HOW RECLAMATION PAYS 161 



and, since the occupiers would form definite colonies, 

 some technical guidance could be provided in the 

 earlier years. 



In conclusion, it should be said that the full value 

 of reclamation schemes is only apparent after the 

 lapse of time, the true capacity of the land is only 

 attained after many years of cultivation, the best 

 uses to which it can be put in any district are only 

 learnt by experience. Many of the advantages also 

 are indirect : the land won is sheer gain to the culti- 

 vated area, no previously existing labour is displaced, 

 the increased population provided for, the absolute 

 addition to the production of food and to the wealth 

 of the nation both by the commercial exchanges pro- 

 moted and the new contribution of rates and taxes. 



