An Australian correspondent described in the Times of last Saturday
the new Burrinjuck Dam in New South Wales. It is the second largest dam in the world—second, of course, to the Assuan Dam—and although it is not yet finished it has already come into use. It is set between two granite mountains that rise from opposite sides of the Murrumbidgee River. Forty-five miles of the river are held back by this great wall in the neck of a gorge, and when the dam has risen to its full height of 240 feet the enclosed lake will be half as large again as Sydney Harbour. Two hundred miles further down the river at Berembed another great work is contemplated. When the combined system is complete between five and six million acres will be served. The people of New South Wales arc to be congratulated on taking irrigation seriously in hand. Vast tracts of the so-called barren parts of Australia could be made to blossom if irrigation were as scientific as in some American States. "Immigration and irrigation' is the motto for Australia we are certain. But it requires the avoidance of Socialistic legislation that acts in restraint of enterprise and free exchange.
Previous page
