•^38 



F A R M E R S' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



opposite side; such a step would not only be im- 

 prudent, but [iiiihly reprebensible. 



In ordinary cases, opposite proprietors have one 

 and the same interest; and. by amicable and judi- 

 cious arrano,'emenls, a conside.'-able portion of" the 

 damatijee committed by the floods may be reme- 

 died at a triflinij expense. How incumbent, then, 

 is it upon the manatjers of estates to examine, from 

 time to lime, the state ol" the river banks, and, by 

 afipropriate means, to preserve them in due condi- 

 tion, and especially to be watchful of those which 

 separate properties. 



Enihanklnp; hmigh and other lamh, to prevent them 

 from being inundated by land-floods, or the tide. 



HaviniTj shown the necessity of straightening 

 water courses, and the best method of protecting 

 their banks, we now come to the third branch of 

 the subject, which is ihe embanking of haugh and 

 other buids, to prevent tiiem from being inundated 

 by land-floods, or the tide. 



Ahhouo'h this branch ofcouritry business is bet- 

 ter understood than either of the former, yet con- 

 siderable mistakes are olten committed iu the exe- 

 cution. Tliey sometimes occur from the engineer 

 not being able to discover the highest water-mark, 

 but obliged to depend on the veracity of people 

 who, although they mia'ht be brought up on the 

 spot, never [laid any particular attention to Ihe rise 

 and fill of the flaoil or tide, whereby a sure calcu- 

 lation could be made for the height of the proposed 

 bank, even though it should be made considera- 

 bly higher than the water-mark pointed out.* 

 Another mistake is in not giving the bard\ a suffi- 

 cient base, but, by way of saving expense, the 

 slopes are carried up nearly perpendicular, so that, 

 ,in a ihvf years, it fails down, and the re|)aration 

 iCosts more than it would have done had a proper 

 plan been adopted at the first formation.! Al- 

 though the theory of embanking low <;round& is 

 simple in itself, there are particulars of inquiry ne- 

 cessary to be made belbre such an operation can 

 be properly commenced; such as its situation, size, 

 materials, and form of construction, which are, in 

 a great measure, given in the particular circum- 

 stances of every case: there are, nevertheless, gen- 

 eral principles that are applicable in all cases. 



The situation of the bank should be such, that 

 its base may not be exposed unnecessarily to the 



♦ A case of this kind happened to the author in the 

 year 1S23, in the neighborhood of Edinburgh. The 

 embankment was made considerably hio;her than the 

 water-mark shown by the proprietor and his gardener, 

 but they havini;^ mistaken the flood-mark, the first 

 land-flood carried away a considerable part, to the 

 great damage of the crop, which the proprietor was 

 obliged to makp good to the tenant. 



t An embankment of this description was thrown 

 round t!ie small island Mogdrum, in the river Tay, to 

 protect the land from being overflowed by the tide; but 

 it was made so steep, that the first spring tides level- 

 led the greater part of it to the ground. A second at- 

 tempt was made, with the additional expense of a stone 

 wall facing the water, which shared the same fate with 

 the former bank. Since these /H/wres, a third em- 

 bankment has been erected with nothing but the nat- 

 ural soil of the land, and the whole covered with thin 

 turf. The length of the present slope next the sea is 

 five times the perpendicular height of the bank, and 

 the inner slope three times; the water, meeting no re- 

 sistance, rolls up and down the lonig slope without do- 

 ing any injury. 



immediate action of the waves or the current, fn 

 embanking rivers that run through a flat country, 

 as the water is mostly sluggish, the embankment 

 in such situations ought to be carried up in one 

 slope, from the level of the surface of the lowest 

 water in the river to such a height as may belbund 

 necessary tor the protection of the land; and should 

 the river be too much contracted, so as not to con- 

 tain the water in time of floods, it ou<rht to be en- 

 larged, and the stuff taken out in forming it, or in 

 cutting off any obtuse anizle, (ibr it is always ne- 

 cessary to make the side of a river as smooth and 

 regular as possible,) to be applied in forming the 

 banks ; but in situations where a river runs throusrh 

 a hilly country, whose sub-soil is, (or the greater 

 part, lira vel, and the current of the water rapid, 

 (as the Tay and Earn,) the embankment should 

 not only be placed at a distance from the water 

 edge, to admit of a cart to pass between the bank 

 and the river, for repairing the sides of the river 

 banks, but the small promontories the windings of 

 the river have made should be left without the em- 

 bankment; f(ir should the embankment be placed 

 so near as to confine the water too much, and pro- 

 per attention not have been paid to the protection 

 of the river banks, a single flood might undermine 

 the emoankment in a niijht's time, and thereby 

 ruin the whole crop that was meant to be saved. 

 The line of embankment should he smooth and 

 free from acute angles, so as to occasion the least 

 possible resistance to the current, whether of a land 

 flood or the fide. 



In the construction or form of the bank, there 

 are certain principles to be observed. Its height 

 and strenirth ou<rht ever to be proportioned to the 

 depth and weight of water which it will have to 

 sustain. 



The height of an embankment on the side of a 

 river, or in any place where the water is not expo- 

 sed to the action of the wind, outrht to be at least 

 ei<xhteen inches above the highest known land 

 flood; but, by the sea, the height depends on sever- 

 al circumstances, for not only the highest spring 

 tides must be taken into consideration, but the rise 

 of the waves by the action of the wind must be 

 calculated, for if' the height is not sufficient to pre- 

 vent the spray fi^om gomg over the to|), the whole 

 bank will be in danger of being washed down. 



It is on the width of the bottom or base of the 

 embankment that the strength, firnmess, and du- 

 rability of the bank principally depend. The slope 

 ouslit to be made to a degree of flatness, for the 

 twof()ld purpose oi" preventing resistance and ta- 

 king qff'dl'i the weight of water. 



In difficult cases, the length of slope from the 

 centre of the bank, on the side next the river or 

 sea, ou<rht to be five times its perpendicular height, 

 and the inner slope fi^om two to three times the 

 perpeniiicular height, .as represented in figure 7, A 

 B C, or according to the force to be guarded 

 against, and the materials to be employed. But in 

 less difficult cases, such as on the sides of small 

 rivers, where the current of the water is sluggish, 

 and it does not rise more than lour or five feet high, 

 the length of the slope next the water may be 

 three times the perpendicular height of the bank, 

 and on the side next the land, twice its height will 

 be sufficient, as shown by figure D E F. 



In makingembankments of this kind, the whole 

 of their slopes next the river or sea should be cov- 

 ered with thin turf; but if the formation be done 



