146 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART, 
Middleton, and successfully completed in 1813. For 
the first 19 years the dividend did not amount to more 
than 13 shillings per share; but a steady improvement 
naturally took place, and in 1834 a return was made 
to Parliament, which showed the gross annual income 
to be £104,909, the average annual charge for repair 
and maintenance to bo £38,000, so that the net return 
was £6(5,909—the value of a share had risen to £15,512, 
and the interest of four per cent, upon that value was 
£620 instead of 13 shillings. To revert, however, to 
the financial considerations by which individuals, or 
the Government acting for the community, should ho 
guided in undertaking works of the character of those 
alluded to in the former part of this fiapor, I would 
observe that the only ground upon widen the Govern¬ 
ment could, venture to expend money upon improve¬ 
ments—that is in enhancing the value of the laud 
which ma v be looked upon as the capital of the colony 
—would lie the absolute certainty of a return either in 
the shape of increased rent or of enhanced value when 
brought into the market for sale. The increased rent 
would only apply to pastoral lands, none other being 
underlease; and as the enhanced value of land must 
depend altogether on the capacity of the purchaser to 
avail himself of the facilities-.which a supply of water i 
for irrigation would hold out to him. it would seem 
that the only mode in which the Government could ] 
properly engage in such undertakings would be by 
affording facilities to its own tenants, and to the 
owners of land generally for raising money for im¬ 
provements. Wtth regard to the tenants of the Crown 
the coarse won Id, as it appears to me, be very simple* 
If the occupant of a pastoral tract of country should 
be of opinion that the capabilities of liis run would he 
enhanced by the construction of dams for the retention 
of water, or by the irrigation of a portion of it, he 
might apply to the Government, as his landlord, either 
to undertake tho work, charging the tenant the interest 
of the cost, or to advance a certain sum of money for ! 
the execution of tliis work, for which tho tenant would 
be responsible. In either case tho tenant would be en¬ 
titled to the full benefit uf the improvement, either for 
the currency of tho lease, or for a specific term of years, 
after which the Government would derive the benefit 
in an increased rent. With regard to owners of 
property it would be necessary to adopt a course some 
what similar to that which is practised in England, 
where money is lent to a landed proprietor on the 
security of his estate ; the whole amount of tho loan, 
together with the interest, being repaid by annual 
instalments’ extending over a period of (say) 20 years. 
That the benefits which the colony would derive from 
the improvements effected by an application of money 
to irrigation would fully justify the interference of the 
Government to tho extent alluded to above, J feel fully 
convinced. Even tbe social ad vantages which would 
result from the concentration of population upon land 
rendered by irrigation capable of supporting thousands, 
where ten only dwell at present, would be of the utmost 
importance. These, however, do not admit of being | 
valued; but the pecuniary benefits to the individual , 
owner, and the advantage which accrues to the com¬ 
munity from the increased productiveness of the soil, 
are evident and tangible ; and in bringing them under 
the notice of the Society I trust 1 may lie taking the 
first step towards the adoption of a system which, T am 
- confident, holds out the prospect of increased prosperity 
to the great staple interests of New South Wales. 
[We quote from the “ Sydney Morning 
Herald the following report of Professor 
Smith’s remarks in the short discussion 
which followed the reading of the fore¬ 
going paper.] 
In the course of some conversation which followed 
the reading of this paper. Professor Smith stated that 
some calculations he had made relative to the rainfall 
on Lachlan Swamp, and the supply of water furnished 
to the city, shewed the following results :—The mean 
rainfall during the months of July, August, and Sep¬ 
tember, was 8 inches, which spread over an area of 1700 
acres, which was the drainage area of the swamps, 
should furnish 34 millions of gallons per diem. But 
only 600,000 gallons a-day were actually delivered 
during the month of September, showing that only 
about one-sixth of the whole rainfall wa3 really avail¬ 
able. The soil, however, in that locality was sandy, 
and therefore absorbed water like a sponge. The 
general surface of the colony was hard and imperme¬ 
able, and tho water rapidly drained off* the surface, 
whence the heavy floods after the rain. As a general 
rule, on undrained land, not more than one-fifth of the 
rainfall could be gathered, on well drained lands one- 
half of the quantity could be collected The hard 
surface of tho colony would render it cm an average 
equivalent to well-drained land. But while tho water 
could be easily collected it qnickly evaporated, owing 
to the extreme dryness of the air. Some few experi¬ 
ments he had made as to the rate of evaporation had 
yielded results showing so high a rate that he hesitated 
to mention them, and wished for more experience; 
but in Melbourne several gentlemen had, by different 
experiments, shown the rate of evaporation to be nine 
feet per annum. In this colony, where the air is drier, 
the rate would probably be greater. Plenty of rain 
fell in tbe colony if it could but be retained. On each 
housetop enough fell each year for the wants of a large 
family. On every square yard not less than two 
hundred gallons fell. An inch of water falling on an 
acre of ground would yield 22,627 gallons, and as 
much as five inches had been known to fall on an acre. 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN 
HORTICULTURAL and AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
ELEVENTH MONTHLY MEETING. 
December 1st, 1857. 
HELD IN THE ItOYAL HOTEL. 
Mr. O. Ottlev in the Chair. 
Members of Council present—Messrs. 
F. Creswick, C. A. Bell, J. Graham, P. 
L. C. Shepherd, W. Deane, O. Ottley, J. 
W. Wall, and a large attendance of mem¬ 
bers and their friends. 
exhibits. 
The following prizes were awarded by 
the Council •— Collection of xvheat and 
grasses; exhibited by Mr. G. A. Bell, 
Latlialan, North Shore.—Prize, silver 
medal. Consisting of the following varie- 
i ties :— 
Yelvet, or woolly-eared wheat; sown 
June 27th, cut Dec. 1, 1857. 
Piper’s thickset wheat; sown end of 
June, cut Dec. 1st. 
Talavera wheat; sown June 27tb, cut 
December 1st. 
Port Curtis wheat; sown June 27th, 
cut. December 1 st. 
Yfheat from a sample obtained at Bar¬ 
ker’s mill; sown June 27th, cut Dec. 1st. 
California prairie grass, or oat-grass, 
from seed presented to this Society, for 
distribution, by his Excellency the Cover- 
