n6 THE LANDED INTEREST. 



carries with it. Summer floods are injurious, 

 but they are rare, and if once in twenty years 

 they injure or even carry off the hay, there is 

 some compensation in the heavy crops of after- 

 math that follow. If the natural beds of the rivers 

 were kept free from obstruction, there would be 

 far more benefit than injury from floods. 



But in earlier times, before steam-power was 

 known, water-power was found a valuable aid 

 for both mills and navigation. Weirs and dams 

 were then constructed, and water-rights have 

 grown up which greatly hamper arterial drain- 

 age. Towns on the river-banks, though gene- 

 rally built above flood-mark, are injured by 

 long-continued floods ; and their interests, as 

 well as those of the land, are concerned in 

 removing all artificial obstructions. There is no 

 longer any necessity for these, as steam-power 

 can everywhere be substituted for water-mills, 

 and the tedious delays of barges be superseded 

 by the quicker and more certain conveyance by 

 railways. The barge navigation was attended 

 by one benefit, as, in order to maintain adequate 

 depth of water, it was necessary to keep the bed 



