250 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



tory. But tlie population is still sparse^ and only a few of tlie land- 

 owners understand the value of water, wliile of those who do only a 

 small proportion know how to manage irrigation systematically. Hence, 

 although in favourable seasons good crops have been obtained without 

 artificial watering, the true capabilities of the valleys of the western 

 slopes of the Dividing Range are comparatively little known. 



In connection with this division of the Colony, it is worthy of special 

 mention that this is probably the safest place for the novice in irriga- 

 tion to gain experience. It is a common mistake for the beginner to 

 use far more water than is required. In many places this would bo 

 ruinous to the crop, but here, on account of the generally porous nature 

 of the soil and the excellence of the subsoil drainage, the risk of loss 

 from over-watering is reduced to a minimum. 



The Great Central and Wester)i Plains. 



This division of the Colony, in which is included the whole territory 

 west of the Dividing Range, is the great field for water conservation 

 and irrigation. While a large proportion of the land is fertile, the 

 rainfall is light, especially in the extreme west. The courses of the 

 rivers after entering the Great Central Plains flow generally through 

 alluvial land, and the waters are diminished by absorption, percolation, 

 and evaporation, while there is no inflow of drainage to compensate 

 for these losses. The deposits of silt in the lower parts of the river 

 channels has contracted the waterways, so that the channels are unequal 

 to the task of carrying off the flood waters. Extensive inundations 

 are therefore frecjuent, while in many cases the overflowing waters 

 form eSluent creeks, the great majority of which are liable to become 

 dry when the river falls. 



The early settlers who took up the land for pastoral purposes found 

 at the outset that without tanks and dams only a small proportion of 

 the land could be utilised. With commendable enterprise, and not- 

 withstanding the want of any suitable law dealing with water rights, 

 and in many cases, despite a precarious tenure of the land, the pastor- 

 alists expended large sums of money on works for conserving water. 

 The construction of dams at intervals along the courses of creeks was 

 followed by the excavation of tanks in suitable places to catch and 

 retain the surface water. Subsequently, wells Avere sunk wherever a 

 surface supply could not be obtained, and where there was reason to 

 hope for underground water. The supplies thus tapped were made 

 available by horse power, and more recently by windmills. The 

 stock-carrying capacity of the Colony has thus been enormously 

 increased, and extensive tracts of country, which in the early days of 

 settlement were classed as uninhabitable, now afford sustenance to 

 hundreds of thousands of sheep. The importance of the pastoral 

 industry thus rose with the numbers of tanks, dams, and wells, which 

 made the existing pasturage available for stock. 



Throughout the western districts of the Colony, and particularly 

 beyond the River Darling, the storage of water was a matter of much 

 difficulty, owing to the lightness of the rainfall and the extreme dry- 

 ness of the climate ; bnt the discovery that artesian water in large 

 quantities is to be found throughout a great pai't of the north and 



