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Allen’s attitude was worthy of notice because he was converted to the opposite opinion in the course of visits he paid soon afterwards to Italy and Switzerland, in which countries he saw the benefits of irrigation on light soils like those of Chertsey. Thus by 1893 he found himself back at Dorie advocating an irrigation scheme before men who had taken their opinions from him and saw no reason to change them. He declared that if the ratepayers did not accept a County Council proposal to tap the Rakaia River above the township and supply 50,000 acres, he would use the water over his and his company’s land. This indeed was what happened. In the following year he arranged with the council to do the work, company and council sharing the cost. From 1895, Allen acquired a reputation for his irrigation of Acton, where his orchard on once useless land became ‘a perfect oasis’ and where he annually watered 400 acres by what is now called ‘wild flooding’ and doubled the production of wheat from seven to fourteen bushels to the acre.^[1]

The small Acton scheme was an exception to the rule that at this time the council could not obtain support for irrigation, though Baxter drew up plans for tapping the Rakaia at two places and Lake Heron by way of the Ashburton River. The depression was entering its last, and in many ways its worst years, and there had been much controversy over aspects of water supply, especially on the southern plains and at Wakanui. Even when, in 1898, the economic clouds were beginning to lift, and farmers on the Rangitata plains and at Dorie called on the council for action and Wright secured most favourable terms for a large loan, a moist season and some small difficulties killed interest.

The Wakanui district was in an unusual position. Plenty of water was available from the Mill Creek but the County Council refused to interfere with the control which the mill-owners exercised over the flow of water. A great deal of bad feeling and resentment simmered for years among farmers dependent on the creek because the millers often reduced the supply at the most inconvenient times and then, without warning, sent down unwelcome floods of water. At length matters came to a head. In September 1892 James Brown dammed the creek at his farm. He wrote later that his intention was to force the mill-owners to show consideration for the farmers but the purpose was clearly to force the County Council to assert its rights. This the council did, and at length the millers agreed though not without heartburning and bitterness to hand over the