478 On the Theory and Practice of Water-Meadows » 



endeavouring: to carry it further, the following points should, I 

 think, be attended to : — 



1. The increased use of folding for sheep. 



2. The conveyance of the stream through farmyards, as the 



simplest method of preventing the waste of manure. 



3. The rapid application of the water as the sheep-pens are 



shifted, for preventing the waste of manure deposited 

 on the land. 



4. The increased use of the water for maintaining vegetation 



during the droughts of summer. 



5. The use of the water for diffusing chemical manures on 



the land watered. 



6. The cultivation of Italian rye-grass, which grows three 



times as rapidly as the common meadow grasses under 

 the influence of irrigation. 



7. It being necessary, where the stream is scanty, to form a 



reservoir, the ornamental sheets of parks may be used 

 for the purpose, by placing, as I have done, an addi- 

 tional but removable board on the sluice-gate, so as to 

 raise the pond occasionally a few inches above its level 

 — a considerable rise for the purpose, if the sheet of 

 water be at all extensive. 

 There is nothing more that I need now add. I will not pre- 

 tend to teach how catch-meadows are to be made. Since the 

 natural irregularities of the ground, which an unpractised eye 

 would overlook, are to be used for distributing the water, the 

 work must be left to a professional manager, as in Devonshire. 

 Even among " gutterers" there is great difference of skill ; thus 

 it is said of Mr. Ley, that his eye is better than many another 

 man's level. I have proved what I set out by promisins:, that 

 money expended on catch-meadows may pay 30 or even 50 per 

 cent. ; and as the work is done by contract, there can be no error 

 as to its cost. In any branch of manufacture, to prove this fact 

 would be to ensure its immediate accomplishment. If such a 

 profit were likely to arise from cutting through the Isthmus of 

 Suez or Panama the canals would be dug at once. Much more 

 persuasion I know is needed in stimulating landlords to the im- 

 provement of even English estates. I will only say that it is 

 mainly these catch-meadows which enable me to keep a flock of 

 550 ewes, and winter their lambs also, on nearly the same farm 

 upon which my predecessor kept 1 70 ewes with their lambs. There 

 is one test, however, often applied by farmers, when a person 

 adopts and recommends some improvement in farming. They 

 ask the question, — Has he gone on with it? This is a very good 

 test, for there are many disappointments in new systems of farm- 

 ing. I may therefore be allowed to mention, that having last 



