260 IRRIGATION. 



against, but from which it glides gently. In forming the 

 protecting banks, it is best to place them at such a distance 

 from the bed of the river, as to leave a solid fore-shore. 

 No angles or bends should be made, but the lines should 

 either be straight, or in easy curves. The materials should 

 be such as will bind firmly together ; a mixture of clay 

 and sand being the best. Combinations of masonry and 

 earth- work should never be used, as no proper bond or 

 union can be formed between them. 



The surfaces of the banks should be covered with 

 grass as quickly as possible, and no trees should be plant- 

 ed upon artificial embankments. If water passes beneath 

 an embankment, a trench should be sunk, and filled with 

 clay puddle. When one side of a river is protected, the 

 other side is greatly endangered, unless equally guarded, 

 and the protecting works should therefore be made upon 

 each side. 



Where the formation of a new cut is not possible, as 

 upon banks in tidal rivers, or in streams only one bank of 

 which is owned, or in estuaries, the method of staking or 

 piling, should be adopted. This consists in driving piles 

 or stakes, in double or single rows, across the tract to be 

 reclaimed; or in dividing it into sections by cross lines of 

 stakes or piles with brush interwoven, or by making de- 

 posits of stone along the lines of stakes. By these 

 methods the current is retarded, eddies are formed, and 

 the water is rendered stagnant ; in either case, any 

 suspended matter is dropped within the lines of the ob- 

 structions. As the surface rises, additional stakes are 

 driven and more brush is placed between them, and 

 weighted down with stones, until the level is raised 

 sufficiently to warrant the exclusion of the water by more 

 solid structures. Euns or water-ways, by which the re- 

 ceding water escapes, whether it be the tidal flow or the 

 water of rivers, are to be filled by running lines of stakes 

 across them, and filling between them with brush or 



