36 



F A R M E R S' R E G I S T 10 R. 



[No. 1 



miffht be preserved and improved by this means, 

 would amount to many thousand acres. 



PART III. 



ON THE EniliAKK JtlOKT OF LAKES. 



Ail lakes are suliject to temporary, and some- 

 times to extraonhnary, swells, occasioned by great 

 falls of rain and snow descendiny from the moun- 

 tains that surround them; consequently, ihey often 

 spread beyond their usual limits, overfiowiuij; and 

 injuring the contiguous grounds. The damage 

 they do in these cases is not attended w^ith such 

 devastation as the overflovvinii of rivers, whose 

 current carries every thing before it, for as the 

 water of lakes subsides gradually, it acts with less 

 violence, and commits less injury. The conse- 

 quences, however, are always so hurtful, as to 

 raake it an object of considerable importance to 

 prevent or lessen them, by confining the water 

 within proper limits. 



Lakes that are surrounded with mountains, 

 BUch as those in the northern parts of Scotland and 

 of England, are known io have increased consid- 

 erably in height; but in the same time their depth 

 has diminished. This is occasioned by the rapid 

 Ftrearas li'om the hlls thai run into them, brinirintr 

 down sand, gravel, and other loose matter, which 

 being deposited in the bottom of the lake, raises its 

 bed, and tends also to choke the outlet, and to re- 

 tard the dischariie. This has also the liad effect 

 of raising the channel, and obstructing the current 

 of such streams as flow 7/7/0 ihem throuiih level 

 ground, and causing these streams likewise to 

 overflow the land adjoining. This is the case 

 with many large lakes, tiiat have stretched be- 

 yond their original bounds, particularly that ol 

 Loch Lomond, where a small island called Cam- 

 ptradden, which existed in the time of Camden, 

 is now covered with water to the depth of two 

 or three fathoms. At the upper end of the same 

 lake, there is at present a large extent of flood- 

 ed meadow, that formerly must have been a part 

 of the lake, of no inconsiderable depih. 



As lakes subside greatly in the summer season, 

 and swpII much in winter, or after heavy fails of 

 rain and snow, it would be desirable to confine 

 them to their lowest limits; and to cat ofT' such 

 creeks and bays where the water is seldom of 

 great depth, and where an acquisition of pasture 

 or meadow ground might be sained. In some 

 lakes, indeed, the extent" of surfiice overflown in 

 winter, so much exceeds what the water covers in 

 summer, that it would be a very desirable object 

 to confine such lakes to their smallest extent. 

 The first thing, then, to be attempted is to enlarge 

 the outlet, that the water may at all times have 

 a free and easy disrharire. It would be advi- 

 pable to deepen this, if the level admits ; but 

 jri all cases, it will be proper to widen and en- 

 large it, as much as the expanse of the lake, and 

 the body of water it contains, niav require. If 

 rock, this may be difflrult and expensive; but may 

 be compensated by the advantages to be acquired, 

 and the certainty of its always remaining open 

 and entire. ^ 



The form and construction of the embankment 

 that is to surround the lake, may be similar to that 

 |or the sides of rivers, as already described; but as 

 llie water, in the former case, presses more directly 



upon th" bank, the slope next it should be greater 

 on that account. The exact deffree ol" sln|)e will 

 depend upon the stillncf^s, or airitrition, which the 

 waters of the lake are known to exhibit. In those 

 sub)ect to high waves, li'om thcirextent, situation, 

 and exposure to winds, the slope will require to be 

 hi.'ice as much as that which is necessary lor river 

 etnbankments, where the water presses only in a 

 lateral direction , and where the current glides 

 gently. 'I'he embankment should not be cotifin- 

 ed to the vero-e of the lake only, but should extend 

 alons the sides, both of the stream that flows into 

 it, and that by which it is discharged, as fiar as the 

 level requires: or must be carried Io the higher 

 "jroiind on both sides, above reach of the flood, as 

 shown bv the dotted lines marked hank in the 

 plan. There must bealiack trench or drain to in- 

 tercept the land-water, and discharge it at the 

 lowest point; and al^o one, under the hijjh ground, 

 for the same purpose, as represented iii the an- 

 nexed Plate, No. IV. 



It may he proper to observe, that where a lake 

 is ettcompnssed on all?sides by the lands of one 

 proprietor, iie may perform such operations upon 

 it as he thinks expedient; but, if the adjacent lands 

 are the property of several individuals, and they 

 have also a mutual share of the lake, every opera- 

 tion on it must be regulated b}' an attention to 

 their respective interests. Or, if the lake is situa- 

 ted at the head of the river or brook, it may be 

 considered the source of the stream, and no alter- 

 ation can be made upon it, which may in any de- 

 cree prove injurious to the proprietors below. It 

 may, however, be remarked, that it is only by 

 such alterations upon the area of the lake, by 

 which an undue portion of water may be taken 

 from, or thrown upon an opposite proprietor, or the 

 general supply of the stream diminished, that a 

 lesjal cause of complaint can arise; lor it is the right 

 of ever}' proprietor to defend and improve his own 

 land, provided it is tiot done with the e\ ident in- 

 tention of injuriui; his neiehbors. 



PART IV. 



ox THE CO?.'STRLCTIO?«- OF WEARS ARD I3A1WS 

 ACROSS RIVERS, FOR THE LSE OF JVIILLS ; 

 AKD ON THE FOKMATIOK OF RAM.S OR 

 HEADS, FOR ARTIFICIAL 1 OJNDS AKli PIE- 

 CES OF WATEK, &C. 



This is a branch of the subject v.'nich requires 

 considerable attention; for there is no species of em- 

 bankment or fiance, upon which more money is 

 expended, or where more litilures take place. 

 Dams or wears across rivers, ibr the purpose of 

 raising the wati r to such a level tlial it may be 

 conveyed in a lead for the use of mills, &c.' are 

 of^en expensively executed tit first; and, Ibr want 

 of being properly constructed, are in constant need 

 of repair, tind are sometimes sv.ept av\ay allo- 

 o'eiher in time of floods. It has hitherto been 

 the custom to erect them in a straight or oblique 

 line across the stream, and to construct the dike in 

 a triangular form, wide at t lie base, aid (rmiiig 

 gradually narrower towards the top, where it ends 

 in a point, as represented by Fig I. in Plate No. 

 V. A dike of this form and structure naist be 

 very insufficient, and liable to be disarranged and 

 thrown down by the force of running water press- 

 ing upon and iidling over if. The upper stones 



