98 BREEDE KI\!-:K IlvKK .ATK )\ WORKS. 



Viewing to-clav the irrigable lands, one is impressed by the 

 newness of everything. The houses are new— and so are the fences. 

 The homesteads remind one of the subm^bs of a town which is 

 rapidly extending into the country. Time alone will enable the 

 newness to disappear and a pastoral aspect to be assumed along 

 the 2i| mile strip of country traversed by the canal. 



Co JIBI NATION IN IRRIGATION. 



The establishment of the principle of the construction of an 

 Irrigation Work by means of a Board consisting of the farmers 

 themselves is now demonstrated as feasible, for it promotes eificiency 

 and economy in expenditure, besides strengthening the practical 

 side of those interested in the futherance of the scheme. The 

 shareholders take an interest in the problems which have to be 

 solved. They, having been interested in the work from its initiation, 

 feel that it is a venture in which they hold a stake, just as if the 

 project formed part of their own property. 



I venture to predict that combined action of the landowners in 

 irrigation matters, as inaugurated in the Breede Valley, will be the 

 direction in the future upon which South African Agricultural 

 prosperity will largely be based. 



THE MARTIAN CANALS.— Dr. H. Cabourn Pocklington, 

 M.A.. F.R.S., in a recent paper read before the Royal Society 

 on the dimensions and function of the Martian canals, offered 

 suggestions as to the nature of the canal beds, based upon Lowell's 

 value of the velocity of flow along them. He then calculated the 

 depth of the canals from the technical formulae, on the supposition 

 that the canals are horizontal and that they carry water from pole 

 to pole. Assuming a minimum width, the depth is calculated at 

 500 feet : if their width is 4,500 feet the corresponding depth 

 would l)e 370 feet. The deduction drawn as to the function of the 

 canals is that they are essentially lines of communication, but may 

 at the same time serve for irrigation purposes. 



FOCKEA CAPENSIS.— The Kew Bulletin, No. 8 of 1909 

 {page 34g), contains an account of the re-discovery of an interesting 

 plant, viz., Fockea capeiisis, Endl. A single specimen of this 

 species is in cultivation at the Vienna Botanic (hardens, where its 

 tuber had been sent more than 100 years ago, but no other collector 

 seems to have ever met with the plant, hence it was thought that 

 the Vienna plant was the only survivor of an extinct species. 

 Recently, however, the plant was found near Prince Albert by 

 Dr. Marloth, and flowering specimens were obtained through the 

 aid of Dr. P. C. Luttig. 



The plant, which is locally known as " bergbarroe." is not 

 edible, while the tubers of three other species of Fockea, called 

 " kambarroe," are eaten raw by the natives or turned into pre- 

 serves by the rural housewife. 



