396 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7. 



ing out, and spreading manure: then the expense 

 of all that labor must be deducted from ihe value 

 of the dung; and lastly, considering that 3000 

 will fold an acre of land in a night, and regarding 

 the number mentioned in the experiment as equal, 

 with the lambs, to 150 sheep, it. follows, I hat in six 

 weeks they would have folded two acres, without 

 the straw. It is unnecessary to pursue the calcu 

 lation, for it is sufficiently obvious that it turns the 

 scale of profit, on the mere manure, in favor of the 

 common fold; but with regard to the more impor- 

 tant, consideration, the health of the sheep, there 

 can be no doubt that the standing fold is more ben- 

 eficial in severe weather, and more particularly to 

 fitting stock. On the score of expense it should, 

 however, be remarked, that the litter charged in 

 the experiment is unnecessarily dear. Straw used 

 upon a farm, can only be considered worth twen- 

 ty shillings a load for the purpose of feeding; and, 

 in this instance, fern, or dried leaves, it procura- 

 ble, or stubble, would have answered the purpose 

 equally well, while a material difference would 

 have appeared on the account. 



The respective advantages, and disadvantages, 

 of these several methods may be thus concisely 

 stated: — 



The common moveable fold allows the land to be 

 manured withoutany further cost than tbe trouble 

 of removing the hurdles: but, beingusually placed 

 upon arable land, the dirt is injurious to the fleece; 

 it prevents the sheep from fattening; and tbe wet 

 retained by the ground is prejudicial to their 

 health. 



The standing fold admits of the most conve- 



ered advantageous in so much as regards the land; 

 and notwithstanding the objections already stated, 

 it must be admitted that there are many arable 

 hill-farms which could not be cultivated without 

 such assistance. In such situations, it is some- 

 times next to impossible to manure the land in 

 any other way; and although, from the injury 

 done to the sheep, and the increased consumption 

 of food — folded sheep, having been ascertained to 

 eat more, and to thrive less, in consequence of ad- 

 ditional exercise, than those which lie quiet in 

 their pasture— it has been said, "that folding is 

 gaining one shilling in manure by the loss of two 

 in flesh," yet the expedience of the system is still 

 a mere matter of calculation of the relative profit 

 to be obtained by growing corn or feeding sheep. 



[To be continued.] 



TREATISE ON IRRIGATION. 



Extracted from the Practical Irrigator and Drainer. 



By George Stevens, 



[Continued from p. 351 Vol. III.] 



Catch -loork irrigation. 



This species of irrigation is very different from 

 that which I have described and recommended 

 above, and which ought never to be resorted to 

 when the bed-work plan is practicable. In some 

 situations, however, ihe declivity of the ground is 

 too great to admit of its being formed into beds, 



with their respective feeders pointing down the 



descent; and, therefore, it is requisite to make the 



nient. choice of situation; and, whether littered or | feeders at a certain distance below each other, 



not, allows of the dung being accumulated to form | across the declivity, to catch the water, again and 



a compost, and applied to the Ian. I at the most 

 proper season — advantages which the moveable 

 fold does not possess; but it occasions the addi- 

 tional expense of removing the dung, forming the 

 compost, and spreading it on the soil. 



The cote combines all the advantages, and dis- 

 advantages, of the standing fold, with ihe addi- 

 tional merit of affording superior shelter; but it 

 also occasions the additional expense of the erection 

 of sheds. 



As to housing sheep in close stables, it is con- 

 trary to the nature of the animal, and is a practice 

 by no means to be recommended, except when it 

 may be absolutely necessary to shelter tender ewes 

 from great inclemency nf weather at. lambing 

 time; and even then, an inclosed yard, or at most, 

 an open shed is preferable. Except in such cases, 

 it may, indeed, be very questionable whether the 

 animal is benefited by_any of these methods. Na- 

 ture has provided it with a coverins' which effectu- 

 ally secures it against cold and rain, and has evi- 

 dently adapted different breeds to different, climates: 

 the hardy mountain sheep braves every kind of 

 weather, and not only thrives on the most scanty 

 herbage, and in the most exposed situations, but is 

 even found to degenerate on richer soils. It is the 

 introduction of tender breeds on land not adapted 

 to them that has occasioned any necessity for 

 shelter, unless when it may be prudent, on the 

 bleak hills of the north, to guard against, the con- 

 sequences of snow storms; or when, from the ab- 

 solute failure of field pasture, it. may be expedient 

 to pen the sheep for the purpose of more conve- 

 niently feeding 1 hem. 



With respect to the fold, it can onlv be consid- 



again, from the higher to the lower part of* the 

 meadow. By this method, it. is evident that the 

 contents of the water, thus repeatedly used, are 

 not equally disposed of, for the upper beds must 

 undoubtedly receive a greater part of whatever 

 sediment it deposites. The best method to obvi- 

 ate this inequality of distribution of Ihe sediment, 

 is to continue the conductor down the centre or 

 highest part of the declivity to the last bed, by 

 which means a certain quantity of the first and 

 richest water will be conveyed unused to every 

 bed. In some catch-work irrigation, the only 

 open drain for carrying away the water is at the 

 lower side of the meadow; in others, again, such 

 as the Whitehaugh meadow, belonging to Sir 

 John Hay, and the Townfoot meadow of Dolph- 

 ington, belonging to Richard Mackenzie, Esq., 

 the surface of the land is so situated, that the sys- 

 tem of irrigation is partly bed-work and partly 

 catch-work; for in these, some of the lower parts 

 of the feeders become drains, and in others the 

 upper part of the feeder is a drain, which is neces- 

 sary in many situations, not only to save an im- 

 mense expense in levelling, but to make the most 

 of the water. The distance between the feeders 

 in catch-work irrigation depends on the fall of the 

 ground and the quality of the sub-soil. In dry 

 porous sub- soils, with a fall of one foot in twenty 

 or thirty, the width of the beds might be made 

 from fifteen to twenty yards; but when the de- 

 clivity of the ground is less, and with a wet sub- 

 soil, ihe width of the beds should never exceed ten 

 yards. (See plan 2.) 



Catch-work irrigation should never be resorted 

 to unless absolutely necessary. I have seen it 



