12 Irrigation Farming in Australia. 







In the south at Werribee, 17 miles from Melbourne, a smaller 

 area of 7000 acres is ready for settlers. It is watered by a reservoir 

 on Pyke's Creek, and the fact of its being close to the capital city 

 offers an excellent market for fruit and vegetables. The Govern- 

 ment has established an experimental farm here of 1200 acres, to 

 grow rotation crops for research work only. Farmers consult the 

 manager for guidance in their own seeding, especially with lucerne. 



A DAM TO RIVAL ASSUAN. 



The biggest irrigation scheme Australia can show in one district 

 is on the Murrumbidgee in New South Wales. The Murrumbidgec 

 is the chief New South Wales tributary in the Murray system, and 



A GREAT ENGINEERING PROJECT BURRINJUCK DAM, NEW SOUTH WALES. 



the New South Wales irrigation authorities are just completing 

 storage works on this river nearly equal in volume to those at 

 Assuan, on the Nile. 



The Murrumbidgee is a long, narrow, well-fed river, that rises 

 in rugged granite mountains near the site of the new Federal 

 capital city.. For quite one-third of its course it flows in deep 

 gorges among the almost impenetrable fastnesses of the Murrum- 

 bidgee Ranges. These are round solid granite knobs, 3000 or 4000 

 ft. above sea level, and their summits are often hundreds of feet 

 above the bed of the river. These valleys hold some of the finest 

 scenery in Australia. Near Gundagai it leaves the mountains, and 

 after passing through the lovely orchard country of the Wagga and 

 Tumut district, reaches finally the broad open plains of the Riverma. 

 Crossing these plains, it reaches the irregular stream of the Lachlar 



