24 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 1 



■ low-water many miles. In riding along, I per- 

 >ceivex1 that any piece of wood, or accidental im- 

 ' pediment to the. coiir.-:e of the sand, raised a iiill: 

 'it immediately occurred to me, that by making a 

 'hedge at tlie weak and low places, with wings to 

 • catch the sand as the wind blew it in diH'erent di- 

 rections, I should obtain the desired effect. I 

 therefore directed stakes, nine feet long, to be cut 

 and drove one foot and a half into the sand, at 

 two feet and a half distance from each other; be- 

 twixt which I had flirzi- interwoven, so as to form 

 a regular furze hedw, seven feet aiid a half hiiih. 

 Of this, since last June, T have done eleven hun- 

 dred and thirty-seven y"ards; and in October last, 

 when I was there, a great deal of the hedije was 

 vcovered: and since that time, I am informed by 

 letter, that a great deal more of it is so, and that 

 the neighboring inhabitants draw great comfort to 

 themselves, li-om the security my furze embank- 

 ment gives them, as its present appearance plain- 

 ly evinces, that, at a tnfling expense, I can secure 

 Lord Ashburnham's estate from beins inundated; 

 for whenever the first hedge is not hitrh enough 

 to prevent the sea overflowing, another may be 

 built upon the sand formed by that hedge, and so 

 on in succession, till it is perfectly safe." 



Even when a regular embankment is required 

 against the sea, it is proper, a year or more before 

 it is erected, to fix fascines of brushwood down in 

 the clay, by strong palisades, in the line in which 

 the bank is meant to be rai-^ed. By this line, the 

 mud and vegetables, which would otherwise be 

 washed away, are arrested, and a most valuable 

 addition made to the soil. 



In raising regular embankments to exclude the 

 sea from low tracts of ground, it is necessary to 

 distinguish between those cases in which the 

 water only overflows during spring-tides, and 

 those in which the land is covered every tide. In 

 the one, the operation is easy; but in the other, 

 attended with considerable difRcul')'. 



When the land is only overflowed during 

 spring-tides, there is time in the intervals, eithe'r 

 to complete the embankment required, or to finish 

 it in such a manner, that the flowing of the tide 

 can do it no injury. But if the sea ebbs and 

 flows every tide upon the land which is to be re- 

 claimed, only small pieces of the work can be ex- 

 ecuted at a time, and the force of the water, at the 

 flowing of each tide, is apt to destroy all that has 

 been previously performed. 



In either case, when only a part of the embank- 

 ment can be executed before the return of the 

 flood, it is proper that what is done should be 

 done in a finished manner. Thus, supposing a 

 length of thirty or forty feet, or yards, can be 

 completed in one tide, it is better to raise it to its 

 intended height, and to face the elopes well with 

 turf, than to commence a greater extent of bank, 

 and leave it in an unfinished state, exposed to the 

 violence of the waves, it may be fiirther remark- 

 ed, that in low-flooded lands of the kind under no- 

 tice, there are always several hollows or water- 

 runs, formed by the regress of the tide; and where 

 the embankment has to be executed in diff"erent 

 portions, it may be proper to build in the first 

 place, across the spaces between these water- 

 runs, so that the sea, having its usual channels of 

 evacuation left open, will have the less tendency 

 to injure the work. The spaces, thus left unem- 

 banked, may be filled up during the intervals be- 

 tween spring-tides. 



All the inconveniences, however^ which arise 

 from the interruption given by the sea to the pro- 

 iiress of buildincf embankments, may be eflecmal- 

 ly avoided bv the following plan, df^vised and ex- 

 plained by Mr. J. Loudon, tiie insrenious author, 

 compiler, and editor of many usef il books: — 



"Let trianixular trusses of wof)d be prepared 

 and placed at low water, snrroundino- a part of the 

 foundation of the proposed embaid<mcnt; the hy- 

 pothenuse or sloping side of the trusses fronting 

 the side all round, which side is next to be cover- 

 ed with boards, say about five feet broad, twenty 

 long, composed of deals neatly joined; and one 

 board is placed upriijht to prevent the spray from 

 coming over; or, the trusses being placed and 

 fixed upright by cross rafters, the whole may be 

 laid over wiih single deals, without being closely 

 joined, and then covered with oiled canvas or 

 pitched sailcloth, neatly fistened on, and cement- 

 ed at the joininiTs with a composition made of tar 

 and clay; and this will be a more economical 

 mode. 



"The barrier being thus constructed and placed, 

 it is evident, that as the tide flows, the water will 

 surround it; and the hiirher it rises on it, provided 

 it does not rise higher than fifieen or sixteen feet 

 (about the general height of spring-tides), it vpill 

 only press it down the more, and render it firmer 

 than it would be, if only half of it were covered 

 with water. 



"If the embankment is to be made of clay or 

 earth, or the same materials upon which it is 

 founded, a space must, be inclosed of sufficient 

 width to allow these to be dug out from the land 

 side of the bank; or if it is to be wholly built of 

 stone, or any distant material, these may be laid 

 down beside, or upon, the spot to be built on, be- 

 fore it is surrounded by the barrier. 



"When the length of the wall contained within 

 one of these enclosures is finished, the barrier 

 must be moved alono", so as to take in another 

 space, which must be built upon as before. The 

 barrier must then be again taken down and re- 

 placed, &c.; and so on, until the whole line of em- 

 bankment is finished. 



"The original expense of this barrier may be 

 from £100 to £400, and it may be moved and 

 replaced for twenty or thirty shillings each time; 

 and as the wood of which it is made will general- 

 ly be of considerable value after the bank is fin- 

 ished, the total expense of this barrier will not be 

 so great as at first sifjht may be imagined. 



"By means of this barrier, it is evident, that 

 embankments may be made as far out as the sea 

 retires; and even beyond that, buildings of any 

 kind may be constructed within it, with ease and 

 safety. The only additional expense, when the 

 barrier was placed among water, would be that of 

 pumping it out, which could easily be accomplish- 

 ed by a wind-mill, or any other such simple con- 

 trivance." 



In some instances, where the sea overflows the 

 piece of land to be reclaimed, to a great depth, a 

 diflerent mode of operation from any that has 

 been described, has been adopted. The line of 

 embankment being marked out by poles, quanti- 

 ties of stone and clay mixed, are conveyed in flat- 

 bottomed boats or punts, and thrown overboard, 

 until a bank is accumulated. This mode, it is be- 

 lieved, is common in Holland. 



The materials of a proper bank, and the mode 



