SAVING AND USING THE RAIN. 
149 
;iince the necessity for storing that portion of the rainfall which now 
passes into the streams and rivers. The more or less profitable storing 
'Of the rain must always depend upon the contour of the land of whatever 
■area. The larger subject of provision for populous districts and the 
irrigation of large estates by saving the rain is fast coming to the front, 
^nd is an engineer's question of the not remote future. The Legislature, 
fully recognising the importance and lastingly valuable nature of water 
supply, have empowered trustees and others to invest that special form of 
money, namely trust capital, in reservoirs, tanks, and other allied works 
that add so much, and so lasting a value, to all lands, agricultural or 
otherwise. 
The question of saving and using the rain can be brought much nearer 
home to us by the consideration of the question from a purely horticul- 
tural point of view, and in writing about the subject one has particularly 
in mind its commercial aspect. Perhaps thirty or forty years ago the 
•practice of saving and using the rain was more generally adopted than of 
late years. Certainly originally the first operation in building a green- 
house or vinery was to dig a well to contain the water gathered from the 
roof. And the horizontal roof area catches the whole of it ; no saturation 
or percolation need be considered. But as the culture of fruit and flowers 
under glass so marvellously increased, the benefit of saving and using the 
irain began to be lost in the advantage that was given by a supply from, 
say, a w^ater company at a pressure which enabled the labour of dipping 
or pumping and carrying to be saved, and the payment to the said com- 
pany for water was looked upon as labour that was saved by the simpler 
manner of application by reason of the pressure. 
Then, with further extensions still, the serious charges, amounting, in 
some instances, to hundreds of pounds per annum, came to be very im- 
portant, and forced the question of rainfall and application thereof to the 
front. In looking to the rainfall for watering or irrigating a vineyard or 
other estate in the open, the subject divides itself into two operations, and 
they must be taken together to reap the full benefit Firstly, the reservoir 
'to hold the collected rain ; secondly, the means of distribution by gravita- 
tion, which nearly always necessitates a tank, both as regards capacity 
.and elevation, commensurate with the area to be irrigated. 
As a practical example of using the rainfall the Claigmar Vine- 
yards, Finchley, can be cited. The vineries and other glass houses 
•are entirely used for growing Grapes, Tomatos, and Cucumbers for 
market, and cover, including the reservoir and roads, about thirty-four 
acres. 
Twenty-seven years ago, when the buildings were commenced, the 
water supply was almost entirely obtained from the gatherings of the 
rain, but as the place grew water was laid on from a company with a 
constant supply at pressure on account of the saving in labour. As the 
place still grew the idea of saving the rain over such an area of glass 
became important, as the charge for water, with its mechanical advan- 
tages, aggregated to £600 per annum. So the original idea of saving the 
rain from the individual houses into tanks, which did not give the advan- 
tages and economy of pressure, grew into the idea of aggregating the 
savings of rain from the roofs into one large reservoir, capable of con- 
