Two official pages of the 1893 report are devoted to the "misuse of water," a member of Parliament having already objected to the application of the word "waste" to water allowed to flow unchecked from bores. The aggregate capacity of the ten Government bores then flowing was 5,000,000 gallons daily, all measured; while of the 137 private wells the flow was estimated at 100,000,000 gallons daily. This total of 105,000,000 gallons would be equivalent to a rainfall of 29 in. on 91 square miles of country. This was the rate of average rainfall on the assumed outcrop of water-bearing country that supplied the artesian area. And it had to be remembered that a part of this rainfall of 29 in. had to be carried off by streams as well as by evaporation, and therefore did not sink into the water-bearing strata of the arid west. As to the extent of the outcrop, it was estimated not to exceed one-eighth of a mile, with a total length of 1,600 miles, which meant a total supply of 200 square miles of water-bearing outcrop area.[a] Arguing on these and other grounds, the report contends that the falling off of the yield of many bores affords proof that, wherever the supply comes from, the outflow already exceeds the inflow. The Engineer can only regard as wasted two-thirds of the water that now flows from the artesian bores in Queensland; indeed, adopting the language of an American, "the waste is a crime against the well-owner and against the State." [Footnote a: For fuller particulars see Hydraulic Engineer's Report for 1893, pages 5 and 6.] CONTROL OF FLOW NECESSARY. The Hydraulic Engineer adds that while he cannot assert that the artesian flow is being exhausted, he yet holds that the flow ought to be controlled by legislative action.[b] [Footnote b: On this passage the Hydraulic Engineer notes that, in 1891, a bill was introduced into Parliament by Sir Thomas McIlwraith for controlling the artesian water supply, and passed through the Assembly, but was rejected by the Council. Since then no action in that direction has been taken.] IRRIGATION BY BORES. The same report contains an interesting article on irrigation. It points out that at the beginning of 1892 there were only 200 irrigators among the land cultivators of the colony, and that the area irrigated was only 5,000 acres. It was believed that in the last year the amount of land so fertilised had largely increased. Many of the plants and distributing apparatus were of a most primitive kind. "Some are expensive, others badly erected, and not a few are of a type ill-adapted to the object in view."