IRRIGATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1952, 24 September 1888, Page 2

IRRIGATION.

TO TJtE EDITOB, Sir, — Knowing that a few of the f irmera In the Ashburton g >uoty are thinking about irrigation, It any be of some intereat to them to know what they are doing m the north-west provinces of India. The Department Is now engaged m tho construction of tbe Nadral Aqaedqst, which Is intended to carry tho Lower Ganges oanal over the valley of the Kaliuadl river. For magnitude and boldness of conception this ranks with some of tbe greatast achievements of modern engineering, and that the execution of this great work has not attraoted more general interest ia euroly a remarkable fact.

I'ho magnitude of the operations under tho control of the Department;, irrespective of large works of construction, cannot be easily grasped. The total direct and Indlreot oapital of the onoern reaches the enormous total of £7,700,000. The groan assessment for the year on account of the uso of water was £510,000 About hat of thla went, m w ovktng expanses, leaving net profit of £250,000, sufficient to provide Interest on the invested o>pltal at the rata of 3£ per cent , while If tfco Batwa oan»l, a work merely designed as a protection against famine, be excluded, the Interest rises to 3§ per cent. The length of the main canal, its branohea, escapes, distributaries, and drainage ohannela Is nearly 10,000 miles The system I rigates on an average nearly 2,000,000 of aores, an area as large as Argyleghlre, or nearly half the b'zj of Wales. No leas than 8000 villages reoelve water from 31000 i ontlets. The estimated valne of the crops raised on thle area reaohed the enormous sum of £4.600,000, more than half the , entire Oftpl*Msunk In the enterprise, I am, etc.,