MANAGEMENT OF IRRIGATED MEADOWS. 175 



and adds a large amount of the most valuable elements of 

 fertility to it. Thus the meadows need no manuring ex- 

 cepting at rare intervals, to restore the exhaustive drafts 

 upon the soil made by the enormous crops that are grown 

 in this manner. 80 tons of green grass, equal to 20 tons of 

 hay per acre, have been produced annually upon irrigated 

 meadows in England, for more than a century; and no 

 manure, more than that brought down in the water, has ev- 

 er been applied to the land. This process of irrigation may 

 be used in both summer and winter, where the climate per- 

 mits of it. All through the southern states, and the lower 

 middle states, winter irrigation will not only feed the grass, 

 but protect it; and the water may be kept on the land but 

 always in motion during the greater part of the winter, or 

 from December to March, with benefit to the grass. Where 

 the winters are cold enough to form ice, and the water can 

 be raised to a sufficient height, it may be permitted to flow 

 under the covering of ice; thus avoiding the injuries which 

 result from alternate freezing and thawing during the cold 

 season. 



In the spring, when cold nights follow warm days, and 

 frost occurs, the water is let on to the grass as a protection 

 to it, lest the tender, succulent, growth produced by the wa- 

 tering may be injured. When the weather is dry, it is ad- 

 visable to flow the water over the grass every night, and so 

 keep the growth unchecked even in the hottest and dryest 

 weather. 



Meadows of this kind are not suitable for pasturing, but 

 are kept only for hay, or for cutting for soiling cattle on the 

 green fodder. 



Where the supply of water is insufficient for full irriga- 

 tion, it may be gathered into reservoirs during six days of 

 the week, and the whole used on the seventh day. Or the 

 land may be divided into sections, and the water which has 

 been turned on to one may be let on to the next one the 

 next day, and so on, until it has been all absorbed. Where 

 springs only can be thus utilized, and the supply of water is 

 small, a reservoir maybe constructed to gather the water; and 



