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Irrigation in Europe 75 



which have come down from the perennial snow fields of still 

 higher altitudes, as shown in Fig. 14. 



In Belgium there is a network of canals known as de la Cam- 

 pine, which have an aggregate length of 350 miles, constructed 

 both for navigation and irrigation purposes, at a cost placed at 

 $5,000,000. This water is generally used in the irrigation of 

 meadow lands, and the soil of the section is very sandy. It is 

 even said to have been wholly unproductive until it was reclaimed 

 by irrigation. 



The figures given by E. Laveleye will show the effect of irri- 

 gation on this land. An area of 5,636 acres of barren soil, pro- 

 ducing absolutely nothing before irrigation, now yields an average 

 of 1.32 tons of hay per acre for the first crop, and the aftermath 

 is counted worth a third as much, making the total equivalent to a 

 crop of 1.76 tons per acre. 



In Denmark, too, an extensive system of 145 canals, carrying, 

 in 1890, 22,000 second-feet of water, has been provided, whose 

 object is to reclaim some of the sandy heath lands in Jutland ; 

 and it is said that the 21', 000 acres of land which has been 

 brought under cultivation has increased in value at the rate of 

 nearly $80 per acre. 



In Austria-Hungary, irrigation, largely meadow, is practiced 

 in the Mattig valley, in upper Austria ; in lower Austria ; near 

 Klagenfurth, in Carinthia ; in certain of the upper and central 

 valleys in Tyrol ; in the Bistritz valley, and in the valley of the 

 Elbe, in Bohemia. In these countries the water is usually taken 

 from rivers, creeks, springs, and ponds, or reservoirs constructed 

 to impound that which is running to waste, and is led directly 

 upon the land by gravity, being taken from the natural channels 

 by damming the stream until head enough has been secured to 

 cause the water to discharge into the distributing canal or ditch. 



For the irrigation of small meadows, water wheels are found 

 along the streams in many places, for lifting the water out of the 

 channels where it runs too low to be led out in the usual manner. 

 These wheels, provided with buckets, according to Consul-General 

 Goldschmidt, are found in great numbers on the Eisack River, in 

 Tyrol, above Bozeu. About the large cities, small gardens ar 



