4 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



By the time that Moses, the great leader and law- 

 giver, appeared to lead the enslaved children out of 

 Egyptian slavery, irrigation had made great progress 

 in a general way, for in the book of Deuteronomy we 

 are told something of their agricultural methods in 

 these words : " For the land, whither thou goest in to 

 possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye 

 came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst 

 it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs. But the land, 

 whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and val- 

 leys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. ' ' There 

 are in Egypt sections of country that have been in con- 

 stant use for over four thousand years, and still the soil 

 shows no sign of wearing out, for such is the nature of 

 the water of the Nile that the annual deposit of sedi- 

 ment more than recompenses the drainage by the im- 

 mense crops. An illustration of such a farm will be 

 seen in Fig. 2. The plats are laid off in squares 

 divided by the irrigation furrows. 



China is equally celebrated with Egypt for the 

 great antiquity of its numerous canals. The Great or 

 Imperial Canal is one of the most stupendous works of 

 ancient or modern times. It is 650 miles long, and con- 

 ne<5ls the Hoang-Ho and Yang-tse-Kiang rivers. It is 

 available both for navigation and irrigation, and to- 

 gether with its numerous branches irrigates an im- 

 mense area of country, thus affording millions the 

 means of livelihood and support. Immense tanks, 

 reservoirs, and irrigating canals appear to have been con- 

 stru<5led in India many centuries anterior to the advent 

 of Christ, and some of them are probably equally as 

 ancient as the Egyptian canals. The Assyrians were 



