io88 



Land Drainage 



[FEB., 



work, and furnishes any necessary information. Loans are 

 granted by the Provincial Government to any farmer requiring 

 financial assistance to enable him to put in a system of tile 

 drains. Such loans are repaid in the form of an addition to 

 the Land Tax. 



Although such a scheme may not be appHcable to the con- 

 ditions in England and Wales, yet it appears to the writer that 

 there is a paramount necessity for mapping out the work to 

 be done, and for so organising it that it will be efficiently and 

 cheaply performed either by contractors or public authorities. 

 At the same time it is desirable to give a word of warning : 

 the conditions which have to be faced in any country or in any 

 area are complex, and differ from those in other countries and 

 other areas : the machinery suitable for a new country will 

 not necessarily prove suitable for an old one. Careful investi- 

 gation and experiment are an essential preliminary before any 

 . particular t^^pes of machines can be recommended for the various 

 classes of work requiring to be carried out in this country. 



LAND DRAINAGE. 



It is now possible to review the land drainage work which 

 was commenced under the Defence of the Realm Regulations 

 and is being continued under the provisions of the Land 

 Drainage Act of 191 8, with a view to increasing the food- 

 producing capacity of the country by means of the improve- 

 ment of the rivers and arterial drains. " Land drainage " must 

 be distinguished on the one hand from " farm drainage," which, 

 though it depends for its full effectiveness upon the efficiency 

 of the rivers and main arteries, involves entirely difierent 

 administrative and technical questions, and, on the other hand, 

 from works of " land reclamation " which have for their object 

 the making of agricultural land out of tidal marsh, heath, 

 bog, or other waste areas. 



Under the Defence of the Realm Regulations power was 

 given to the Ministry of Agriculture to enforce the liability 

 of any riparian occupier of agricultural land to clear an}' 

 watercourse in or adjoining his land, in cases where his neglect 

 to do so rendered other land liable to be damaged by flooding. 



Further power was given to the Ministry to take over and 

 exercise any drainage powers which were being ignoied, or 

 inadequately exercised, by any drainage authorit}^ These 

 powers were exercised by the Ministry through the Agricultural 

 Executive Committees or counties, who dealt with the matter 



