Cultivation of Graft Land. -Watered Meadows Floating Gutters, &amp;lt;v. 43^ 



And it is too frequently the cafe that the trenches and drains are fo injudicioufiy 

 made as to take off the water without the poflibility of uiing it a fecond time ; and 

 there are other inftances of its being conveyed into Hopes without any care of its 

 future courfe, thereby producing great inequalities in its confequent effects. Thefc 

 points fhould, therefore, be constantly attended to, and avoided as much as poffible. 



When the piece of ground to be Moated is fo much upon the level that the de- 

 fcent cannot eafily be determined by the eye, it will be neceflary to take an ac 

 curate level, and compare the higheft part with the ftreani intended to be ufed, by 

 which the degree of fall from the furface of the water to the higheft point of the land 

 will be afcertained : and in order to convey the water to this point, mould it be 

 diftant from the dream, the fides of the ditch or canal fliould be fufficiently raifed 

 for the purpofe not to keep the water in a dead level, but with fuch degree of de- 

 fcent as the two points will admit of. In the operation of cutting this canal or 

 main feeder, it will be eafy to preferve the proper degree of fall, having previoufly 

 afcertained the length; for inftance, in cutting fifty yards with a fall of five inches, 

 it will be obvious that in every ten yards a defcent of one inch mould take place : 

 this is necefTary to keep the water in a conflant lively motion. In fome cafes it 

 may be neceffary to have two main feeders, in order to effect a more equal diftribu- 

 tion of the water; the depth and width of which feeders muft be regulated by the 

 fupply requifite for the fmaller gutters. Near to the mouth of the canal or feeder it 

 will be proper to have a flood-hatch or flow, by which the water may be admitted 

 or excluded at pleafure. 



In forming the floating gutters, it is perhaps the beft method to cut them at 

 right angles to the feeders ; however, where the furface is uneven, in order to pre 

 ferve a regular defcent, a different direction muft be given to them, the diftancc 

 from each other being about ten yards, and the gutters becoming, as has been ob- 

 ferved, gradually narrower as they recede from the main canal or feeder. The ob 

 ject in view being to throw the water as evenly over the furface as podible, thefc 

 gutters mould be fo conftructed that the water which has been introduced may 

 overflow their little banks rather than run rapidly along the bed. Ohftructions 

 may fometimes occur, fuch as low parts, or deep ditches, over which a pipe or fpoun 

 may eafily be made to continue the progrefs of the water; and fuch as proceed from 

 ridges, roads, or fmall eminences, by trunks, or other contrivances made to convey 

 the water underneath them. 



The neceffary preparation for the introduction and fpreading of the water being 

 made, it will be proper to form drains to receive and carry off the water in nearly 



