214 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE [Vou VIII. 
sections, other sections have plenty. The second is, India is a land where 
there is much irrigation, and easily might be much more; and, wherever 
there is irrigation, failure of rain does not mean failure of crops. The 
third thing to be remembered is that transportation is easy between all 
parts of the land. On two sides is the sea. Navigable rivers and canals 
penetrate large sections. There is no extended area that does not have 
its railway. Thus food can readily be conveyed from areas of abundance 
to areas of scarcity. Under these circumstances it is easy to see that even 
if we admit to the fullest extent the uncertainty of rains in many large 
areas of India, it does not follow that there need be famine or loss of life 
in those areas. 
It should not be forgotten that the aggregate of rainfall in India, 
taking the country as a whole, is large. The heaviest recorded precipi- 
tation in the world is found here. The only difficulties are those of storage 
and distribution. And even in the matter of distribution, India’s moun- 
tains and rivers furnish such facilities as are seen in few other lands. Note 
her great mountain chains. Parallel with the coast of the Arabian Sea 
and the Bay of Bengal extend the Western and Eastern Ghats. Run- 
ning across the peninsula are the Vindhya and the Satpura ranges. Stretch- 
ing along the whole north for a distance of more than 1,500 milés are 
the mighty Himalayas, the highest mountain range, and perhaps the 
greatest reservoir of snow and rain, in the world. In the Himalayas rise 
the three great Indian rivers, the Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges, 
each of which carries to the sea a volume of water that is enormous. All 
the other mountain ranges also give birth to important streams. Thus 
India has two sources of water supply on a large scale; one is her rains, 
which fall in abundance in most parts; the other her mountains, which 
send down numerous and in some cases vast rivers, to afford opportunities 
for almost limitless irrigation, as they travel on their long journeys to the 
sea. As a result the agricultural possibilities of India are greater than 
those of almost any other country in the world. 
IRRIGATION. 
Wherever in India water can be obtained for irrigation, whether from 
rivers or storage reservoirs or wells, there crops are certain. From time 
immemorial there has been much irrigation. Since India came under the 
control of the British, the government has interested itself considerably 
in promoting irrigation works. But unfortunately, it has also been guilty 
of much neglect. Not only have important new opportunities for supply- 
ing extensive areas with water for irrigation purposes been allowed to 
go unimproved, but irrigation canals and storage reservoirs which were 
