128 
GARDENING AND FARMING 
ave many who prefer ponds made in the form 
of a basin, but the work is indefinite, and you 
cannot so well calculate the labour ; nor do 
you get so low by removing the same weight 
of earth, and if there be any chance of springs 
this is a great object. Besides this, the facil- 
ity of wheeling away the earth is quite as 
great an advantage as the quantity may be a 
^ 
disadvantage. It is true that every foot of 
thickness removed from a large bottom causes 
many more solid feet of earth to be dug out 
than if the bottom were a less space ; but it is 
also quite certain that every foot of earth re- 
moved makes room for a foot of water ; and 
where a place is intended for a reservoir, 
rather than hoped for as a spring, this is a 
great object. In Gibraltar and in many parts 
of the world, the only dependence of the inha- 
bitants is on rain water collected during their 
wet seasons and carefully husbanded ; and 
where you are located far up the country and 
away from springs or the hope of any, this is 
the only thing you must depend on. Where 
there are proper artificers and materials, tanks 
may be dug and cemented, and where there 
are any hopes of springs within a reasonable 
depth there may be wells sunk ; in this there 
is no difficulty if bricks can be had to build 
them round as fast as you sink them, but the 
main stay will be the open reservoirs dug in 
the form we recommend ; and no one ought to 
treat the subject lightly, for it is the one great 
evil, and the only real one that the settler 
meets with in many places. If many small 
pools form in the rainy season, be not deterred 
from making one larger one, for the collected 
waters of many will be found in some quan- 
tity, long after all smaller ones are dried up. 
The work of evaporation is rapid in propor- 
tion to the shallowness of the pond, and the 
absorption of the water by the earth is vast ; 
but where there is a good depth, and all 
sources are made tributary to the main reser- 
voir, there is hope that enough may be col- 
lected to answer all ordinary purposes. We 
strongly recommend, therefore, immediate atten- 
tion to this matter, and we would urge the 
necessity of excavating to a great extent, as 
otherwise it may as well be not done at all. 
If you begin to dig and find the earth porous, 
and likely to lose water by soaking it up, or 
allowing it to soak away, the excavation, 
whatever its extent, must be puddled ; that is 
to say, clay must be brought from some other 
part, and a complete lining of it must be made 
all over the sides and bottom, the clay being 
well kneaded like so much dough, and the air 
completely beaten and rammed out of it, be- 
cause, unless this be done, the water will soak 
even through the clay. It is far better to 
seek for a place where the ground is naturally 
stiff, and will hold water, which is mostly the 
case where the water naturally collects in the 
wet season, and lies for some time. 
There is, however, scarcely any advantage 
that compensates for the absence of water and 
the obligation to find it ; therefore we have 
recommended from the first the renting or 
purchasing of a site near a river, or otherwise 
abounding in water, in preference to any thing 
at one-fifth or even one-tenth of the price with- 
out that advantage. It is to be regretted that 
there have not been attempts made by proper 
artificers to bore for water, or that, if there 
have been, no account of the result has been 
published. There is no reason why water 
may not be procurable in the deserts them- 
selves, if the bore be large enough and deep 
enough ; and we trust that in places like the 
interior of Australia, the proper application of 
means will produce a good result ; but this 
rather devolves upon the executive of a com- 
pany than upon private enterprise. Very few 
individuals could afibrd to take out profes- 
sional borers of Artesian wells and all their 
apparatus at their own cost ; and persons of 
that description would not be tempted to emi- 
grate unless they were, to a certain extent, 
guaranteed employment. However, while 
these things are difficult to be accomplished 
in the Colonies, the labour of men's own 
hands must be applied in the most effective 
way to obtain water ; and the choice is in 
sinking wells or making ponds, whereby the 
rain may be all collected, and thus the quan- 
tity necessary for the warm season secured 
during the rainy one. Above all, do not keep 
more stock than you can provide water for ; 
and be not deceived into a fatal confidence by 
the appearances of a wet season, for you will 
find plenty of hollow places full of water that 
will not even be damp in the hot weather. 
Make excavations sufficiently large to hold all 
the rain you can collect, for without this you 
will never be safe. 
HOW TO APPROPRIATE A SWAMP. 
There are many swamps in different parts 
of the world so wet as to be impassable, yet 
so dry as to yield no water. The proper 
mode of appropriating such as these, or at 
least of procuring the benefit of water from 
