* ** r * * 

 ****** * * * '*'' 



'2" "Fruitgrowing under Irrigation 



soil usually consists of a variety of clays and loams 

 of a fairly heavy nature, which are often overlaid 

 with a layer of sand. 



The high lands generally consist of loose, sandy 

 rises, which in their native state are often thickly 

 timbered with pine, mallee, and other bushes. The 

 soil is generally a red, sandy loam. The depth of 

 soil varies from about 2 feet to 5 feet, and is usually 

 underlaid with a loose, light-brownish marl. Land 

 of this nature exists by the thousands of acres along 

 the Murray Valley. 



WATER SUPPLY. 



The prosperity of an irrigation settlement neces- 

 sarily depends upon an assured water supply. With 

 the exception of two abnormal years, the water 

 supply from the Murray has been both pure and 

 plentiful for the irrigation requirements of the river 

 settlements. But during the droughts of 1902 and 

 1914 the Murray flow practically ceased, and the 

 water turned saline. The irrigation colonies 

 situated along its banks were thereby faced with a 

 situation of extreme danger, and such was the 

 salinity of the water that many plantations were 

 seriously injured by its application. To prevent the 

 recurrence of such a state of affairs in future dry 

 seasons it is necessary for the States of New South 

 Wales, Victoria, and South Australia (as is provided 

 for in the Murray Waters Agreement) to immediately 

 enter upon a joint scheme of Water Storage by the 

 construction of weirs at Lake Victoria and at other 

 places, whereby some of the surplus water that 

 flows in such enormous volumes into the sea in 

 normal years would be impounded, and liberated for 

 the use of the irrigation settlements in years of 

 drought. 



