II. 



I should have anfwered your letter fooner, but 

 wifhed to know the opinion of fome of my friends 

 on the fubjecl:. On enquiry, I find that their fenti- 

 ments coincide with my own; and are as follows: — 



That water running from a fpring, or out of a 

 rock, is often preferred to water from a river that 

 has paired fome way. I apprehend, however, that 

 this is not always the cafe; but fometimes quite 

 the reverfe. Springs coming immediately from a 

 rock, or from the earth, are, I apprehend, of very 

 different qualities. A fpring coming from a lime- 

 Hone rock, I mould think by much the beft for 

 watering meadows, which is the cafe at Orchefton 

 in Wilts, where that famous grafs grows,* which 

 produces an amazing crop in thofe feafons when 

 the meadow can be watered with the fprings gufh- 

 ing out of the limeftone rocks. At other times, 

 when the fprings are low, the land does not pro-r 

 duce more than a third of the quantity. 



It is underflood by the farmers here, that water 

 is very much impoverifhed by watering a great 

 many meadows on the fame ftream; and that 

 thofe meadows at the head of the ftream are much 



* Sec an account of this grafs, vol. i. p. 93 ? 



* the 



