return on this expenditure in that year was 21.3 per cent. The population has increased from a few thousand nomads, possessing only camels, goats, etc., to 792,000 agricultural colonists (1901 Census) inhabiting towns and villages, and, for India, in most affluent circumstances. Early in the history of the scheme a railway was seen to be an absolute necessity, but, unfortunately, some years elapsed before funds were available for its construction. The colonisation scheme at first nearly failed, owing to the impossibility without the railway of transporting the immense quantity of produce, and of realising its value and thus paying the Government assessment. By means of this and other large Punjab canals the export trade of Karachi has increased enormously, and last year, for the first time on record, the export of wheat from India to England exceeded that from any other country.

12. INTER-COLONIAL IRRIGATION SCHEMES.

The two largest rivers of the most thickly populated part of South Africa are the Vaal, forming the boundary between the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, and the Orange River, which for a considerable length of its upper course divides the Orange River Colony from Cape Colony. While nature has thus made them lines of separation, man, by utilising them for irrigation, can constitute them into bonds of union. By the construction of masonry weirs and dams across these rivers, reservoirs common to the neighbouring Colonies can be formed, and from them canals can be led on each side for the irrigation of their respective territories. The natural conditions being equal, a single canal supplied by a storage reservoir is nearly 1 times as expensive per acre irrigated as two canals led out from it on the two banks of the impounded river. The financial advantage of co-operation is thus great, and a further benefit of this nature is that the schemes will be constructed from the revenues of two Colonies, instead of one, and will thus involve a smaller demand on the resources of each.

Sir William Willcocks, in the middle of page 41 of his " Report on Irrigation in South Africa," suggests that the waters of the Vaal should be reserved for the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, while those of the Orange River would be available for Cape Colony. How far the upper course of the Orange River can be utilised by the two Colonies which it divides is not known to the author. The development of inter-colonial irrigation from the Vaal has, however, formed the subject of an extensive reconnaissance of the river, over 500 miles long, by engineers deputed to it from the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. Their investigations have proved that four schemes serving both Colonies are practicable and desirable. further examination of the lower part of the Vaal by engineers of the Transvaal and Cape Colony has shown that probably the best scheme on the river is available there for irrigation in these two Colonies, and, possibly, also in the Orange River Colony. The

approximate figures for these projects are given in the following

(a) Excluding increased value of Land rendered Irrigable.

1. Total estimated cost

of Project ...

£ 283,000 945,000 285,000 515,000 1,144,000 2. Full Supply Storage Mill Cft. 4,165 82 5,545 72 2,403'73 2,603.96 11,451'00

(b) Including increased value of Land rendered Irrigable.

It will be seen from this table that, although the schemes proposed are of fair size, none are of heroic dimensions, and, compared with the Chenáb Canal, are on a moderate scale. There are, however, but very few other projects in the Transvaal from each of which even as much as 20,000 acres can be irrigated, and that with less certainty of supply and at greater cost than those from the Vaal.

The Orange River Colony has drawn up a very large scheme at Parys for the irrigation of some 300,000 acres at a cost of about £3,000,000. It is possible that this scheme could be extended

Christiana and

Hartz River.

at a total cost of £5,000,000 to irrigate an additional 100,000 acres in the Transvaal. Unfortunately, it is on far too ambitious a scale for the present requirements of the two Colonies, and it cannot be commenced on a smaller one and be subsequently enlarged. The time may come, however, when it will be wanted, and it is as well that it should not be lost sight of.

Schemes of the magnitude described above may have the advantage of rendering the climate in the neighbourhood more humid, and, if this proves to be the case, their benefit will extend beyond their own immediate limits.

13. INTER-COLONIAL CO-OPERATION.

Irrigation schemes of all sizes have now been discussed broadly, and chiefly from the engineering point of view. It has been pointed out that each class of scheme has its own special utility, and that, if any scheme fulfils the main requirements of feasibility, suitability, desirability, and moderate financial success, it can be undertaken with confidence. It is, perhaps, needless to add that each project should be carefully and fully investigated before it is started, so as to avoid. the commission of costly mistakes. It now remains to make a few general observations on the main subject of this paper.

Although the Colonies are at present only in their preliminary stage of development, difficulties have arisen in regard to water questions connected with the Vaal, owing to the deficiency of its supply at the end of the fair season. During each of the last three years its flow at Christiana has practically ceased for two or three months, and is likely to fail this year for a considerably longer period. The restriction of irrigation from its upper tributaries has even been suggested, so as then to secure supply to the lower riparian towns in Cape Colony, including Kimberley. It is hardly necessary to point out that, even if this were practicable, it would be a retrograde step to take, and it would introduce inter-colonial friction instead of co-operation. It is, however, not practicable, as the laws of each Colony run only within its boundaries, and the upper Colony would certainly never consent to being deprived of its natural resources for the benefit of the lower Colony. Considering the case of two Colonies separated by a river, the best way, theoretically, is to divide its flow between them in proportion to their contributions to its discharge. Such discharge depends upon the extent of the catchment area, the nature of the country, and the intensity and amount of the rainfall. To determine the discharge to which each Colony has a fair claim would take many years of observation, and, even when determined from the results ascertained, the proportion arrived at might, with the variation of rainfall in a subsequent season, then prove an unfair one. Owing to the great fluctuation in the flow of even these large rivers, to depend upon them in their natural condition will frequently lead to difficulty. The obvious remedy is to reduce these fluctuations artificially by means of storage weirs and dams, whereby a definite amount of supply can be

obtained in all years, and can be divided in accordance with settled arrangements, effected jointly by the Colonies concerned. Thus all chance of inter-colonial friction will be prevented by means of intercolonial co-operation, which will establish a community of interests that must inevitably form a bond of union. An excellent instance of the benefits of such co-operation is the appointment of the InterColonial Irrigation Commission, upon which are representatives of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. This Commission is enquiring into the best way in which the existing irrigation law can be amended so as to meet the altered conditions which now exist.

Without a new law suitable to those conditions, the proper development of irrigation will be impossible.

The tendency in new countries (and one which, unless it is extirpated at the outset, may be intensified as time goes on) is to consider first, individual, rather than collective requirements, and to look at everything from a narrow rather than from a broad point of view. Fortunately, South Africa has already furnished several examples of the advantage of co-operation. In State affairs there are the Customs Union, and the joint management of railways in the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies, which, it is hoped, will be extended to Cape Colony. In commercial affairs there are the gold fields of the Rand, which, under the most adverse natural conditions, produce the largest output in the world, and the Kimberley Diamond Mines, which, from a congeries of petty individual effort, have developed into the most productive combination known. By this co-operation scientific development has enormously advanced, and, by a similar one, it is probable that irrigation engineering will equally benefit for the good of agriculture all over the Colonies. Agriculture is the oldest and most permanent industry in the world, and is practised by the large bulk of its inhabitants. Anything that tends to its development and renders it more certain will benefit the whole population, and nothing can ensure this better in South Africa than the construction of large irrigation schemes on well-considered and sound lines.