THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



169 



ings of the llth Annual Meeting held in 

 Butte. 



President Page appointed the following 

 committees: State Engineer and Road 

 Laws: F. VV. Blackford, of Butte; John 

 Herron, Marysville, and T. M. Ripley, 

 Helena. The committee on papers are 

 Eugene Carroll, Butte; Finlay MacRae, 

 Helena, and E. R. McNeill, Boulder. 



The society was much encouraged by 

 the interest and activity of the Butte mem- 

 bers. Some in particular are deserving of 

 special credit. Plans were discussed to 

 increase an interest in the society and of 

 procuring more papers. If aoy member 

 offers as an excuse a lack of time, he will 

 immediately be referred to the past presi- 

 dent's closing remarks: "So true it is, 

 that it is not time which is wanting to men, 

 but resolution to turn it to the best ad- 

 vantage." 



DELINQUENT IN DUES. 



Attention was called to the fact that 

 several members are delinquent in dues 

 prior to the present year. The society de- 

 cided to take the matter up at a subsequent 

 meeting. The secretary sincerely hopes 

 that the society's books will present a bet- 

 ter appearance before the next meeting 

 than at the present time. 



A. S. HOVEY, Sec'y. 



IRRIGATION IN AUSTRALIA. 

 A gentleman who has recently come 

 from Australia told the writer a few days 

 since that the curse of irrigation colonies 

 in that country was paternalism. The 

 government of Victoria and South Aus- 

 tralia have spent millions on irrigation 

 schemes, the most of which have been 

 failures because the settlers wanted every- 

 thing done for them and lacked the Amer- 

 ican grit, perseverence and enterprise, to 

 work out for themselves the problems of 

 pioneer life. The trouble at Mildura, so 

 this gentleman asserts, was that most of 

 the colonists were younger sons of rich 

 English families who were sent out to that 

 new country with a few hundred or a few 

 thousand pounds to invest. They knew 



nothing about hard work, and had no prac- 

 tical knowledge of fruit growing or farm- 

 ing. And when their money was gone 

 they wanted the government or Chaffey 

 Bros., Limited, or somebody else, to put 

 up for them, and convert their failures into 

 success. They became the easy dupes of 

 demagogues who made a crusade to get the 

 Yankees out for the Chaffeyswere looked 

 upon as Americans because of their resi- 

 dence in Riverside and Ontario, though 

 they were Canadians. This was finally 

 accomplished, and in the general financial 

 distress the Chaffeys went to the wall. At 

 present the government is trying to carry 

 the enterprise through, and has loaned the 

 people a large sum of money, but we judge 

 from the Mildura Agriculturist that things 

 are in a sorry condition and that the voice 

 of the kicker is much heard in the land, 

 though good crops have been raised and 

 some fancy prices secured. The govern- 

 ment having done much, demands for it 

 do to more are loud and long, and the good 

 old-fashioned American plan of working 

 out their own salvation seems to find little 

 favor with the people. Mildura has 72,000 

 acres set to fruit, and at one time boasted 

 6,000 population, or nearly that of River- 

 side But our informant stated that he 

 would not be surprised to see the whole 

 tract abandoned and go back to a sheep 

 range. And he said this would suit the 

 sheep farmers, who are opposed to the 

 whole idea of irrigation. If this, or any- 

 thing like it, should be the fate of Mildura 

 it will be a sad commentary on the pater- 

 nalism that is such a popular tenet in the 

 Populist faith. Ex, 



A NEW SCHEME IN IRRIGATING. 



It may be true that there is nothing 

 new under the sun. If it is then, John 

 Yarnell, a Highland orange grower, has 

 not made an original discovery, but 

 has simply ressurected a prehistoric prac- 

 tice. So far as Mr. Yarnell is concerned, 

 however, it is original; and if in use else- 

 where, it is a dual discovery. 



