THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



19 



Again, mucla of this inferior pasture is produced by an 

 Tinsound subsoil — one containing feri'uginous or other sub- 

 stances injui-ious to the health of the finer grasses. The 

 roots of some plants will luxuriate in such soils, but not 

 those rehshed by cattle. We have met with numerous 

 examples of this kind, some of them very interesting. 



They diflfer widely from each other, both as to the nature 

 of the noxious substances in the soil, the kind of herbage 

 grown, and the effect produced upon cattle. In every case 

 the cause must be removed before a profitable state of 

 husbancb-y can be pursued. A. B. C. 



RIVER REFORM. 



Sir, — I hope no one will imagine that the Arterial 

 Drainage Meeting, to beheld in Hanover-square Rooms 

 during the Smiihfield Club week, istobeamereconcourse 

 of abolitionists, determined to upset the process of grind- 

 ing flour, driving spindles, working looms, or moving 

 any mill-works whatever by water pouring upon the 

 floats of a water-wheel. I hope no one will suppose 

 that we, the drainers, are seeking to dry up all canals, 

 and send barges by the railway; to drain all fish-ponds, 

 and let off ornamental waters ; to prevent any brook from 

 being conducted over meadows, and to confine the use of 

 every river, stream, and water-course to the one sole 

 purpose of carrying ofi" spent liquid from six-feet-deep 

 drainage-pipes. We say that in the annual downfal upon 

 Great Britain are received the greatest riches and bless- 

 ings ; fertilizing stores for the greedy yet prolific soil ; 

 buoyant pathways for the sluggish boat and heavy-laden 

 barge ; cheap, unceasing motive-power for the industri- 

 ous miller and manufacturer ; moisture for the invalua- 

 ble meadow herbage and hay ; an element for the finny 

 treasures of the sportsman to play in ; sheets of limpid 

 flood, to embellish the park of the noble, or the people's 

 pleasure-ground; and supplies of " beautiful water," 

 cleansing, purifying, sustaining alike the population of 

 city, village, and open country. We say that, owing to 

 the physical conformation of hill and vale, the geolo- 

 gical structure of rocks and beds, the water-sheds and 

 natural channels and springs distribute these downfal 

 waters in such a manner, and in such directions, as to 

 cause immense loss by injurious floodings in some lo- 

 calities, and all sorts of waste of power and usefulness 

 of water in others. Nature provides the valuable 

 agent : it is for Art to appropriate and apply it to the 

 use of man. Art has been doing this for centuries, and 

 has made good profit by mill-wheels, irrigations, 

 navigations, fisheries, and so on ; but then it has been 

 art applied irregularly, disconnectedly, and selfishly, 

 with no common purpose or aim, without reference to 

 the general well-being of the inhabitants of these 

 realms. Consequently the nation has not secured from 

 the waters those full advantsges which are derivable by 

 treating the streams and outfalls on a comprehensive 

 scale, in which every source of benefit should receive its 

 due development, and the claims of all interests be 

 equally considered. We say that the progress of hus- 

 bandry, the pressure of an increasing population upon a 

 limited area of cultivable land, the necessities of over- 

 grown unhealthy towns and clustering villages seated in 

 dangerous sanitary conditions, upon the banks of streams, 

 the growing inadequacy of the channels to discharge floods 



that are at the same time continually requiring a 

 more rapid exit as the work of under-draining extends— 

 that these and other considerations render it imperative, 

 for the safety and prosperity of all classes of the com- 

 munity, that a general and governmental conservancy 

 and supervision of the whole hydrography of Great 

 Britain should be at once organized and inaugurated. 

 The fens, marshes, and lowlands have been driven, in self- 

 defence, to plan and execute new arterial drainage works, 

 though sewers' commissions, and other means of pre- 

 serving or amending old drains were existing there from 

 time immemorial ; and we say it is now the turn of the 

 uplands to deliver themselves from deluge and the still 

 more hurtful damage of a too high water-level without 

 actual drowning. In some cases estuaries may need im- 

 provement; but, generally speaking, the exigencies of 

 alluvial deltas have preserved and enlarged the mouths 

 of our principal rivers, and works of only a simple cha. 

 racter are demanded along the winding valleys and 

 among the hills of our inland counties. The upland 

 valleys have a natural fall : they require no windmills 

 or steam scoop-wheels to bale out their drain-water ; 

 and if the proportion of ground damaged be in some 

 cases but a narrow strip alongside the stream, the ex- 

 cavation or embanking needful for relief is commonly 

 only such as the district is well able to pay for. In 

 some cases, an old water-mill may be bought and de- 

 molished, or a decayed navigation be reasonably com- 

 pounded with; or a string of water-mills be supplied 

 with steam-engines and compensation for having to use 

 coal instead of water ; or a bridge may be re-built with 

 a wider span and a deeper water-way ; or a bending 

 river straightened by a cut ; or an embankment may 

 make at once a barrier against inundation, and hold up 

 a reservoir for increased mill-power or judicious irriga- 

 tion. The cases and variations in cases will be of 

 endless diversity, but still one principle may embrace 

 them all ; and we say that for cheapness and certainty, 

 for facility and satisfaction, there is no means of 

 bringing about the improvement of the vast number of 

 tracts needing arterial drainage, but the passing of a 

 general Act of Parliament for the purpose. 



Now, I do not forget that we are a Saxon nation (with 

 a pretty large mixture of other blood) ; that we must 

 manage our own local affairs without interference of 

 other folks; that we dislike any approach to Gallic cen- 

 tralization and the handing over of personal and district 

 rights and privileges to a class of Government-paid 

 officials and hungry job-hunting professional men. 

 Therefore I hope no one will ever be found to advocate 



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