Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-08-25

bunias, or capitalists get together and
buy up all the grain they can get Then
they wait for the time when the STUFF
becomes worth it's weight in gold. In
former times-and occasionally 1t is SO in
these-that was commonly the literal
equivalent Silver bangles and gold ear
rings went into one scale and grain into
the other.
Irrigation system.
The irrigation system established by
the Government in India is the finest In
the world. No public work of equal
economy exists anywhere. The value Of
a single years crop over that which
would have been produced without the
irrigation in question more than equals
the entire cost of the systeml The works
have cost something like $3.50, 100000 and
the yearly value of the products Of the
land they water Is about $500, O0o, 600.
They are entirely self-supporting by the
charge made for service and over and
above all expense of maintenance yield
i've per cent. interest on the capital In
vested.
In the winter and spring before the
Ganges has been swollen by the melting
SHOWS of the Himalayas the entire
stream is intercepted at Hardwar. where
It energies from the mountains and
thrown into an artificial channel. In the
first 20 miles Of its course the works
on this canal are highly remarkable. It
intersects the drainage Of the Lower Him
alayas and has to be carried across rivers
which at times become raging torrents.
These obstacles have been overcome by
wonderful engineering devices. In one
place the torrent flows harmlessly along
an artificial bed whilst the canal con-
tinues Its course below. In another place
the canal which Is; virtually the entire
Ganges is carried by an Rqueduct over a
river flowing through a bed more than
two miles broad Some 200 miles farther
down the Ganges has again become a
large river, and its contents are again
diverted into second canal The two
canals are capable of discharging about
1900 cubic feet of water per second.
and this great flow Is distributed over
the country through minor canals and
laterals. The length Of the main canals
exceeds 1000 miles and there are more
than 5000 miles Of distributafies.
Three canals of less size, which in any
works of great magnitude, distribute In
a similar manner the whole Of the water
brought down by the Jumna from the
Himalayas. Another great canal takes mp
the waters OF the Son in Bahar. and there
are important works Of the same charac-
ter in Orissa and Bengal.
In the Madras Province the Godaverl
and the Kistna have been damned at
their deltns, and the spreading waters
are thus collected and released through
canals that facilitate transportation and
protect population of 100000 from the
effects of the failure of rainfall. During
the famine Of 1877 the areas wafered By
these works produced rice to the value
at normal prices-of nearly $4,000 600.
without the irrigation thus afforded there
would have been no crop at all and the
value Of that harvested was four times as
great as the total cost of the irrigation
works. In the Province of Sind about
5000, 900 people are supported through
irrigation where the land could not be
cultivated at all without 1t.
Altogether the government Of India Is
operating about 10000 miles Of Irrigation
canals supplying 20,000,000 Of acres Of
land that would be almost yaiueIese with
out the artificial water supply. The work
is proceeding as fast as possible and ex-
tending In every direction where the nee.
essity exists and the physical conditions
permit. In the south Of India the system
is not practicable from the engineering
point Of view and the only means Of irkt.
CATION Is In connection with tanks