WATER MEADOWS. 



83 



prove a considerable portion of land : its waters 

 may be collected and allowed to accumulate in 

 a pond or reservoir, and let out occasionally, so 

 that none be lost or run to w.^ste. If there is 

 but a small quantity, it must be husbanded and 

 made to flow over as great a surface as possible. 

 If there is water onlj- at particular seasons of 

 the year, and at a rime when it would not be of 

 much use to tlie land, it may be kept in ponds, 

 and it wll lose none of its qualities by being 

 exposed to the air. If animal or vegetable mat- 

 ter, in a partial state of decomposition, is added 

 to this water, it ^vill much improve its quality, 

 and. by a judicious distribution of it over the 

 land, a great benefit may be obtained. 



If there is not a want of water, there may be 

 a want of decli^ty to enable it to flow off, which, 

 it should always be remembered, is an essential 

 part of irrigation. Art may in this case assist 

 Nature by forming a pa.ssage for the -svater, 

 either in its course towards the land to be irri- 

 gated, or from it after it has effected its purpose. 

 Where there is no natural exit, and it might 

 lead to too great an expense to make an artifi- 

 cial one, the water may sometimes be led into 

 shallow ponds, where a great part is evaporated ; 

 or porous strata may be found by boring, into 

 which it can be made to run and be dispersed. 

 Along rivers, where tlie fall is very impercepti- 

 ble, a chaimel, brought from a considerable dis- 



tance, may give such a command as to throw 

 the water over a great extent of surface : and, 

 to carry it off, anotlier channel maj- be cut. emp- 

 tying itself at some distance below : so that 

 lands which lie along the banks of a river may 

 be irrigated, although they are actually below 

 the level of the river, and require banks to pro- 

 tect them from inimdation. 



When tlie surface to be irrigated is verj- flat 

 and nearly level, it is necessarj- to form artificial 

 slopes for the ^vater to run over. The whole of 

 die ground is laid in broad beds, imdulaunar like 

 the waves of tlie .sea. The upper part of these 

 beds is quite level from end to end, and here 

 the channel or float which brings the water on 

 is cnt. From the edge of this channel the sround 

 is made te slope a foot or two on both sides, and 

 a ditch is cut at tlie bottom parallel to the float. 

 The whole of the ground is laid out in these 

 beds. All the floats are supplied by a main 

 channel at right angles to the beds, and some- 

 what above them ; and all the ditches or drains 

 run into a main ditch, parallel to the main float, 

 and belo\v the lowest drain. The course of the 

 water is verj- regular. As soon as the flood- 

 gates are opened, it flows into all the upper 

 channels, which it fills till they overflow in their 

 vi'hole length. The sloping sides are covered 

 with a thin sheet of running ^vate^, which the 

 lower drains collect and carry into tlie main ditch. 



WATER MEADOWS. 



HOW MADE AND MANAGED. 



E.XPERIESCE has shown that there are particu- 

 lar seasons when the water has the best effect ; 

 a pertect command of it is therefore indispensa- 

 ble, and also a regular supply. During fro.st. 

 when ail dry meadows are in a state of torpor, 

 and the vegetation is suspended, the water- 

 meadows, having a cuirent of water continually 

 flowing over them, are protected from the effect 

 of frost, and the grass will continue to grow as 

 Ions as tlie water flows over it. Too much 

 moisture, hoNvever, would be injurious, and the 

 meadows are therefore laid dry by shutting the 

 flood-gates, whenever the temperature of tlie 

 air is above freezing. By this management tlie 

 grass grows rapidly at the fir.st sign of Spring. 

 Before the dry upland meadows have recovered 

 the eSects of frost and begun to vegetate, the 

 herbage of tlie \vater-meado\vs is already luxu- 

 riant As soon as tliey are fed off. or out for the 

 first crop of hay, the water is immediately put 

 on again, but for a shorter time ; for the warmer 

 tlie air. the less time will the grass bear to be 

 covered vvith ^vater. A renewed growth soon 

 appears, and the trrass is ready to be cut a .sec- 

 ond time when the dry meadows only give their 

 first crop. Thu.«, by judicious management 

 throe or four crops of grass are obtained in each 

 season, or only one abundant crop is made into 

 hay. and the sheep and cattle feed off the others. 

 The usual way in which the grass of waier- 

 meadows is made profitable is by feeding ewes 

 which have early lambs till the middle of April. 

 A short flooding soon reproduces a crop, which 

 (191) 



is mown for hay in June : another flooding gives 

 an abimdant aftermatli, which is eitlier mown 

 for hay, or fed off by cows, bullocks, and horses ; 

 for at this time tlie sheep, if pastured in water- 

 meadows, are very subject to the rot. The va- 

 lue of good water-meadows could scarcely be 

 believed by those who are not familiar with 

 them. Where the water is suited to irrigation, 

 they never require manuring. The fertility is 

 kept up continually, and the only attention re- 

 quired is to weed out coarse aquatic plants, 

 which are neither nutritious nor wholesome in 

 hay or pasture. 



The best soil for a w-ater-meadow is a good 

 gravel. The finest water-meadows on the Avon 

 in Wiltshire, \\here the richest herbasre is found, 

 have scarcely any soil at all, but are on a bed of 

 shingle and pebbles, matted together by the 

 roots of the grass, which proves to demonstra- 

 tion that the waters of the Avon contain all the 

 principles essential to rapid vegetati>-.n. Great 

 attention is required, and some experience, to 

 irrigate meadows so as to give the greatest 

 profit 



In hot weather, when we should imacine that 

 the land must be thirsty, and that too much wa- 

 ter cannot be poured over it much mischief may 

 be done by injudicious flooding. In \Vinter, on 

 tlie contrary, the land may be covered with wa- 

 ter for \veeks without injury ; and, if an earthy 

 deposit takes place, the subsequent fertility is 

 greatly increased. But tliis is not properly irri- 

 gation : it is inundation, and tlie effects depend 



