and  the  Cause  and  Prevention  of  Floods. 
393 
population,  have  added  new  duties  and  fresh  taxation  on  the 
country.  Higher  cultivation  of  the  land  demands  more  protection 
from  floods  and  droughts,  and  , the  cost  of  providing  more 
efficient  waterways  has  become  a necessity. 
Although  rivers  may  at  times  occasion  disastrous  havoc,  yet 
on  the  whole  they  are  productive  of  universal  benefit.  In  a 
variety  of  ways  they  promote  every  interest  of  civilized  life,  but 
especially  that  of  agriculture  ; they  provide  a constant  supply  of 
one  of  the  first  necessaries  of  existence,  both  of  animal  and 
plant  life  ; a cheap  means  of  moving  heavy  produce  ; an  eco- 
nomical power  for  working  mills  and  other  machinery  ; and 
they  yield  in  the  fish  which  inhabits  them  a wholesome  and 
useful  supply  of  food. 
Cause  of  Floods. 
In  dealing  with  the  question  of  improved  river  conservancy, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  whether  floods  are  more  frequent  and 
more  serious  in  their  character  than  they  used  to  be,  or  whether 
those  of  the  last  few  years  are  due  to  an  excessive  fall  of  rain, 
which,  being  abnormal  in  character,  is  only  temporary,  and 
therefore  does  not  demand  any  permanent  remedy.  Although 
there  was  some  slight  division  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the 
witnesses  who  appeared  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Lords  on  River  Conservancy  as  to  the  cause  of  floods,  the  testi- 
mony was  unanimous  that  they  were  both  more  frequent  and  more 
disastrous  in  their  character  than  formerly  ; and  that  although 
in  some  cases  the  floods  did  not  last  so  long,  yet  the  water  rose 
to  a much  greater  height  during  the  time  they  lasted  than  was 
formerly  the  case.  There  is  also  to  be  taken  into  consideration 
the  fact,  that  owing  to  the  much  higher  system  of  cultivation 
which  is  now  pursued,  land  is  much  more  seriously  damaged 
than  it  would  have  been  under  other  circumstances ; and  as  the 
loss  is  so  much  heavier,  the  greater  is  the  necessity  for  improved 
drainage  and  the  prevention  of  floods.  A higher  system  of 
cultivation  also  demands  that  all  stiff  lands  shall  be  thoroughly 
drained  with  tiles.  This  means  that  the  ditches  and  smaller 
arterial  drains  shall  be  kept  well  scoured  out,  so  that  the  tiles 
may  have  a free  discharge  ; the  brooks  and  larger  arterial  drains 
must  be  improved  and  kept  in  order,  so  that  the  water  from  the 
ditches  may  have  free  escape  ; and  thus  it  happens  that  over  the 
whole  cultivated  portion  of  a watershed,  the  great  object  is  to  void 
the  excess  of  rainfall  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  prevent  its 
standing  in  hollow  places  or  choking  the  pores  of  the  earth. 
The  consequence  is  that  the  rivers  receive  a much  larger  quantity 
of  water  in  a less  space  of  time  than  that  for  which  they  were 
VOL.  XIX. — S.  S.  2d 
