WAS 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



WAT 



793 



the drought beyond the reach of the dews. Waste land of 

 this kind, several feet deep, is said to be made capable of 

 carrying natural Clover, and other fine grasses, in some cases 

 by no other means than removing the wetness, smoothing 

 the surface, and giving a good covering of ditch-scourings, 

 and the mud scrapings of the sides of the roads. In some 

 cases, this sort of waste resting upon fine clayey or strong 

 loamy bottoms, they are floated away, in case a stream suffi- 

 ciently strong can be procured, that the rich soil underneath 

 may be brought into cultivation. In other cases, the mossy 

 material is not floated down by a stream of water, but only 

 improved upon the surface; which is done by cutting a 

 large canal or passage on that side the waste next the fall, 

 which is intended to convey the water from the field or land. 

 Smaller ditches are then cast, which form the field or land 

 into ridges, which are made of more or less breadth as the 

 waste may happen to be more or less solid, but all termi- 

 nating in the great cut or passage. The land of the field is 

 next turned over by digging it; and where Potatoes are to 

 be the first crop, they are planted in the lazy-bed mode 

 across the ridges: but in case the first crop is to be grain, 

 the earth or soil of the ridges is turned over the lengthways 

 of them, or in the direction of the smaller cuts or openings. 

 Some suppose that this kind of waste land is best adapted 

 to raising- grass ; and that, for that purpose, it should be 

 improved more than for growing of corn. Clover will srrow 

 in it, if it be sufficiently dry, and Rye-grass still better, being 

 less delicate. But the sort of grass which suits it best is the 

 Meadow Soft Grass, which grows closely, quickly, keeps 

 the ground well, and is equally fit for hay and pasture. In 

 Lancashire, where extensive improvements of this sort of 

 wastes have lately been effected, and where vast tracts still 

 remain to be improved, in the southern districts, they are first 

 divided into suitable fields or portions by large open ditches, 

 so cut and formed as to be prevented from being forced in by 

 the pressure of the water. They have then smaller covered 

 drains formed in proper directions, for taking off more of the 

 superfluous moisture; the distances of the drains are regu- 

 lated by the nature of the waste, and the quantity of moisture. 

 Afterwards the surface is levelled, and brought into order, by 

 taking off the coarse, hilly, uneven part, and putting them 

 into large heaps to be consumed in a slow smothering manner, 

 spreading the reduced materials evenly out over the whole, 

 adding a good full covering of clay, marl, or fine limestone 

 gravel, some of which are mostly "found under the lands. 

 When they have remained for some time in this situation, 

 they are broken up by a proper plough, contrived and pre- 

 pared for the purpose, by having the irons in a perfectly sharp 

 condition, and by the coulter being so fixed as to operate with- 

 out resistance. The horses employed as the team in the first 

 breaking up, and sometimes afterwards, are under the neces- 

 sity of having pattens put upon their hind feet, as this saves 

 the labour of men, except in particular instances of very soft 

 lands. The great objects as first crops, are Oats, Turnips, 

 Potatoes, and a few others. By these means, this kind 

 of waste is soon got into a profitable state. The tracts 

 of waste in the middle districts are improved by paring 

 and burning, the application of marl and lime, and the 

 breaking up for Oats. In the northern parts of the same 

 county, after a number of large open cuts have been made 

 for taking away the stagnant water, they begin by cutting 

 drains in the land, at nine feet distance from each other, two 

 feet wide, and three deep, below which a deep opening is 

 formed by a long-pointed spade, and left open, while the, 

 whole space above is covered and filled. When the surface 

 is levelled where necessary, and the land wholly ploughed 



over by beginning on the sides of the drains, and laying the 

 furrow-slices well over them, it is well harrowed lengthways of 

 the ridges. Afterwards, when it is practicable, in winter, sand 

 or clay is applied during frost in three or four thousand single 

 horse cart loads per acre, and spread evenly over the surface, 

 to remain till the beginning of spring, when it is well har- 

 rowed in, and the land ploughed and sown with Oats. In. 

 the next spring, Potatoes are set, in drills four feet apart, 

 using a little littery dung, and they are kept well earthed up; 

 and when removed, are succeeded by Wheat and Rye upon 

 one ploughing. In the winter afterwards the stubbles are 

 ploughed down, and in the ensuing spring a compost of some 

 kind of heavy material is laid on with lime, and the land sown 

 with Barley, which affords good crops. In different parts of 

 the northern districts of the kingdom, immense tracts of 

 wastes of this kind almost everywhere occur. In the county 

 of Argyle, for instance, they are said to abound in every 

 parish, and, though capable of cultivation and improvement, 

 are wholly useless, and of little or no value. They are of dif- 

 ferent depths, as from two or three to eight or ten feet, and 

 differ in size, so that some of them are to be estimated not 

 by the number of acres, but of square miles. They have 

 also in some cases every advantage of situation for manure 

 and markets, vast quantities of limestone being near on one 

 side, and of sand and sea-ware on the other. It is evident, 

 from what has already been effected, that this sort of waste, 

 though of no utility in its usual state, may often be turned 

 to very great account by judicious cultivation: and it has 

 been patriotically suggested, that by rendering the extensive 

 boggy wastes of England, Scotland, and Ireland, fertile and 

 productive, a very great addition would accrue to the real 

 wealth of the nation, and to the means of subsisting its 

 growing population. 



Water is properly distinguished into many different kinds, 

 according to its qualities : as fresh water, that which is per- 

 fectly insipid, without any saline or peculiar taste or smell, 

 being the fluid in its purest and most natural state, when 

 best suited to every domestic purpose. Hard water, is that 

 wherein soap will not uniformly dissolve and diffuse itself, 

 but appears in a curdled form : this shews that the dissolving 

 power of the fluid is lessened ; hence it is not so fit for 

 washing, bleaching, dyeing, watering plants and trees, or 

 for culinary purposes. The hardness, as it is called, generally 

 proceeds from gas, or the presence of saline matter : in the 

 latter case it may generally be discovered and removed by 

 the addition of small quantities of a solution of fixed alkali ; 

 boiling will evaporate the gas, which is also sometimes re- 

 moved by exposing the water for a considerable time in the 

 open air. River water is soft; but spring water is hard, and 

 remarkable for keeping long without corrupting. Putrid 

 water, is exceedingly pernicious, and unfit for any purpose; 

 but may be in a great measure restored by having a current 

 of fresh air passed through it from the bottom to the top : 

 but water of this kind will only serve for manure, and is in 

 some cases very useful. Rain water, may be considered as 

 a pure sort of distilled water, but becomes impregnated 

 during its passage through the air with a considerable quan- 

 tity of putrescent matter, whence arises its great superiority 

 over any other in fertilizing the earth or soil, as well as in 

 promoting the growth of trees and plants. From this quality, 

 however, arises its inferiority for domestic use, when com- 

 pared with the spring or river kind, even where it can be 

 readily procured ; but more especially where it is collected 

 from spouts, tanks, and other contrivances : though on ac- 

 count of its softness it answers some purposes well, after it 

 has been purified by standing. River water, is next in purity 



