March i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
653 
cial water supply. Irrigation in India apellsimmunity 
iTom famine ; there its misHiou begins and ends; and 
py this knowledge every one of its pbascs mu'^t bo 
*u»orpret6d. The threatened failuro of the Kaveri, and 
the actual failure of the Qodaveri supplies, led to the 
initiation of works in the South, while the several 
stages of irrigafciou progresa in the North were njsrked 
in each instance by fho recurrence of famines. That 
the schemes have been made to pay on ihe whole, 
*ud that the expenditure taken in the aggregate leaves 
good intercs'’, is satisfactory, but it must bo admitted 
that the State ie in every c sc more lenient than private 
proprietorsjwould be, and that taking into account the 
charges, tbo frequent remissions, and the princely 
scale of many ot the schemes, the marvel is that so 
favorable a result is secured. 
Our own circuiufUinces have olfored but a faint 
reflex of these ; wo have had water famines, and wo 
always shall have a considerate Government, abun- 
dantly content if it receives iutere.Ht upon its advances 
to the farmers. But there the likeness ends, and it 
will not ho until our population multiplied many 
times over, comes to press upon the means of sub- 
sistence with a terrible intensity, that we can conceive 
the same urgency for expenditure on water supply 
for agriculture as has existed in Asia. Our irrigation 
is undertaken to develop new cultures, and especially 
highly priced products, such as frnit and wine, while 
at the same time stcadyiitg farming generally, by 
guaranteeing pasture for flocks and grain for the mill, 
iQ droughts hs well as in propitious seasons. This 
being the case there is no need for any undue haste 
or excited adoption of undigeated projects. We have 
made a good start, and what remains is to develop 
oor water rt sources quietly but uiiOt-ai»iugly, on sound 
icea. This is not to bodonoin an instant; indeed, 
i® a work that will cover be absclutely finished. 
J-Q0 best exeentivo oflioors reckon that their practice 
I* altered materially every five years. Indi.in engineer- 
lUg 18 thorougbly progressive, and so keen are the 
Wits, and 00 restless the energy of those employed 
upon It, that they are always leaving thoi. former 
achievements behind, and pushing on to better tilings. 
It 18 not simply that each geueration. brief as in ita 
stay m the conntry, improvon upon it« ptodeceHsor, 
but the Bame officers confess that they have learned 
to avoid errors, to cheapen construction, snd to make 
administration more efficient. There is now nearly a 
oentury of accumulated experience to work upon 
although tho great nudertakiugs have only been com- 
menced in the latter half of it, and still there is a 
uoyaut confldei ce in the acoomplishment of larger 
successes than have yet been gained, which is in itself 
one of the most encouraging foatiires of Iho system, and 
a bright augury for its iuture. Although State directed 
and State con trollid, there is no visible stagnation among 
tho pro fessional officers of the Water Supply Department. 
Australia will do well, therefore, not only to secure 
the present experience of the enipito but to take care 
to keep abreast of its development from time to time. 
To sum up then, the legislation of India has not 
puoh to teach us, its administration little, its practices 
little, its relations of State department and people 
little, its agriculture very little, but its methods of 
construction, management of canals, conservation and 
distiibution of water can leach us a great deal. The 
“''■“’•“‘stsi'Ces out of wliioh irrigation began are not 
niiUa ours, but we may hope that its final outcome 
jV/V* “".will be very unlike that which it is rtaubiog 
whoro it provides fresh food fast, 
ni rmu.? P°P“l“flon increasing faster, and not 
L"„r 7 ■“ '»«»>• 
standard ,*“'■'^‘•*‘’‘"■1. to even a Kuropean 
a gent,„; “ “‘“'“•I "lul equitable riparian law, 
now miH? ‘^'■eeu'-Bgement to farmers who enter upon 
thdr ““‘ “y necessary to prepare 
by tho irrigation a keen supervision of trusts 
their .‘“tolligont criticism by 
with euch".1‘‘^j ? ‘teir prooeodings. couplud 
turiil rrsi! ®^wfly aufl practice at our auricul- 
a praotical*m* *" **’"'1* 1“®** problems in 
the futnre and there need be no doubt of 
success of Irrigation. The French system 
of small holdings, Italian skill in dairy farming, 
American metliods of co-operation and enterprise in 
making markets arc well worth acclimatising, as are 
Indian engineering designs and devices. The outcome 
of the writer's observations in India are at least as 
stiinnUting and encouraging as those which six years 
ago were embodied in his report upon the irrigation 
of Western America. Clearly existing systems have 
murh to teach us, and it will be well for us if Ana- 
tralia, the last continent to be colonised by white men 
and the only one built up solely by Anglo-Saxons, 
should come to be noted for its openness to new ideas, 
its freedom from the prejudioes of custom, its readi- 
ness to adopt improved practices wherever they can 
be found, and its progressivenesa even in agriculture. 
