140 IRRIGATION FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. 



It is now rare for a project of any size to be discovered which 

 can be undertaken by one individual single-handed. Vested rignts 

 have been established upon the streams. These rights can 

 usually be acquired by purchase when an Irrigation Board has 

 been formed and the many interests coalesce for the general 

 advancement. Unity gives strength. Funds for the construction 

 of the works are more readily obtained. Legal advice is more 

 accessible to the Board through the Secretary, who is usually an 

 Attorney. The Engineer appointed to supervise the work will 

 advise upon the engineering details. When the scheme is com- 

 pleted and in operation the maintenance is more efficient and the 

 canals can be kept in a good state of repair by a permanent main- 

 tenance gang, who devote the whole of their time cleaning and 

 improving the methods of distribution. 



IRRIGATION BOARDS. 



From a small beginning in 1899, eight Irrigation Boards are now 

 in operation in and adjoining the Breede Valley, while six others 

 are in various rudimentary stages. These Irrigation Boards find 

 no difficulty in raising the necessary funds for the furtherance of 

 their projects. The Banks are willing to make advances upon 

 favourable terms to bodies showing such health, energy and 

 vigour. So far no financial aid has been made by these bodies 

 towards the development of the irrigable areas owned by the share- 

 holders, for fencing, levelling, or drainage of the lands. It is now 

 a question whether these Boards should not be legally empowered 

 to make such advances, at a low rate of interest, and so hasten 

 the cultivation of the lands commanded by the canals, and at the 

 same time give the shareholders an opportunity of tiding over their 

 early financial embarrassments incidental to the cultivation of new 

 land^. 



ECONOMICAL CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 



Economical construction has a predominating influence upon 

 every project. It is only by close attention to detail, especially 

 in the removal of earthwork in the excavation of canals, and form- 

 ing of feservoir embankments that the cost of any scheme can be 

 kept down. To those uninitiated in the rudiments of excavation 

 the removal of the excavated material appears a simple matter. 

 It is only when the cost per unit is ascertained that it is possible 

 to say if the excavation is proceeding in a satisfactory manner. 

 When a small reservoir is being made, and only a few men are 

 engaged, skilled supervision and refined organisation are not so 

 essential ; but when a work of some magnitude is under construc- 

 tion, large sums can be, and are daily misspent, because the man 

 in charge is not capable of arranging the plant and workmen to 

 the best advantage. 



PERSONAL ELEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF WORKS. 



It is this personal element which is so elusive and difficult to 

 gauge when preparing an estimate of the cost of any scheme. 

 Should it be known in advance how^ a work will be constructed, the 



