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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



feeding crop, fed off and sown to wheat again by 

 Christmas. While he considered fallows to be necessary 

 for strong soils, as the clods of earth could not be well 

 broken to pieces without lying some time exposed to the 

 air, he rejected the practice upon light soils, where 



feeding crops are better — the cattle, while consuming 

 the crop, treading the soil, rendering it more compact 

 and firm. Thus, instead of letting light land lie fallow 

 all winter, he had it occupied with a feeding crop of 

 rye, turnips, or tares. 



NOTES ON MEADOWS AND PASTURES. 

 By JAMES BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., 

 Professor of Botany and Geology at the Royal Agricultural College. 



The Economic Relations of Irrigated 

 Meadows. 



The high rent of irrigated meadows pre-supposes that 

 they possess great advantages, not only from the circum- 

 stance of their abundant yield, but also from some im- 

 portant economic relations in connection with the rest 

 of the farm ; and we therefore now propose to review 

 this subject under these two aspects — viz,, first, to con- 

 sider the quality and quantity of the herbage of an irri- 

 gated meadow ; and secondly, to point out the advan- 

 tages of such meadows ; especially under the circum- 

 stances previously described. 



1st. The Herbage. — From what has been already 

 advanced, it will be seen that soon after irrigation is 

 established a great change takes place in the natural or 

 original herbage of the field; and the direction which this 

 change takes is that of killing out most other plants- 

 other than grasses — increasing the growth of grass itself, 

 so as not only to fill up the gaps caused by the death of 

 plantains, daisies, and such plants as by reason of their 

 close growth to the soil occupy much space, but also by 

 augmenting the development of the different grass in- 

 dividuals, and that not only as with ordinary meadow 

 for one crop, but for two, or sometimes three crops, each 

 of more than average quantity for the same meadow if 

 not irrigated. 



Again, it should be noted that this increase is due 

 solely to the action of the water, which appears to be in 

 itself manurial, as containing some of the elements 

 upon which grasses especially feed ; chemical by reason 

 of the solvent powers of the water ; and cUmatal from 

 the important circumstance that a meadow through 

 which water can be kept in motion is much warmer than 

 an unirrigated pasture, as may be evidenced from the 

 beautiful green colour of the irrigated, when compared 

 with the winter brown and grey aspect of ordinary pas- 

 ture. Hence, then, special manuring forms no item in 

 the expense ; and moreover, it must be borne in mind 

 that a yearly crop of hay, either as a primary or second- 

 ary math, is always to be had in such meadows. But 

 still some expenses have to be provided for, which it 

 will be well now to glance at ; and these consist of 

 matters which will be understood from the following 

 items of expenditure in the district we have chosen to 

 describe as illustrative of this subject : 



Interest upon the original charges for laying out the 

 xaeadow in a proper and convenient form for getting 



the water on (through) it, and ensuring facilities 

 for its constant motion towards the outfalls ; 

 Charges for the reparation of flood-gates and other 

 engineering requirements ; labour of drowner in 

 clearing conduits, regulating the supply to different 

 parts by means of stanks, weeding, &c. 

 (All this he usually undertakes at a certain sum per 

 acre, which is regulated very much according to the 

 quantity in the neighbourhood, one man thus acting for 

 several proprietors ) ; 



Compensation to proprietors and mill- owners for the 



use of the water. 

 These items usually average an annual cost of 68. 

 per acre, so that the extra charges upon the rent of 

 water-meadow are not very heavy; at the same time, 

 the fact that these meadows let for as much as £5 the 

 acre, the spaces used for the conduits, pools, flood- 

 gates, and the like, being reckoned in the acreage ; and 

 Lord Bathurst, who is a large proprietor of irrigated 

 meadows about Cirencester, lets much of them for this 

 retit, but within the last few years he has preferred to 

 keep them in his own hands as addenda to his fine farm 

 at Oakley Park — a fact in itself speaking well for the 

 results of the process by which they have been made so 

 valuable. 



As regards the causes which contribute to the in- 

 creased fertility of grasses where water can be got for 

 their irrigation, we are still to a considerable extent in 

 the dark, as even the purest water, if let through a 

 meadow in the manner indicated, will exert an influence 

 almost equal to water charged with chemical matters, if 

 these matters be not of large extent ; at the same time, 

 it must be borne in mind that sewage waters sometimes 

 aid in the production of crops of an almost fabulous 

 amount. 



The truth, perhaps, lies in the facts as brought out 

 by analysis, that grass and hay of the irrigated meadow 

 are, after all, not rich in mineral constituents, but become 

 especially so in feeding properties ; and hence their spe- 

 cial adaptation to the peculiar uses of early feed for fat- 

 tening lambs and renovating the ewes, which we shall 

 presently see is so extensively taken advantage of by the 

 Cotteswold farmer. 



These facts will best be shown by quoting the valu- 

 able analyses of grasses by Professor Way ; and we 

 would introduce the following table with his own re- 

 marks upon some of its important results. 



