IRRIGATION IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



BUT LITTLE HAS BEEN DONE IN A SYSTEMATIC 



WAY. 



BY GUY E. MITCHELL, SEC. NATIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION. 



WASHINGTON, D. C., May 7, (Special) A picturesque figure at 

 the National Capital for the past week, though in no manner connected 

 with politics, has been "Col." Joab L. Meacher, whohasjust returned 

 to the United States from South Africa, where he has been looking 

 into the present possibilities of stock raising. Col. Meacher is an 

 adopted westerner, being originally from the hills and rocks of Ver- 

 mont, but he has for some years been connected with one of the large 

 irrigation systems of Colorado. He is a big, raw-boned typical Amer- 

 can of the style which is recognized the world over as "Yankee." 



"Upon my arrival at Cape Town, this being my third visit," he 

 said in talking of his trip, "I was treated with much good fellowship, 

 the residents vying with each other in an endeavor to show a feeling 

 of friendship growing out of the conditions arising from our Spanish 

 war. 



" Cape Town has in the last few years grown to be a large and 

 prosperous city, thrifty and neat. The Parliament buildings would 

 be a credit to any city. The suburban villas, surrounded by gardens, 

 rich in variety, and of luxurious growth, form a pleasing landscape. 

 The colony is now largely engaged in stock-raising. While the lower 

 coast regions having sufficient moisture, produce green crops in great 

 abundance, the arid character of the vastly larger portion of the 

 colony, renders it at present unfit for any purpose other than grazing. 

 Nearly two-thirds of the surface of the Cape consists of a barren 

 plain. After the periodical rains this plain is covered with grass, 

 but the summer heat soon changes its aspect. Sheets of shallow 

 water termed vleis are formed at many places in the flat lands of the 

 interior by the rains, and these spots, during the dry season are 

 covered with rich grasses affording excellent grazing. 



"The first act requisite for settlement is the construction of a 

 dam or reservoir for the collection and saving of a water supply. As 

 such dams have always been built by individuals the water saved is 

 only sufficient to supply what is required for stock and domestic pur 

 poses. There are great opportunities for irrigation on a large scale 

 in a number of sections of South Africa, but with the exception of 

 unimportant attempts to water small patches but little has been done 

 in the direction of systematic irrigation for agriculture. The soil is 



