40 



FAR iNJ E K 8 ' R E G I S T K R. 



[No. 1 



profitable relurns, than can be obtained from those 

 goiis that have been ionsr under cultivation. No 

 object in nature can a|)[)ear more unpropifious, 

 than an undrained, uninclosed, waste tract ol 

 ground, overrun vviih heath, rushes, and other 

 useless plants, producinir the most stinted her- 

 baire, and wivinij an appearance of sterihty, even 

 to the cultivated parts that may adjoin or surround 

 it. NotwithstaniiiniT these uniiivorable appear- 

 ances, however, such laud is, in a irrealer or lesser 

 dei^ree, accordini^ to situation and climate, capable 

 of improvement; and, rohen improved, rewards the 

 cultivator in a tenfold deirree. 



The next thino; to be considered, after a hoir, 

 moss, or other kind of marshy ground, has been 

 completely drained, is, the means most easily ac- 

 complished, and best adapted lor iis further im- 

 provement. 



If such trround is overrun with rushes and other 

 coarse aquatics ( which is almost alvvavs the case), 

 nothing will tend more to the_^r.sf pari of its im- 

 provement, than nver-siockin^ it w.th cattle, so 

 soon as it acquires a sufficient derrree of solidity to 

 bear tiiem with safety. But care must be taken 

 not to put them on it till it be sufficiently firm; 

 otherwise the surtiice will be poached, and the 

 coarse herbage not closely eaten down. Bv this 

 means, the streii(i!:th of the rank <Tra?ses will be 

 nearly exhaustetl, and the roots will decay lor 

 want of their accustomed moisture. The tramp- 

 Wng and pressure of the cattle will also help to 

 consolidate the surface. By this first process 

 alone, a wonderful chanire soon takes place; all 

 the aquatics soon decline, and give way to better 

 grasses, which spring up in abundance. 



Lime or marl, spread on the surface, will great- 

 ly increase the growth of while clover, and other 

 kinds of fine natural herbage, after the rushes and 

 coarse plants have been closely cut, and eaten 

 down by the cattle.* The first thing, however, 

 to be done, whether the field is to remain in the 

 natural state of pasture, or to be cultivated by til- 

 lage, is to level the surface; the natural irregulari- 

 ty of which is, in most cases, an obstruction that 

 ■ought first to be removed. The earth that com- 

 poses the highest parts should be removed, and 

 mixed into a compound with lime, to be used 

 either as a manure for a crop, or spread on the 

 surface as a top-dressing for grass. Earth of infe- 

 rior quality may be substituted for fillinsr up the 

 deepest hollows. Where the nature and situation 

 answers, no improvement is so cheap, so sure, or 

 so profitable, as converting a certain class of bogs 

 into water-meadow. t 



If it lies along the side of a river or stream, of 

 which, by means of proper dams, trenches and 



* The best time to cut rushes, &c. is when the 

 shoots are weak, and before the seed comes to maturi- 

 ty. If left till the seed is ripe, it is shaken out, and, 

 falling^ on the ground, multiplies their j^rowth. They 

 should he frequently cut before this season, which will 

 soon extirpate them. 



t It must be understood, that the surface of the bog 

 has been properly levelled, well rolled, and a good 

 sward of grass on it, before the operation of floating 

 can be attempted. It is a fact well ascertained, that 

 in Merionethshire there is land that was formerly not 

 worth 6d. per acre; but being now drained and flooded, 

 besides affording excellent pasture till the 1st of June, 

 produces two tons of good hay, cut in the beginning 

 of August. — Agricultural Report of Merionethshire. 



sluices, a command cat^ be obtained; and if the 

 process of irriijaiion is managed with skill and at- 

 tention, it never fiuls to produce luxuriant crops of 

 grass. Tliis crop is in every respect best adapted 

 to the nature of such ground, being less affected 

 by the inclemency of a cold or moist climate, and 

 iriving a more sure return, without the labor and 

 expense of annual culture, than any crop of grain 

 that might be produced. As a proof of this, the 

 water-meadows on the estate of OdsU)ne-Hall, in 

 Leicestershire (already alluded to), trom being 

 mere boifs, before tliey were drained by Mr. El- 

 kington, now produce as abundant crops of grass 

 as anv ot' the kind in that part of the kingdom. 

 As a further instance of the good effects produced 

 by watering this kind of land, Mr. Boswell, in his 

 treatise on that subject, says: — "Lands that are 

 very boffffy, require more and longer watering 

 than any sandy or aravelly soil. The larger the 

 body of water that can be brought upon them the 

 better: its weiirht and strentrth will greatly assist 

 in comjKPssinfj the soil, and destroying the roots of 

 the weeds that grow upon it; neither can the 

 water be kept too Innir upon it, particularly in the 

 winter season, immediately alter the after-meai\ 

 is eaten; and the closer it is fed the better. This 

 species of soil, alier beinir toell drained and water- 

 ed, will equal the wishes of the most sanguine, by 

 its improvement." 



No general svstem of irrigation can be properly 

 laid down, applicable to every particular case, far- 

 ther than some general directions, that hold good 

 in every situation: but, in other parts of the pro- 

 cess, different modes must be adopted, according 

 as the situation and form of surface require In 

 those where the command of a river or stream 

 can be obtained, the general rule is, to collect a 

 sufficient quantity of water, nearly on a level, in a 

 main carrier, which can, by means of sluices, con- 

 structed at projier places in the sides of it, be let 

 out into flouting trenches, cut along the surface of 

 the field, or sitles of the declivity, one below an- 

 other. These floating trenches will collect thf, 

 water from above, after passing over the spaces of 

 ground betwixt each, and distribute it equally over 

 the surface of each space lying between them, al- 

 ternately. Proper attention must be paid, at the 

 proper seasons, to open and close the sluices, in 

 regular rotation, so as to flood diflerent portions of 

 the land successively; and the floating gutters 

 should frequently be cleaned and scoured out, to 

 prevent their choking up, and to destroy the 

 srowth of rushes, or other grass that may grow 

 up in them. From the ver^ absorbent quality of 

 the peat, the water would require to have a more 

 rapid motion on bogs, than on soils less porous or 

 spongy. The saving of manure is another cir- 

 cumstance in favor of water-meadows, as the ap- 

 plication of it would appear to be of no material 

 consequence, being very seldom used by some of 

 the best flooders in England.* Still, however, 



f Or latter-math, as it is commonly called; that is, 

 the pasture or after-grass, when the hay has been cut. 



* The late celebrated Bakewell, who was a great 

 advocate for watering, used no manure on his water- 

 meadows. It was a favorite idea of his, that water 

 made to float over the greatest bog or swamp, without 

 being drained, would not only have the effect of produ- 

 cing a finer herbage on it, but that the pressure of 

 water artificially brought upon it, would force back 

 that with which it was already overcharged, into the 



