400 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 7. 



The first operation of the irrigator is to adjust 

 the water in the conductor, or, if the meadow is 

 in more parts than one, the water in each conduc- 

 tor must be first regulated; then he commences 

 anew by regulating the stops in the first feeder, 

 but should there not be sufficient wa'er in the feed- 

 er, a little more must be let in, by making the 

 aperture wider or deeper, till the water {lows regu- 

 larly over the sides, from one end to the other; 

 from the first, he proceeds to the second feeder, 

 and so on, until the water in all the feeders is ad- 

 justed. 



Let the beds of a water meadow be ever so well 

 formed, yet, by some places sinking more than 

 others, or by the ice raising the surface of the 

 ground, although the water along the. banks of 

 the feeders have been ever so nicely adjusted, it 

 often happens that there may be some places be- 

 tween the feeders and drains with too little wafer, 

 when it will be advisable lor the manager to 

 make a third round, redressing inequalities of the 

 surface so as to give every spot, an inch deep of 

 water. Every part of the works being regulated, 

 the water should be allowed to run through the 

 whole of October, November, December, and 

 January, from fifteen to twenty days at a time, 

 without intermission. At the expiration of these 

 periods, the ground should be made completely 

 dry lor five or six days, to give it air; for there are 

 few species of grasses, which form the most hutri- 

 tious part of the herbage of water meadows, that 

 will long exist under an entire immersion of water. 

 Moreover, if the frost should be severe and the 

 water begin to freeze, the watering must be dis- 

 continued, otherwise the whole surface will be- 

 come one sheet of ice; and wherever the ice takes 

 hold of the ground, it will undoubtedly draw it 

 into heaps, which is very injurious to the plants. 



The object of this early preparation of the 

 meadows is to take advantage of the autumnal 

 floods, which bring along with them a variety of 

 putrescent matter, which is found very enriching 

 to land. It is the chief object of the irrioator in 

 those months to collect as much of this manure as 

 possible, and, at ihe same time, to shelter the 

 land from the severity of frosty nights; it is there- 

 fore requisite to use as much water as the land will 

 carry without guttering. I believe it would be 

 difficult to give land with a dry sub-soil, and con- 

 siderable descent, too much water before the wea- 

 ther begins to get warm. It is necessary in those 

 months that the meadows be inspected at least 

 once in three or four days, to see that the equal 

 distribution of the water is not obstructed by the 

 continual accumulation of weeds, &c. 



In February, more attention is required by the 

 manager, for the grass is then beginning to spring; 

 therefore, if the weather should be mild, and you 

 suffer the water to run over the meadow too long 

 without intermission, a white scum is generated, 

 which is very destructive to the tender grass: so is 

 frost, for if the water has been taken off so late in 

 the evening as not. to give the ground time to dry 

 before the frost sets in, considerable injury will be 

 done to the tender plants. To o-uard against the 

 former of these evils, the water should not be suf- 

 fered to run longer at each intermission than six or 

 eight days; and to avoid the other, (the frost,) the 

 water should always be taken off early in the 

 morning, for if the. land experience a drying day, 

 the frost at night will do little injury. 



In March, the same instructions must be ob- 

 served as in last month, except where the climate 

 will admit of spring feeding, as in the south of 

 England, where, the crop of grass is generally 

 sufficient for any kind of stock in the middle of 

 this month; therefore, in such situations, the wa- 

 ter meadows must be made completely dry before 

 the stock be admitted. 



The latter end of March and the beginning of 

 x*\pril are the most, trying times in this climate to 

 the tender grasses of an irrigated meadow, there- 

 fore every attention must be paid to the distribu- 

 tion of the water: it must be used more sparingly 

 than in autumn or winter, not allowing it to run 

 longer than five or six days at each intermission; 

 and as the weather becomes warmer, two or three 

 days at each time will be quite sufficient, until the 

 end of May, when all walering for the season 

 ought to cease, for the grass on all old meadows 

 will shelter the ground at this period, so that the 

 sun will have little or no effect on the roots of the 

 plants. 



Another particular reason why the watering 

 ought to be discontinued at the above time, is this 

 — when the water is suffered to run too long in 

 the spring, alter the grass has become thick and 

 long, the water is apt to leave a sediment on the 

 blades, which makes it not only very difficult to 

 cut, but is very injurious to the hay. Above all, 

 particular attention must be paid to make the 

 whole of the ground quite dry; for should a small 

 quantity of water be permitted to run to the lower 

 ends of the beds, the grass there will lodge, and, 

 before the remainder is ready for cutting, be half 

 rotten; or a greater part of the finer grasses will 

 be. banished, lor the reception of rushes and other 

 aquatic plants. Want of due attention to this 

 precaution and allowing the water to run too long, 

 with imperfect draining, are the principal reasons 

 why the water meadow hay is sometimes of less 

 value than most other kinds. 



The advantages of irrigated meadows. 



The great object of agricultural improvement 

 certainly is to raise the greatest possible quantity 

 of animal and vegetable food for the support of 

 human life. In this view, the introduction of the 

 turnip and sown grass husbandry is justly consi- 

 dered as a most essential improvement; not only 

 as afiprding a more plentiful supply of nourishing 

 and fattening food during the winter and spring 

 months, and preparing the land and tillage for 

 bearing more plentiful crops of corn, but giving 

 a greater supply of manure. Now,, in regard to 

 procuring an additional supply of nourishing food 

 for animals through winter, early succulent food 

 for spring, and more particularly in increasing the 

 quantity of manure, as already observed in a pre- 

 vious page, water meadows may well be ranked as 

 a most valuable improvement. 



In what follows, I shall state what has occurred 

 to my own observation in the course of my pro- 

 fession, as to the profit to be derived from water 

 meadows in England and Sweden, but more par- 

 ticularly in Scotland; in which country, as already 

 observed in the Preface, there is so much demand 

 for additional supply of winter food for cattle, and 

 so much facility of acquiring this supply by the 

 establishment of water meadows. 



