a 



70 ON THE EECLAMATION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND. 



tected, the general principles on which all such works are 

 based are of universal application, so that, in fact, the same 

 conditions, engineering and agricultural, apply to the defence of 

 a few fields on a farm exposed to the sea, as to the protection of 

 Holland, which, equally with the smaller work, owes its existence 

 to the constant watching and maintenance of its sea defences. 

 But, of course, the similarity being only in condition, and not in 

 degree, the actual difference between the two classes of works is 

 very great. The mere fact that, in addition to the drainage of 

 such enormous districts, viewed simply as an engineering ques- 

 tion, the safety of thousands of inhabitants of large towns has 

 to be provided for, gives to the reclamation schemes of such 

 countries as Holland with all their sea-dykes, sluices, canals, 

 and pumping engines an importance that undoubtedly places 

 them in the foremost rank of hydraulic engineering works. 



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