Book III. 



IMPLEMENTS OF IRRIGATION. 



657 



4064. The spades made use of in this sort 

 of work {fig. 524 a), should have the stems 

 considerably more crooked than those of 

 iu\y other sort ; the bit being of iron, about 

 a foot wide in the middle, terminating in a 

 point ; a thick ridge running perpendicu- 

 larly down the middle, from tlie stem almost 

 to the point ; the edges on both sides should 

 be drawn very thin, and as they are obliged 

 to be kept very sharp, they should be often 

 ground and whetted. This necessarily wears 

 them away, and they soon become narrow ; 

 they are then used for the narrow trenches 

 and drains, whilst new ones are used for the wider. From the stems being made 

 crooked, the workmen, standing in the working position in the bottom of the trench 

 or drain, are enabled to make them quite smooth and even. Shovels of different forms 

 (^fig. 523 a, b)f and a scoop for lifting water (c), are also 

 requisite. 



4065. The crescent (Jig. 524 b) is another tool made 

 like the gardener's edging iron, only much larger, having 

 the form of a crescent, being very thin, and 

 well steeled, with a stem about three feet 

 long, and a cross handle to bear upon. It 

 is used for tracing out the sides of the 

 mains, trenches, drains, &c. 



4066. The turf knife (^fig. 526.) has a 

 scymiter-like blade, with a tread for the foot 

 (a.) and a bent handle (J) ; it is used for 

 the same purpose as the crescent, and by 

 some preferred. 



4067. Wheelbarrows also become necessary to remove the clods to flat places; 

 which may be open, without sides or hinder parts. 



4068. Handbarrows are likewise sometimes made use of where the ground is too 

 soft to admit of the wheelbarrows, and where clods require to be removed during the 

 time the meadow is in water. 



4069. Three-wheel carts, ^c. are, however, necessary, when large quantities of earth 

 are to be removed, particularly when it is carried to some distance. 



4070. Scythes, of different sorts, {fi^. 527 a, b), are required to mow the weeds and 

 grass, when the water is running in the trenches, drains, &c. 



4071. Besides these, forks (c), and long four or five tined hacks, are requisite to pull 



527 



4) 



out the roots of the sedge, rushes, reed, &c. which grow in the large mains and drains. 

 The crooks should be made light, and have long stems, to reach wherever the water is so 

 deep that the workmen cannot work in it. 



4072. And stout large water-proof boots, having tops so as to draw up half the length 

 of the thigh, are indispensable ; they must be large enough to admit a quantity of hay 

 to be stuffed down all round the legs, and be kept well tallowed, to resist the running 

 water for a length of time. 



4073. The terms made use of are very diflPerent. 



4074. A ware is an erection across a river, brook, rivulet, main, &c. made often of 

 timber only, sometimes of bricks, or stones and timber, with from two to eight, or ten 

 thoroughs (openings) to let the water through, according to the breadth of the stream. 

 Its height is always equal to the depth of the stream compared with the adjacent land. 

 Its use is, when the hatches are all in their proper places, to stop the whole current, that 

 the water may rise high enough to overflow the banks, and spread over the adjoining 



Uu 



