October, 1909.] 



345 



Miscellaneous. 



posed of in this way. The owners sold 

 them for a trifle, and the contractors 

 made some profit from the skins and 

 bones. The loss to the country must 

 have been immense, and Government 

 was obliged to advance large sums to 

 the cultivators. Without this assist- 

 ance, ploughing in the succeeding 

 monsoon would have been seriously 

 affected. 



Where irrigation exists, all this horror 

 is avoided. Water is of course plentiful, 

 and so is the straw of all the cereal crops 

 raised by the canals. The banks of the 

 channels afford a certain amount of 

 grazing, whilst spring level rises high 

 in low lands, and causes a plentiful 

 growth of herbage. This latter point is 

 very important. In the valleys below 

 tanks the grass is permanent and of 

 great value. For miles below the 

 embankments useful streams trickle 

 along, and are a blessing to man and 

 beast. The rise of spring level is also of 

 immense use in rendering well-water 

 accessible. This matter is, however, 

 seld im realized until a tank embank- 

 ment falls into disrepair, and the com- 

 manded wells become useless. 



Improved Sanitary Conditions. 

 7. Years ago it was thought that 

 canal irrigation must be the cause of 

 many forms of disease, to which natives 

 and Europeans are liable, in a tropical 

 climate. The belief bore good fruit in 

 one way, as Government sanctioned 

 large sums of money for the execution 

 of drainage works. Remedial measures 

 in the way of reduction of excessive 

 watering were also carried out. More 

 branches, and more distributaries were 

 constructed, and this wise policy acted 

 as an effectual safeguard against useless 

 irrigation and water-logging. Cultivators 

 who were accustomed to deluge their 

 fields weekly are now fortunate if their 

 turn comes once a fortnight, or once a 

 month in times of low volume. This is 

 all good for the land and for them- 

 selves. Still, one famous Sanitary 

 Commissioner was rabid on the subject, 

 and pressed the Local Government of 

 the North-Western Provinces not only 

 to close up some canals, but to desist 

 from further extensions. When the 

 case was referred to the Secretary 

 and Chief Engineer for irrigation, he 

 pleaded that canal-irrigated villages 

 would show a better return of health 

 than those of unirrigated villages in the 

 same latitude. He considered this would 

 be the case, as the inhabitants of the 

 former were better clothed and better 

 fed. Investigation proved that the 

 Chief Engineer was right, and the 

 matter was allowed to drop. Very little 

 argument is required to show that 

 though fever may be caused by irriga- 

 44 



tiou, the sanitary advantages far out- 

 weigh the disadvantages. Natives live 

 largely on dairy products, and it is 

 therefore necessary that milch cattle 

 should have good drinking-water. With- 

 out cauals, streams, or large tanks this 

 essential does not exist. The conditions 

 in which some beasts have to quench 

 their thirst in offensive village ponds 

 are no doubt a danger to the public. 

 Milch cattle have power to pass off 

 poisonous ingredients in their milk, and 

 thus it is easy to conclude why many 

 outbreaks of disease take place in 

 drought-stricken tracts. A well-known 

 case of this kind occurred in Gloucester- 

 shire some thirty years ago, when a 

 number of people were invalided, by 

 consuming the milk from a certain 

 dairy farm. Subsequent investigation 

 proved that the bullocks and heifers on 

 the land were sick, and dying, whilst 

 the cows which produced the deleteri- 

 ous milk were thriving. This fact gave 

 the clue, and it was then discovered, 

 that for the sake of salt, the beasts had 

 been licking a keg of poisonous paint 

 which had been left in the meadows. 

 The cows did not suffer, as they passed 

 off the poison in the milk ; the other 

 beasts sickened and died. Very possibly 

 similar reasons produced the terrible 

 scourges of cholera which used to rage 

 in the Meerut and Agra Divisions before 

 canal irrigation was introduced. The 

 memorial stones on the camping 

 grounds, giving lists of officers and 

 soldiers who died from the disease forty 

 and fifty years ago are strong proofs of 

 this conclusion. Such epidemics seem 

 to have quitted this highly irrigated 

 part of the country, and it may be 

 claimed that the immunity is due to 

 the presence of the flowing water in 

 the canals. Nothing is so deadly as a 

 scarcity of potable water in a tropical 

 country. It has been very truly said 

 that more lives are lost in India from 

 want of water than from want of food. 

 There is another great advantage in the 

 introduction of canal water from the 

 large rivers. Wells in Muttra and Agra 

 Districts, that used to be brackish, have 

 now become sweet. This is a great joy 

 to the people, who used to struggle for 

 vessels of potable water at the few wells 

 which were not bitter. 



General Improvement of the People 

 and Country. 

 8. In this paragraph an attempt will 

 be made to indicate the general benefits 

 which arise from the improved condi- 

 tions already explained. The cultivators 

 who are well placed, as regards irri- 

 gation, gradually reach a stage of assured 

 financial stability. Though they may 

 not obtain heavy harvests in years of 



