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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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95 



part of the kingdom where the system of watering meadows 

 is so well understood, and carried to so great perfection, as 

 in Wiltshire, the account of that practice, as delivered by 

 Mr. Thomas Davis, in his general View of the Agriculture of 

 that country, drawn up for the Board of Agriculture, is here 

 subjoined. Many of the most valuable and best-formed 

 meadows were made at the beginning of this century. An 

 imperfect scheme of watering had been practised before that 

 period; but the regular mode in which this system, as con- 

 nected with sheepfolding, is now conducted, is not more 

 ancient. At present there is scarcely a river or brook in the 

 district, that is not applied to this purpose. It has been 

 always observed, that winter floods produce fertility, pro- 

 vided the water does not remain too long on the land. But 

 it is the taking off the water, and bringing it on again at will, 

 that is the great business of irrigation; and thus making a 

 water meadow a hot-bed for grass. The knowledge of the 

 proper time and manner of doing this, is the result of obser- 

 vation. Provided this great object can be accomplished, 

 namely, the bringing on and carrying off the water at plea- 

 sure, it is not material what the shape of a water-meadow 

 is, or that the disposition of the trenches should be uniform. 

 But as very little land can be entirely commanded by water, 

 unless its inequalities are reduced by manual labour, it has 

 been found expedient to adopt two different kinds of water- 

 meadows; one for land lying on declivities, and which must 

 in general be watered from springs or small brooks, and the 

 othe/ for low lands near rivers, to be watered from those 

 rivers. The first kind is called in Wiltshire Catch-work 

 Meadows, and the latter Flowing Meadows, which are by 

 for the most general in this district. To elucidate the dis- 

 tinction between the two kinds of meadow, and to give some 

 idea what are the situations in which they may be intro- 

 duced, it may be necessary to remark that the Catch-work 

 meadow is made by turning a spring or small stream along 

 the side of a hill, and thereby watering the land between the 

 New Cut, or, as it is provincially termed, Main Carriage, and 

 the original water-course, which now becomes the main drain. 

 This is sometimes done, in particular instances, merely by 

 making the New Cut level, and stopping it at the end, so that 

 when it is full, the water may run out at the side, and flood 

 the land below. But as the water would soon cease to run 

 out equally for any great length, and would wash the land 

 out in gutters, it has been found necessary to cut small paral- 

 lel trenches or carriages, at distances of twenty or thirty feet, 

 to catch the water again: and each of these being likewise 

 stopt at its end, lets the water over its side, and distributes 

 it until it is caught by the next, and so on over all the inter- 

 mediate beds, to the main drain at the bottom of the mea- 

 dow, which receives the water, and carries it on to water 

 another meadow below, or, if it can be so contrived, another 

 part of the same meadow on a lower level. To draw the 

 water out of these parallel trenches or carriages, and lay the 

 intermediate beds dry, a narrow deep drain crosses them at 

 right angles, at about every nine or ten poles length, and 

 leads them from the main carriage at top, to the main drain 

 at the bottom of the meadow. When this meadow is to be 

 watered, the ends of the carriages adjoining the cross-drains 

 are stopt with turf dug on the spot, and the water is thrown 

 over as much of the meadow as it will cover well at a time, 

 which the watermen call a pitch of work; and when it is 

 necessary to lay this pitch dry, they take out the turves, and 

 let the water into drains, and proceed to water another 

 pitch. This kind of water-meadow is seldom expensive: the 

 stream of water being usually small and manageable, few 

 hatches are necessary; and the land lying on a declivity, 

 VOL. ii. 74. 



much less manual labour is required to throw the water over 

 it regularly, and particularly to get it off again, than it the 

 flowing meadows. The expense of making such a meadow 

 is usually from three to five pounds per acre; the improve- 

 ment frequently from fifteen shillings an acre to at least forty . 

 The annual expense of keeping up the works, and watering 

 the meadow, which is usually done by the acre, seldom 

 amounts to seven and sixpence per acre. The Flowing 

 Meadows require much more labour and system in their 

 formation. The land applicable to this purpose being fre- 

 quently a flat morass, the first object to be considered is 

 how water is to be got off when it is brought on ; and in 

 such situations this can seldom be done, without throwing 

 up the land in high ridges, with deep drains between them. 

 A main carriage being then taken out of the river at a higher 

 level, so as to command the tops of these ridges, the water 

 is carried by small trenches or carriages along the top of 

 each ridge, and by means of moveable stops of earth is 

 thrown over on each side, and received in the drains below, 

 from whence it is connected into a main drain, and carried 

 on to water other meadows, or lower parts of the same mea- 

 dow. One tier of these ridges being usually watered at once, 

 is commonly called a pitch of work. The ridges are com- 

 monly made thirty or forty feet wide, or, if water be abun- 

 dant, perhaps sixty feet, and nine or ten poles in length, or 

 longer, according to the strength and plenty of the water. 

 It is obvious from this description, that as the water in this 

 kind of meadow, is not used again and again in one pitch, as 

 in the catch-meadows, that this meadow is only applicable to 

 large streams, or to valleys subject to floods; and as these 

 ridges must be formed by manual labour, the expense of this 

 kind of meadow must necessarily exceed the more simple 

 method first described : and the hatches that are necessary 

 to manage and temper the water on rivers, must be much 

 more expensive than those on small brooks. The expense 

 therefore of the first making of such a meadow as this, will 

 be from twelve pounds to twenty pounds per acre, according 

 to the difficulty of the ground, and the quantity of hatch- 

 work required: but the improvement in the value of the land 

 by this operation is astonishing. The abstract value of a 

 good meadow of this kind may fairly be called three pounds 

 per acre; but its value when taken as part of a farm, and 

 particularly of a sheep-breeding farm, is almost beyond com- 

 putation: and when such a meadow is once made, it may be. 

 said to be made for ever, the whole expense of keeping up 

 the works, and watering it frequently, not exceeding five 

 shillings per acre yearly, and the expense of the hatches, if 

 well done at first, being a mere trifle for a number of years 

 afterwards. It has been alleged by those who know very 

 little of water-meadows, that they render the country unwhole- 

 some, by making the water stagnant. Daily observation 

 proves the fact to be otherwise in Wiltshire ; and the reason 

 is obvious. It has been already said that a water-meadow 

 is a hot-bed for grass; the action of the water on the land 

 excites a fermentation; that fermentation would certainly in 

 time end in a putrefaction; but the moment putrefaction 

 begins, vegetation ends. Every farmer knows the commence- 

 ment of this putrefaction, by the scum the water leaves on 

 the land; and if the water is not then instantly taken off, the 

 grass will rot, and the meadow be spoiled for the season. 

 The very principle of water-meadows will not permit water 

 to be stagnant in a water-meadow country ; it must be always 

 kept in action, to be of any service; besides, many of the best 

 water-meadows were, in their original state, a stagnant 

 unwholesome morass. The draining such land, and making 

 it so firm, that the water may be taken off at will, must con- 

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