ARTESIAN WATER IN N. S. WALES AND QUEENSLAND. 44] 
of the water in the artesian basins, unless possibly it were the case 
that the outflow of artesian water through the mound springs had 
in itself been sufficient to maintain its freshness. In his opinion 
the supply of artesian water was entirely dependent upon the 
rainfall of the country near the intake of the artesian strata, and 
the chief force which made the water artesian was gravitation, 
assisted perhaps, but to a very limited degree, by the expansion 
of the water as it gravitated to lower levels. 
Mr. McKinney had alluded to the “ reh” of India, which had 
been quoted by some as a possible example of the danger, which 
might be incurred by using our artesian water for irrigation. He 
agreed with Mr. McKinney in considering that this danger had 
been much exaggerated. Mr. Harrie Wood, the Under Secretary 
for Mines and Agriculture, had proved by actual experiment, that 
various fodders, fruits, and vegetables could be successfully grown 
by means of artesian water, as had been detailed in the reports 
published by Mr. J. W. Boultbee the Officer-in-Charge of the 
Water Conservation Branch. The artesian water did not contain, 
as a rule, much mineral matter in solution hurtful to plants, with 
the exception of, in a few cases, carbonate of soda. There would 
however, no doubt be a danger of the ground suffering from an 
excess of alkali in areas which had been subjected to irrigation 
with artesian water for a number of consecutive years. The 
source of this alkali was twofold. It was partly derived from the 
artesian water itself, and partly was contained in the ground at 
a depth of a few feet below the surface. Rain had washed it 
down for perhaps two or three feet or more below the surface of 
the ground, but it had been the experience in America that ground 
of this kind, after it had been irrigated for a few years, became 
subjected to ‘‘black alkali,” that is carbonaceous material dissolved 
by an excess of carbonate of soda. The ground being kept con- 
stantly saturated with water, and there being no means of escape 
for the water downwards by soakage, the saline material dissolved 
by it at a depth of about three feet below the surface was circu- 
lated upwards by capillarity etc., until the surface soil, out of 
