S2 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 1 



prudent plan is to endetivor to break the strength 

 of the (all, or to shieKl the ground Irom its vio- 

 lence. For the Ibraier purpose, the back part o( 

 the pierniay be made with a sheivinir orflaily in- 

 clininir surlhce; lor the latter, a stroncr convex floor 

 paved with stone, may be made bejund the pier, 

 to receive the fi^ilo^the water. Of the efficacy 

 of this last raeihod, Mr. Marshall gives a ptroiio; 

 example.* "Some tea or twelve years ago," he 

 eays, "fmdiug that ihe foundation of a seu-wall, 

 (or strong slone-lacnig airamst a wide open 

 estuary), over which a large body of water, 

 in times of floods, (alls six or eitjht leet perpen- 

 dicular, was constanily under rejiau', though eve- 

 ry known expedient had been used to counter- 

 act tlie efl'ect, i directed a convex floor nearly in 

 ihe i'orm of a shield, to belaid with strong roufjli 

 stones, edge way, its maririns beintr secured with 

 the largest stones, as hutments to the arch; the 

 broad end of the shield buls asainst the founda- 

 tion of the wall, and receives the water on its 

 siongest part, the point (jeutly declining to lead 

 otf the water smoothly into the sea. It still re- 

 mains perlijcily fi"m; perhaps, indeed, firmer than 

 when it was first put down." This is a case, 

 where, its beiiiij; a protection fi-om the sea, it re- 

 quired more particular strength, and consequently 

 would be more expensive, than what is necessary 

 in the case of rivers. 



The expedient of juttees, which has been al-. 

 reatly explained, is certainly preferable to any 

 other mode of defending the banks of a rapid 

 river, both in point of ease and efficacy, and de- 

 serves to be mon? generally adopted than it is. A 

 strong instance of iis superiority occurred in the 

 case of the river Nith, lijrmerl}' mentioned. Af- 

 ter the piles which Mr. Miller raised had failed, he 

 resorted to the use of juttees, and found them to 

 succeed completely. Those which he has erected 

 have a convexical siojie on the side next the cur- 

 rent, in order to diminish the pressure of ihe wa- 

 ter, and strong planks are also firmly set on edge 

 among the slones, their ends pointed towards the 

 river; so that to commit the smallest injury; the 

 stream must move the whole body of stones on 

 the line of each plank. 



Where a river flows slowly, and its banks are 

 of a soft earthy nature, the mode of resistinur en- 

 croachments should be ditiereni from, and will be 

 less expensive than, any which has yet been men- 

 tioned. Let a large quantity of the smallest 

 branches of trees, of broom, whins, brambles, or 

 such-like brush-wood, be placed in the river, near 

 the side where it threa'ens to encroach. If the 

 river runs slow, they require merely to be thrown 

 in; but, il' its current is considerable, they must 

 be stuck into the bottom, and fastened with stakes 

 driven through them into the sides of the bank. 

 This heap of rubbish intercepts the slime and mud 

 of the river, which quickly accumulates towards 

 the bank, and becomes a most effectual defence 

 against any further encroachment in that quarter. 



Such are the principal methods that have been 

 successfully employed for protecting and securing 

 the banks of rivers in Scotland, and whu-h the 

 writer has had an opportunity of observini2. There 

 may be other expedients; but these being of less ef- 

 ficacy, and only temporary in their duration, it is 

 unnecessary either to describe, orrecommend them 

 to practice. 



* On Landed Property. 



SECTION II. 



On the emhanhncnt of low ground nn the side of 

 rivers, to prevent inundation. 



In those wide and extensive regions that lie 

 under a warm climate, the rivers are generrdly/»e- 

 riodical in their inundations, from the rains falling 

 only at certain periods of the vear; and the regu- 

 larity of tile floods is greater, in proportion as the 

 rivers are exteu.-'ive in their course. Thus the 

 Nile, ihe Niger, the Pegu, the Ganges, the Eu- 

 phrates, and the Plata, are distinguished for their 

 regular and annual floods. 



In these cases, an inundation, instead of spread- 

 ino -uin in its protrress, is the souice of extraordi- 

 nary benefit. Tlie mud and slime which it de- 

 posits, form a regular supply of the richest ma- 

 nure. The soil is raised to tlie highest degree cf 

 ftirlility; and beiiiL'' constantly recruited, can never 

 be exhausted. The inhabiiants, too, being al- 

 ways aware of the precise time at which the in- 

 undation will take place, have it in th(ur power to 

 provide against its doing injury, and to prepare 

 the ground for receiving the nutriment with which 

 the water is stored. 



But in countries like Britain, which are narrow 

 in extent, overspread with mountains, and expo- 

 sed to a variable and humid climate, the rivers are 

 short in their progress, and liable to be suddenly 

 swollen. A flood, then, invariably commits wide 

 and severe ravaues. Sometimes it entirely strips 

 the land of its vegetable soil; at others, covers it 

 with a thick lied of sand and gravel. Not unfie- 

 quently the water loses its usual course, and cuts 

 a new channel through rich and cidtivated fields; 

 and the most disastrous scene of all, is lo behold 

 valuable crops, and sometimes iierds of cattle, 

 swept off' by the flood, thus graphically described 

 by the poet of 'The Seasons:' — 



"Wide o'er the brim, with man}' a torrent swell'd. 

 And the mixed ruin of its lianks o'erspread. 

 At last the rous\l-up river pours alonj^; 

 Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes. 

 From tiie rude mountain, and the mossy wild. 

 Tumbling through rocks abrupt, and sounding far; 

 Then o'er tlie sanded valley floating spreads, 

 Calm, sluggi-^h, silent."* 



The flat haughs (as they are called in Scotland), 

 or low ground, lying on the sides of rivers, and 

 particularly near their entrance into the sea, are, 

 for the most part, composed of the richest and 

 most fertilized particles of earth, brought down by 

 the stream fi-om the adjacent country, through 

 which it flows. These, fi-om their situation, are 

 often exposed to devastation, by their banks be- 

 ing encroached upon, and carried away in time of 

 floods, whereby a portion of valuable soil is lost, 

 and a bank of sand or gravel lodged on the oppo- 

 site side, in its stead. But, besides the gradual 

 injury which the adjoining land sustains (which 



* In a highly embellished book, published by Sir 

 Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart, an interesting, faithful, 

 and picturesque account is given of the great floods 

 occasioned by the overflowing of the river Spey, and 

 others, in the counties of Moiay, Nairn. Banff, &,c. in 

 1829, which, in their melancholy consequences, con- 

 firm the justness of the above poetical quotation, the 

 author being well acquainted with the different locali- 

 ties which Sir Thomas so forcibly describes. 



