84 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



Fig. I 



on entirely different causes. When low mead- 

 ows are inundated in Winter and Spring, it is 

 the muddiness of the water which enriches the 

 land : a fine layer of extremely divided matter 

 • is deposited, and, when the water subsides, this 

 acts as a coat of manure. 



Water may be carried in small channels 

 through meadows without being allowed to 

 overflow^ ; and in this case the effect is similar 

 to that caused by rivers or brooks, which wind 

 slowly through valleys, and produce a rich ver- 

 dure along their course. This is vv-afering, but 

 not properly iirigating. When this is done ju- 

 diciously, the effect is very nearly the same aa 

 when the land is irrigated ; and in hot climates 

 it may be preferable, by giving a constant sup- 

 ply of moisture to the roots, while the plants are 

 grovsing. The great advantage of water-mead 

 ows in England is not so much the superior 

 quantity of grass or hay which is obtained when 

 (192) 



they are mown, as the earlj' feed in Spring, 

 when all kinds of nutritive fodder are scarce ; 

 when the turnips are consumed before the natu- 

 ral grass or the rj-e so'wn for that pui-pose is fit 

 to be fed off, the water-meadows afford abund- 

 ant pasture to ewes and lambs, which by this 

 means are brought to an early market. The 

 Farmer who has water-meadows can put his 

 ewes earlier to the ram, ■without fear of wanting 

 food for tham and their lambs in March, which 

 is the most trying season of the year for those 

 who have sheep. At that time an acre of good 

 gi'ass may be worth as much for a month as a 

 later crop would for the remainder of the year. 

 When it is intended to form a water-meadbw 

 on a surface which is nearly level, or where a 

 fall o< only two or three feet can be obtained in 

 a considerable length, the whole of the land 

 must be laid iu beds about 20 or .30 feet wide — 

 tlie middle or crown of these beds being on a 



