664 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



a wall to preserve the land from being washecl away by tlie sea, and 

 belonged fairly to the subject under the description of lands nov/ 

 being discussed. The difficulty experienced in building this class of 

 wall arose from various causes : there were great risks of its being 

 blown up, and the expense altogether was so gi'eat that it was only in 

 exceptional cases the method could be resorted to. 



Another kind of banking was by the sides of rivers where the 

 waves were not very destructive, but where it was quite essential to 

 have a most careful construction to prevent the flood from over- 

 flowing the side lands. At the entrances to large rivers it was some- 

 times necessary, although there was no exposure to the sea, to have 

 careful stoning, because the work was frequently tested by heavy 

 seas. In the river Crouch, in Essex, they took great pains to stone 

 the facings, because the stream, though not wide, was deep. The sea 

 washed the banks there in a i)eculiar way, coming from the German 

 ocean with a sort of cutting side-wave, that probably had a more 

 wearing effect upon the face of the stone than if it came directly upon 

 it. A railway on the Humber was made in the same way. The 

 stones were placed in the line of the stroke of the sea to break the 

 blow, and to save the direct face of the stone from concussion. This 

 had answered remarkably well. 



The value of earth walls depended entirely upon the locality. 

 Mr. Shellabear mentioned that sand had been found to be the best 

 substance. He (Mr. Grantham), however, did not agree with this, 

 believing that the working of such a material was attended with great 

 difficulty. Of course, much depended upon the mode in which the 

 faces of the banks were made. A good sodding, in some cases, might 

 be made from the marram mentioned ; and if it could be got to grow 

 in time to save the bank from injmy, no doubt it was one of the best 

 protectors it was possible to get. 



He had been called upon to prepare plans for fencing off some 

 accumulated land in the Humber. The land (an island) had accumu- 

 lated from the sea ; and a wall was built round, which it was proj)osed 

 to extend further. The sort of sod that had been referred to seemed 

 to be the best adapted for the purpose, and he had no doubt they 

 would be able to place it at a very small slope. A wall had been in 

 construction for some years on the principle of pitching it with stones. 

 In the first place, for the purposes of temporary protection, faggots 

 were used with great advantage. Groins were also employed, and 

 they acted well in protecting the foundations from wear and tear. The 

 Morecambe Bay Railway might be instanced as a case where a good 

 deal of land was recovered by banks of facing stone and also of 

 groins. He had himself at the present time superintendence of a 

 bank at Fleetwood which had been successful to a certain extent. 



Several circumstances of a secondary character operated in the 

 erection of walls, which, if not properly attended to as minor matters, 

 gave vast trouble and expense. Particularly might be mentioned 

 sluices and culverts for drainage. Sluices were seldom put in at 

 sufficient depth ; and often the capacity of the drains was not properly 

 regulated. It frequently happened that the sluices were cheaply 



