TT ae 
ii 
. 
‘ A, 
+ 
388 H. G. McKINNEY. 
rivers. On the other hand, it is equally beyond question that 
legislation or legalised customs of a somewhat reckless character 
have given an unhealthy stimulus to the construction of channels 
for diverting water from the rivers of the Western States of 
America. The ill-considered design and wasteful working of many 
of the channels was referred toin Mr, Deakin’s interesting and in- 
structive report on American Irrigation. These faults are doubt- 
less due in a large measure to the haste involved in acting on the 
principle ‘first come, first served.” The working of this principle 
in Colorado, and of the useful modification of it adopted in 
Wyoming, has been described as follows :—‘ In Colorado, A taps 
a stream and runs his ditches as far as he pleases. Then B taps 
the stream above A and runs his ditches in the same or another 
valley or locality. Farming is carried on along both sets of 
ditches ; but when there exists a scarcity of water, A appeals for 
his priority rights and gets all the water his ditches will carry. 
B has his ditches closed, and the orchards and gardens and grain 
fields along his ditches must die of drought, even though A’s 
territory may not be all under cultivation, or though he may have 
twice the water he needs. Under the Wyoming system, priority 
rights prevail, but only water that is actually benefiting land is 
at any man’s disposal.” I may here remark parenthetically, that 
I have never been able to discover on what grounds the Americans 
apply the term “ditch” to an irrigation canal or distributary. Jf 
this term were used regarding American irrigation channels by a 
hostile critic, the meaning would be obvious, though in many cases 
the application would be unfair, as there are many American 
irrigation canals which certainly do not deserve to be called 
“ditches.” 
The wholesale waste, both in water and the cost of construction 
of works, arising from such a system as that described is at once 
apparent. With reference to this, an American might very 
pertinently ask us whether such a state of affairs is not preferable 
to the backward condition of this Colony through want of suitable 
legislation. On the one hand we have in Western America 
