186 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



Euperfluous quantity. The contrivance, towards 

 Turin, for carrying the aqueducts oC irrigation 

 across the roads, are beautifully executed : lor 

 convenience of distribution, the water-course is 

 raised three or four feet, or more, above the gene- 

 ral level: these aqueducts are brought lo the side 

 of the road, and seemingly finish in a wall, but 

 really sink in a syphon of masonry under the road, 

 and rise on the other side, behind another similar 

 wall. Seeing these buttresses of masonry, with- 

 out perceiving, at first any water, I wondered for a 

 moment, to what use they could be assigned ; but 

 when I mounted the foot-way, this beautiful con- 

 trivance was at once apparent. These are noble 

 exertions. 



Turin. — The irrigation in all this vicinity, is ex- 

 tensive, and carried to great perfection. Water 

 is measured with as much accuracy as wine. An 

 hour per week is sold, and the lee simple of the 

 water is attended to, with the same solicitude as 

 that of the land. Rich meadows, without water, 

 sell for 1000 liv. and 1100 liv. a giornata; and 

 arable, worth 500 liv. without water, is, in many 

 instances, worth 2000 /tf. with it. Such a mea- 

 dow as will sell lor 1100 liv. or 1200 liv. per gior- 

 nata, will yield the first mowing, 115 rubbii ofhay, 

 worth 9s. to 10s. the rubbio ; the second, 90 rub- 

 bii, at 7s. to 8s.; and the third, 80 rubbii, at 6s. to 

 7s.; the fourth ixrowth is sold, to be eaten by sheep, 

 at 5 livres. This produce amounts to 120 livres, 

 or 61. English, per giornata, which is under an 

 acre. The interest of 1100 livres, being ai 40 liv. 

 or 50 liv. there remans a sufficient profit, after all 

 expenses are paid. During the winter, as the 

 meadows are commonly fed with sheep, they do 

 not water at all. Some experienced cultivators 

 avoid watering in the spring, till the (msts are 

 over, which happen here as late as the 10th, and 

 even the 15th of x\lay, as strong fresh vegetation 

 ie, in such cases, entirely cut off; but, in general, 

 no attention is paid to this circumstance ; and wa- 

 tering goes on at all times, except when sheep are 

 on the ground. Tliose who have water enough, 

 let it on to their land once a week, during the 

 whole summer ; but if the weather is wet, once a 

 fortnight ; and a day or two before cutting, if the 

 water is perfectly clear. In regard to the quality 

 of water, ihey make no other distinction than that 

 from mountains being cold ; and that of the Dora, 

 near Turin, being charged with so much sand as 

 to be bad. They attend to the cutting of weeds 

 in the canals, that they may rot ; and some good 

 managers harrow the bottoms in the spring, to 

 foul the water, which then acts more powerfully 

 as a manure. Another practice, which tends also 

 to prove what excellent farmers they are in all 

 that respects meadow-grounds, is that of paring 

 and burning, which they perform on pieces that 

 have a bad herbage, or want of improvement ; but 

 do not sow them with corn, or any other plant, ex- 

 cept hay-seeds, in order to renew the grass, with 

 no other interruption. It is impossible to praise 

 Buch practices too much. They call this husban- 

 dry moiara. 



The power of effecting the great works in irri- 

 gation, which are visible over this whole country, 

 depends very much en the law, which supposes 

 the right and property of all rivers to be vested in 

 the king ; consequently all canals taken from them 

 are bought of him ; and this ensures another re- 

 gulation, which is the power of carrying the water, 



when bought, at the pleasure of those who buy it, 

 where they think fit ; they cannot, however, cut 

 across any man's ground, without paying him for 

 the land and the damage ; but the law does this 

 by regulations known to every one, and no indi- 

 vidual is allowed a negative upon a nieasure which 

 is lor the general good. The purchasers of water 

 from the king, are usually considerable land own- 

 ers, or communities that have lands wanting wa- 

 ter ; and it is of no consequence at what distance 

 these lands may be from the river, whence the 

 wafer is taken, as they have a right to conduct it 

 where they choose, provided they do not cut 

 through a garden or pleasure ground. Nor can 

 they carry the water under that of others, whose 

 canals are already made, as they might in that 

 case deprive them of a part of their water ; they 

 are obliged to throw aqueducts over such canals. 

 The benefit of water is so great and well under- 

 stood, that nobody ever thinks of making objec- 

 tions ; and in case their lands are not already wa- 

 tered, it is no small advantage to have a new ca- 

 nal brought through them, as they have the op- 

 jwrtunity of buying water of the proprietors. It 

 is sold per hour per week, and even half an hour, 

 and down to a quarter. The common price of an 

 hour per week, forever, is 1500 iiu. At Grulias- 

 cho, lour miles from Turin, there are many Per- 

 sian wheels that lift up the Avater by buckets ; 

 the wheels are double, with washers between lor 

 the stream turning them ; the buckets or boxes on 

 one out side only ; they raise the water 8 or 10 

 feet, and, about 2^ short of the full diameter of the 

 wheel, and I could not perceive that they lose a 

 drop ; none falls, except what adheres to the wheel 

 itself To save the expense of multiplying sluices, 

 lor the occasional stoppage of water, in carrier 

 trenches to (brce it over the land, they have a 

 moveble board that fits the trench, which is placed 

 occasionally where wanted, and answers the pur- 

 pose well. They have none of the ramifications 

 of carrier trenches common among us ; and not so 

 many drains lor taking the water off, as with us ; 

 and, on the whole, do not shew any thing like our 

 attention in the use of the water, though twenty, 

 or rather an liundred times more in bringing it from 

 rivers, and distributing it about the country; and 

 I could not but observe, that their meadows have 

 much bad herbage, and many places damaged by 

 the water resting too long ; this is more the case 

 here than it seemed to be from Coni to Racconis, 

 where the meadows carried a better countenance. 



Turin to Chivascn. — Not one-third of this coun- 

 try is watered. At Chivasco but little also. After 

 crossing the Dora Belta, there are soon two con- 

 siderable canals of irrigation ; one made two years 

 ago only, which is as great a work as a navigation 

 in England. 



Ciglione. — Little land watered in this country; 

 but 1 observed here some meadows, with off chan- 

 nel>', from the principal ones, for conducting the 

 water, which I did not notice before; but very few 

 drains. The new canal crosses a gravelly waste, 

 but none of it watered. 



Trouchan. — A very ricli country much watered; 

 and many mulberries. 



St. Germano. — Mowing the third crop of grass, 

 and very poor ; not more than 15 cwt. an acre, and 

 yet watered. The glory of Piedmont is from Co- 

 ni to Turin. Those who pass Mont Cenia to Turin, 

 and Turin to Milan, see, on comparison, nothing. 



