472 On the Theory and Practice of Water- Meadows. 



for a fortnight ; after a few days there is a good bite of grass, and 

 the ewes are let in once more. Sometimes on good land, and in 

 good seasons, a third crop even of feed is grown before the land 

 is laid up for hay, which is generally done on the 1st of May; 

 in six weeks from that time, by the middle of June, the hay is 

 ready to cut. Afterwards the meadow is '^damped," that is, wa- 

 tered for about three days. A longer watering is improper in 

 warm weather, as it leaves a white scum on the land, the dried 

 remains of the same loose green vegetable matter (a conferva)^ 

 which is often seen in stagnant ditches. 



Such being the cheapness and such the advantages of the level 

 catch-meadow in Devonshire, it becomes an important question 

 whether the system would answer generally in the south of Eng- 

 land. A question it is certainly, for the marked difference of 

 climate forbids us to form a peremptory conclusion. 



It is well knov/n now, that the western sides of both England and 

 Ireland are more favourable to grass than the eastern sides ; the 

 western breezes being loaded with vapour which, whether retained 

 in its invisible form or condensed as rain, is most propitious to 

 vegetation. The air too is warmer in winter, and^ the sky being 

 more clouded, the sun less scorching in summer. On a naked 

 field it is as difficult to check the natural grasses in Devonshire 

 as to bring a turf, if wanted, in Berkshire. Severe frosts too are 

 much less frequent in Devonshire, as well in winter as spring, at 

 which latter period they destroy grass which has. been forced 

 forwards, unless its roots be well covered with running water. 

 Two years since, however, I determined to try the experiment in 

 Berkshire, and secured the assistance of an experienced " gut- 

 terer " (as the makers of water-meadows are called in Devon- 

 shire), Mr, Ley, of Newton St. Cyr, near Exeter, who with his 

 son had laid out the meadows instanced above for their exceed- 

 ingly low gradients — a matter of the nicest skill in agricultural 

 engineering. His son formed for me sixty acres, at a contract 

 price of 4/. per acre, to which price must be added 30^. an acre 

 for bringing water from the streams, and for trunks and sluices. 

 Much of this land is flat, and there is also a great scarcity of 

 water. Catchwork, it should be remarked, has the further ad- 

 vantage, that it works not only with little /a//, but with little 

 water ^ as upon fields almost level the water with so slight a fall 

 flows very slowly. The water is also spread very thinly. Mr. 

 Ley says that, if a catch-meadow be laid out well, you ought to 

 be able to walk across it, while the water is on, without wetting your 

 feet. This perhaps is a figure of speech, but it illustrates the point. 

 The meadows were completed early in 1848 ; but appeared, except- 

 ing one small field, to be a total failure. The crop was not earlier 

 than in other years. Mr. J. Ley accounted for the deficiency by 



