brickmaking plant, with shed 144 feet long by 54 feet wide. The brickmaking machine is calculated to put out 25,000 bricks per day. There is also a machine shop, 80 by 40 feet, with machine lathe, drilling machine, screw and bolt cutter, three forges, fan blast, and anvils. There is a general store, a number of private dwellings, a printing office, and a branch of the Commercial Bank of Australasia is projected. Including the Chaffey Brothers, there is a staff of 19 ; then there are some 38 engineers, blacksmiths, machinists, carpenters, bricklayers, and engaged m- clearing land on day wages, 47 men on contract work, 32 settlers engaged on their own land, about 35 women, chiefly married, and about 60 children m all. On the river flats is a grey, sandy loam, the rising ground adjacent to the flats is a red dandy loam, but the country a mite or two back seems to be of really superior quality; the surface is red loam, the subsoil a clayey loam, infiltration of lime an 4 partjy decomposed limestope. Tjie pumps work well, and the soil is receptive and takes the water finely. Iho settjers them selves acquire proprietary rights for ever to water, etc., and they have the thing m their own hantjs. They hpve also started a newspaper, called the "Mildura Cultivator." Chaffey Bros, are dealing m the first placo with 80,000 acres 50,090 m Victoria and 80,000 m South Australia, e»ch being a distinct irrigation scheme m itself. The land is divided into 10-acro lots, and sold on oasy terms. The rich man can buy his land, and plant it if he wants to ; the man of moderate means can go m } and lastly, the poor man, if he is only willing to take off his coat, and means bus ness, can go there, get work, and gradually get his pla.ee" and build up" a!' home. Suph #, scheme of land settlement and improvement jjp profitable £o a private firm, and Chaffey B,ros. Bay they know what they are doing, should algo be profitable to a .djjJtript and to a Government if it were set about iv a right manner. The irrigation jsts of South Australia and Victoria will make fertile half a million acres of land, and the difficulties are much greater than those to bp overcome m fertilising tho Canterbury Plains by # syptem pf irrigation, These men take up half a niilhon acres of land, and they want it settled, and they go the right way about it. Settlement alone can pay them, and as the success of the settlers ip bound up m their own interests the assistance given is mutual and by co-operation between the landholder and the intending settler tho very best result m the interests of the colony is attained. All tho produce raised by settlers is taken by the Chaffey Brothers, at market rates) whether it is fruit or grain. Creameries, dairy factories, and other necessary industries will be starred. In fruit growing it is expected a revolution i will be effected, and there is little fear of America competing with the district m ifrip culture. It would seem as if this enterprising #rtn had solved the colonisation project, ana* as the gchenje is being taken to most kindly and heartily it is sure to be a success. A little of such capital and energy let loose up/jn the Ashburton Plains would ere long wprk a'ypn^rpus change m this