Our people have been commended for the warmhearted- 
ness of their welcome to strangers. But if they can 
become as well hospitable in thinking, methods of 
working and mode of living, acclimatising and assH 
milating the best of all that has been and now is, 
they will make no ordinary history and merit no 
ordinary reward. 
THE DUTCH MARKET. 
Cinchona. — Tho 4.633 bales and 220 cases Java bark 
in sale on December 21at at Amsterdam contain ac- 
cording to the published analyses, 17,350 kilos, sulphate 
ot quiuine, or about 4'34 per cent on the average, in 
the manutacturoa’ bark and 500 kilos, in drnggists 
bark. — (Tocoa-butter : Contrary to their former policy, 
Messrs. Van Honten and Zonen, the cocoa manufacturers, 
have sold in tiie last two anotions (December and 
.laimary) their produce without reserve. Tho price 
declined as far as iilc in December (average .56|o), 
and 53c in January (average 54|c). The market has 
become rather unsettled 001 seqnently, and although 
the buyers of cocoa-butter at the last auction ocnld 
realise some profit, the pre.sent value being 680 a J 
kilo . it is probable that the market will follow the 
samo course as in 1830, wlicn Messrs. Van Houten 
sold also without reserve, until the value had gone 
down to 35c. It is scarcely to be expected tliat the 
consumption, which is a limited one, will increase in 
proportion as tho price falls . — Vhemist and Druggiit, 
Coconuts in North Borneo bear in five years, and 
the betclnut palm in four years, but the demand 
is so great that coconut trees in bearing in 
Sandakan lot for $2. a year each. We understand 
that Mr. Abrahamson has leased 500 acres at 
Kudat for a coconut plantation . — Britieh North 
Borneo lleratd. 
The Sale or Crvlon Qomen Tips in Mei,” 
iiotjRNE is tliBB referred to in the Australasian ot 
10th Jan., the tea being, however, described as 
Indian •— 
Some very high prices have been paid of lute for 
small rumols ot fanoy tea sent to London, and a small 
lot of Indiau whicli lias been sent to Melbourne was 
sold at auction on Tuesday by Groig and Murray 
Limited at the highest price at which tea has ever 
been sold in this patt of the world. Tte parcel oon- 
aisled of only five pounds, and was described as 
Indigenous GoMeu Tip Flowery Orange Pekoe. 
pounds was packed in a glass esse, and tho other 
pound was packed in two tins ; and the selection of 
the leaves lias been going ou for the last three y^S'ts, 
A largo number of those interested in the tea trade 
had naaemblod in the saleroom. The first bid received 
was lOs. per pound, duty paid, followed by bida of 
two guineas and three guineas per pout'd. The next 
advance was to X3 5 h per pound, and after successive 
advancee, at first of 5a per pound each, aud afterisarda 
of 10s per poniid, tlie parcel was finally knocked down 
at ten guineas per pound. The pnrehasers were 
Messrs. Alfred Horvey & Co., acting on behalf of the 
Mutnal Store, by wiiom it is understood the tea will 
ho kept for exhibition. 
