April 2, 190S.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.ir. 291 



Small Irrigation Areas. 



W. R. FRY, 



Fruit Inspector.* 



The recent copious rainfall throughout the State has relieved faimers and 

 stockowners of much immediate anxiety and labonr. It is to be hoped^ 

 however, that the experiences in the coastal areas will not be forgotten, but 

 that ensilage-making and provision for irrigation will receive more attention. 

 It is somewhat surprising that more irrigation has not been practised in 

 many places where x'unning streams occur. Certainly the water in permanent 

 streams cannot always be utilised by setilers without infringing on the 

 riparian rights of others. Howevei", when a stream rises in a farmer's 



paddock and merely creates a swampy patch, 

 — from which most of the water is lost by 

 evaporation, — the owner or occupier could 

 justly and profitably irrigate a few acres by 

 gravitation. In streams with sutiicient fall, 

 part of the water could often be diverted by 

 means of an automatic hydraulic ram. These 

 rams are comparatively cheap (from £3 up- 

 wards according to size), and will elTectively 

 raise a small supply from 30 to 150 feet high, 

 %vithout any cost for fuel or attention. 



Again, suitable spots are frequently seen 

 where a valley could be easily dammed and 

 a few thousand gallons of water impounded, 

 to be gravitated or syphoned on to a culti- 

 ^ ation patch as required. 



Several opportunities for these methods 

 occur in the Moss Vale and other districts, but in very few cases have they 

 been practised. Possibly the chief reason is that the necessity for irrigation 

 has never before been so apparent ; but in other cases, it may be due to a 

 want of knowledge of the advantages or practice of irrigation. 



Many people, when the subject of irrigation is discussed, speak as though 

 it required a great expenditure for costly pumj^s, pipes, cement di'ains, and 

 special implements. For large areas, permanent, and therefore costly, appli- 

 ances are necessary ; but a few acres can often be cultivated by the judicious 

 use of the plough, with a little fluming of the most primitive materials. In 

 the Kangaroo Valley, for example, the trunks of the cabbage-tree palms are 

 frequently used for water fluming, whilst hollow logs, and even strips of bark^ 



Hydraulic Ram. 



*' Formerly Manager, Moree Irrigation Farm. 



