THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



197 



tinny, and the remainder, to the Earls ofHadding- 

 ton and Moray, and other proprietors. The mea- 

 dows belonging to these noblemen, and part ol 

 the Craiginiinny meadows, or what is called the 

 old meadows, containing about filly acres, have 

 been irrigated for nearly a century. They are by 

 far the most valuable, on account of tlie long ami 

 continual accumulation of the rich sediment Iclt 

 by the water J indeed (he water is so very rich, 

 that the tenants of the meadows lying nearest the 

 town have found it advisable to carry the common 

 sewer water through deep ponds, into which the 

 water deposits part of the superfluous manure be- 

 fore it runs over the ground. Although the Ibr- 

 mation of these meadows is irregular, and the 

 management very imperlect, the effects of the 

 water are astonishing ; ihey produce crops ol'grass 

 not to be equalled, being cut from (bur to six times 

 a year, and the grass given green to milch cows. 



The grass is let every year by public sale, in 

 small patches of a quarter of an acre and upwards, 

 and generally brings from 2-il. to 301. per acre per 

 annum. In 1826, pan of the Earl of Moray's 

 meadow fetched 571. per acre per annum. 



About forty acres of theCraigintinny lands were 

 formed into catch-work water meadow before ihe 

 year 1800, which comprises what is called Fillie- 

 side Bank old meadows, and is generally let at 

 from 201. to 301. per acre per annum. In the 

 spring of 1821, thirty acres of waste land, called 

 the Freegate Whins, and ten acres of poor sandy 

 soil, were levelled and formed into irrigated mea- 

 dow, at an expense of 1000^ The pasture of the 

 Freegate Whins was let, previously to this im- 

 provement, for 401. per annum, and the ten acres 

 for 60/. They now bring from 15/. to 20/. per acre 

 per annum, but may be much improved by judi- 

 ciously laying out 200/. more in better levelling 

 that part next the sea, and carrying a larger sup- 

 ply of water to it, which might be easily done 

 without prejudice to the other meadows. 



This, perhaps, is one of the most beneficial agri- 

 cultural improvements ever undertaken ; for the 

 whole of the Freegate Whins is composed of no- 

 thing but sand, deposited from lime to time by the 

 action of the waves of the sea. Never was 1000/, 

 more happily spent in agriculture ; it not only re- 

 quired a common sewer to bring about this great 

 change, but a resolution in the proprietor to launch 

 out his capital on an experiment upon a soil 

 of such a nature. 



Since the making of the Freegate Whins into 

 water meadows, Mr, Miller has levelled and 

 formed Ibrty acres more of his arable land into 

 irrigated meadow, worth, before the foimation, 

 9/, per acre per annum. It will only require a few 

 years belbre these meadows will be as productive 

 as the former ; lor it is evident that the longer 

 water is suflered to run over the surface of grass 

 land the greater quantity of lertiliziug substance 

 will be collected ; therelbre, as the wafer is so 

 very superior in quality to all other water, a speedy 

 return for the capital laid out may be expected. 

 The expense of keeping these meadows in repair 

 is ftom 10s. to 15j, per acre per annum, which is 

 more than double the expense of keeping water 

 meadows in repair in general. 



It by no means, however, Ibllows, as a necessary 

 result of any contemplated improvement in irriga- 

 tion, that the water should previously undergo a 

 chemical examination. There are many other 



modes by which the farmer can form a pretty cor- 

 rect conclusion as to the fertilizing properties of 

 the water he proposes to employ. 



The surest proofs, says Mr. JKxter, of the good 

 quality of water (and the observations of this gen- 

 tleman v.'ill be readily confirmed by the irrigators 

 ul the souilitiiii counties,) as a manure, are the 

 verdure of ihe margin of its streams, and the 

 growth of strong cresses in the stream itself; and 

 wherever these appearances are found, though the 

 water be perfectly transparent, the occupier of the 

 soil through which it ffows may depend, in gene- 

 ral, of having a treasure, if he is attentive to it ; 

 but ihai this is not invariably the case, and that 

 there are instances where a good water will not 

 improve the herbage of certain soils, is proved by 

 the Ibllowing account (and there are several other 

 cases with vvliich I am acquainted) of the mea- 

 dows of Mr, Orchard, of Stoke Abbey, Devon, 

 These two meadows are situated on the side of a 

 hill, their aspect nearly south — the superstratum 

 a fine rich loam, from eight to ten inches deep, 

 on a substratum of strong 5ellow clay. No diffe- 

 rence whatever can be seen by the naked eye, 

 in either the upper mould or the substratum, or 

 in the herbage growing on the surface of them ; 

 except that, in the lower part of one, a few rushes 

 appear, in consequence of some small springs 

 which rise near them, but the water from them is 

 not sufficient to render any part of the land poachy. 

 At the head of the two meadows is a large pond, 

 formed by the collecting of some small runs of 

 spring water rising near it, and which is also im- 

 proved by the wash of a small farm-yard adjoin- 

 ing, which, of course, must add to its efiicacy as 

 a manure. When this water is thrown over one 

 of the meadows, it produces the richest herbage 

 in abundance, and this field is regularly mowed 

 lor hay; on the other meadow, though repeatedly 

 tried, it produces no good whatever. (Ann. of 

 Agr. vol. XXX. p. 206.) 



This result is attributable to the superior tena- 

 cious, retentive quality of the substratum of the 

 lower field, or of some chemical difference in the 

 composition of the soil ; and although alaiost any 

 description of soil is adapted to the formation of 

 water meadows, those of a heavy clay description 

 are generally the most unsuitable, those of a light 

 or peaty kind are better, and those with a sandy 

 or very absorbent gravel substratum still more so. 

 There are some of the most celebrated water mea- 

 dows on the banks of the Kennet of this descrip- 

 tion, and many of the best on the banks of the 

 Wiltshire Avon have a mass of broken, porous 

 flints for a subsoil. Those near Edinburgh, irri- 

 gated by the city drainage, rest upon the sands 

 thrown up by the sea. 



It is evident, therefore, that it is as important 

 an object in the construction of these meadows to 

 secure a ready and rapid exit for the flood-waters, 

 as to procure, in the first instance, a copious and 

 fertilizing supply. 



The farmer is generally well aware of the inju- 

 rious effects to his meadows of suffering the water 

 to remain too long on them. He watches, there- 

 fore, with much care, for the first indications of 

 fermentation having commenced, which isevinced 

 by the rising of a mass of scum to the surface of 

 the wafer — putrefaction is now beginning in the 

 turfi and he knows very well that if Ihe water is 

 not speedily removed, that his grass will be either 



