Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1884 — Australia's Scarcity of Water. [ARTICLE]

Australia's Scarcity of Water.

The greatest difficulty of all this country is this one of water. There are no great rivers such as we have in America, and such as there are either appear in raging Jorrents or a succession of water-holes. Many of the larger streams have no outlet, but end in lagoons or disappear bv evaporation. Experiments show that there is quite sufficient rainfall to supply the wants of the country, "but it is so irregular that to depend upon it would be precarious in the extreme. Artesian wells have been discovered in certain localities, but they are not numerous enough to test their practicability. The only remedy that at present appears feasible is that of making reservoirs for the storage of*water during the rainy season for supply during the long droughts. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and I have no doubt that this or some other plan will be adopted for irrigating the land, thus making it capable of supporting millions of people. During the dry season it is extremely hot in the interior,the thermometer often rising to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. The ground becomes baked and cracked and so hot as to burn the feet into blisters if not well protected. The atmosphere is extremely dry, otherwise" it would be impossible for human beings to endure it. Thousands of cattle and sheep perish during the dry seasons. The only way of keeping them alive is in driving them to some waterhole where they may drink, while for food they may subsist on the dry and parched grasses of the plain, which, strange to say, have retained all their nutritive qualities, though withered by the sun. Shepherds say that sheep, as well as cattle and horses, will fatten on this grass, and that they will choose it in preference to the green grass of the rainy season. Large droves of horses and cattle, sleek and fat, be seen running wild over these plains in the dryest seasons, especially in districts where a plentiful supply of water may be found in water-holes, as above mentioned. These horses are often so numerous as to become a pest, and as they are of no use on account of their intractability, they are often driven into corrals and killed by thousands. The timber on these plains is of one genus, namely, 'the eucalyptus. There are many .species, but all have the same general appearance. Generally speaking the trees are sparsely scattered over the ground, and but very seldom do we find there thick-set forests as in America. The eucalyptus does not look unlike our sycamore. It does not shed its lea which are of a somber green color and very crisp, but annually the bark dries up into thin shreds and falls off. So light and dry is it that the east wind will carry it away as our leaves are driven by the autumn wind. New bark is formed before the old falls off, and the tree is left quite white and new looking at the beginning of each year of its life. Some of the trees grow to enormous height. Indeed, the brigliest trees in the world are of this genus, and are to be found in Gippsland, in the eastern portion of Australia. Some of the tallest are over 500 feet in height. They grow very straight, and as much as 100 feet from the ground there is neither limb nor perceptible diminution of diameter. The lumber from this trea is an important article of commerce and very durable.—Cleveland Herald.