IRRIGATION FARMING IN AUSTRALIA, 



A GREAT RIVERS SYSTEM. 



Unroll the map of Australia and one striking feature becomes 

 at once obvious the great river system on the south-eastern side, 

 comprising the Murray and its tributaries. At a distance of 520 

 miles above its mouth, the Murray system branches out like a fan, 

 the ribs of which run through all the country from Queensland to 

 Victoria. True, the analogy to a fan is more apparent on paper than 

 in fact, for the main body of the river's waters comes from the 

 lower, or southern side of the fan. 



The area of the Murray basin is over 414,000 square miles, or 

 about one-seventh of the whole of the Australian continent. The 

 Murray system is the great natural drainage line of South-eastern 

 Australia. The length of the Murray proper is 1400 miles ; it marks 

 out nearly the entire boundary between New South Wales and 

 Victoria. The two longest tributaries, the Darling and Murrum- 

 bidge?, both in New South Wales, are respectively 1350 and 700 

 miles long. It should be explained, however, that length is less 

 important in these rivers than flow, and that while the Darling is 



GOULBURN RIVER AT SHEPPARTON. 



the longest tributary, it is, in the other regard, of much less impor- 

 tance, since its flow is only a little ove a third of that of the Murrum- 

 bidgee, and a little more than half that of the main Victorian tribu- 

 tary, the Goulburn. Indeed, in point of flow two other small 



