MEADOWS. 115 



in walls, and permitting them to rise to the level 

 of their own source. It is evident, however, that 

 if these be not higher than that of the meadow, the 

 experiment will fail.* 



The second object, viz., the multiplication and 

 continuance of good plants, will be ensured by scat- 

 tering in the fall or spring, or both, after the har- 

 row or scarificator, the seeds of useful grasses,! 

 particularly upon places rendered raw or bare by 

 the harrow or the hoe ; by covering the meadows 

 in the fall with straw, dung, lime, or marl ; and in 

 the spring, with plaster of Paris or ashes ; by fold- 

 ing or parking sheep or horned cattle during the 

 summer, and while the ground is hard, on places re- 

 quiring manure ; by foddering on such places during 

 the winter ; and, lastly, by irrigation. This last and 

 most efficient method of bettering the condition of 

 meadows is sometimes characterized by the dura- 

 tion of its means, and sometimes by the mode of 

 applying them. In the first case, it is called tem- 

 porary or permanent, as the stream it employs may 

 be the one or the other. In the second case, it is 

 denominated filtration or submersion, according to 

 the effect produced. If, for instance, the surface 

 be only wetted by running water, it is called filtra- 

 tion ; but if entirely covered with water, in a state 

 of rest, it is called submersion. These different 

 modes have some principles common to both, and 

 some peculiar to each. The common principles 

 are, 



1st. Such command of water as will cover the 

 largest surface with the least labour and expense. 



3d. Muddy water (the effect of loosened soil and 

 heavy rains) is most favourable to vegetation, be- 



* See Anderson's Essays on Agriculture, vol. i., p. 119, &c. 



t In selecting these grasses, care should be taken to employ 

 those most resembling the spontaneous growth of the field, or, 

 in other *vords, those which flower and seed at the same time 

 with this spontaneous growth. 



