1 May, 1902. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 321 
Questions on Lesson 7. 
1. What is the mean annual rainfall of Queensiand ? 
2, Why cannot farm crops be so well produced in the Western parts of 
the State as on the coast? 
- 8. How is the want of rain in Egypt supplied P 
4, How is the amount of water delivered on to a field calculated ? 
5. What two things are required for irrigation ? 
6. What is the cheapest system of irrigating a field when the water supply 
lies slightly higher than the land to be irrigated ? 
7. Describe two methods of irrigation by means of surface pipes ? 
8. What are the advantages of subterranean irrigation ? 
9. Is there any saving of water effected by subirrigation as compared 
with surface irrigation ? How much is saved ? 
10. Why are some waters unsuitable for irrigation purposes ? 
11. How does irrigation sweeten the soilP What is the effect of this 
sweetening ? 
IRRIGATION FOR SOUTH AFRICA. 
A LESSON FOR QUEENSLAND. 
“The permanent development of the agriculture of South Africa will 
depend on irrigation, and on irrigation alone.” 
Thus says Mr. W. Willcocks, C.M.G., M.I.C.E., in a report on irrigation 
in South Africa addressed to His Excellency Lord Milner. In this report he 
states at the outset that irrigation is the foundation stone on which alone can 
be built the permanent prosperity of South Africa, and he declares that as 
administrator of the recently acquired Crown colonies of the Orange River and 
Transvaal, His Lordship is in a position to confer a benefit on South Africa 
such as has fallen to the lot of few men. The colony has remained strangely — 
stationary, apart from the development of its gold, diamond, and coal mines. ° 
Fifty years ago, says Mr. Willcocks, it was a pastoral country, importing cereals 
and dairy produce and even hay from foreign countries. It is the same to-day. 
Half-a-century ago, it needed a farm of 5,900 acres to keep a family in decent 
comfort; to-day it needs the same farm of 5,00U acres to keep one family in 
comfort. 
Except in the extreme south-western corner of Cape Colony, agriculture 
has scarcely been attempted, except on the most primitive lines, and on the 
most insignificant areas. Farmers to-day trek from the high veldt to the low 
yeldt and back again with the seasons, just as the wandering Arabs of the 
desert have done for centuries. ‘The reason for this want of development of the 
agricultural wealth of the country, and the consequent acute stage of the poor 
white question, lies in the fact that the rainfall of the three colonies, with the 
exception of the extreme south-west corner, is not only erratic and uncertain at 
the times most opportune for sowing, but is constant and heavy in autumn.” 
Autumn again is quickly followed by a very severe and frosty winter, without a ' 
particle of moisture in the air. When rain is wanted it is generally not there; ° 
when it is not wanted it is invariably present: ‘For countries so situated the 
only possible means of development lie in storage of water when it is present | 
and not needed, and its utilisation by irrigation when itisneeded. Agriculture | 
Without irrigation is generally impossible in the new colonies. In the face of 
such a state of affairs we find the irrigation laws of the three colonies framed 
by Englishmen and Dutchmen who come from wet and foggy countries, and 
who considered the accumulation and storage of water as public nuisances, and 
the transfer of water from one valley to another as a public evil. If these 
countries are ever to develop the immense agricultural wealth which is to-day 
buried many thousands of feet below impenetrable strata of unwise and unsuit- 
able legislation, the first step must be to proclaim the countries themselves as 
arid or semi-arid regions, and legislate accordingly. 
