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C. W. ODLTNG^ ESQ.^ M.INST.C.E., C.S.I. , ON 



diseases to which cereals are subject. It also requires less 

 labour, and is therefore the popular crop. In the case of the 

 Sone canals, over 100,000 acres of rice has displaced wheat, 

 barley, and other spring crops, though it may be doubted if it 

 is, from a health point of view, good for the country to have 

 this area of land covered with 4 to 5 inches of water for three 

 months of the year at least. 



To show the effects of canals in the Punjaub, wbich is a 

 country of scant rainfall, I may refer to the Chenab Canal, 

 which has cost about one and three-quarter million pounds 

 sterling, and commands an area of 4,700 square miles — more 

 than the area of Yorkshire — three-fifths of which was irri- 

 gated in the year ending 31st March, 1902, yielding a revenue 

 of 18*8 per cent, on the capital outlay. More important than 

 the financial result is the fact that a barren plain, inhabited 

 by a few thousand nomads, has been rendered available for 

 cultivation, and even now supports a population of nearly a 

 million of inhabitants. Works of this character do much to 

 justify English dominion in India, and to show the advantage 

 of Western civilisation. I need scarcely say that all irrigation 

 projects will not be so remunerative, in fact some of them may 

 fail to do more than pay working expenses. But the indirect 

 benefits are so great that there is abundant justification for 

 their construction in those parts of the country where scarcity 

 is frequent, and such works are feasible. 



India, I may say, is pre-eminently an agricultural country, 

 and interests in the land are widespread, so that any measures 

 which will render it more fruitful, reaches all classes of the 

 community. There is the same, and possibly greater reluc- 

 tance, to adopt new methods of cultivation which are not 

 altogether absent in a country so far advanced as England. 

 So far as irrigation is concerned, there has been nothing new 

 to learn in using water periodically to mature the ci'ops. In 

 places where the rainfall is sometimes sutticient, there has, 

 however, been at first, considerable reluctance to pay for a 

 commodity which has hitherto been regarded as a free gift 

 from above. But it is, sooner or later, recognised that the 

 certainty of good crops and the convenience of obtaining 

 water when required are worth a price, and eventually walei; 

 rates are paid, if not cheerfully, without any particular 

 ditticulty. 



The charge for the water supplied is low. Eor rice, which 

 must constantly be kept in a depth of from 4 to 6 inches of 

 water, the rates vary from two shillings an acre in Oi'issa to 



