1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



403 



with water, although they are situated in a very 

 bleak country without the least shelter, the crop of 

 hay would be considerably more; they contain 

 nineteen acres, and cost in the formation six 

 pounds per acre. 



Fallows meadow, on Sir George's large sheep 

 farm, contains fifteen acres, was enclosed from 

 moorland in 1816, and, by collecting the water 

 from the surrounding sheep drains, five acres are 

 partially irrigated, and the remaining ten are top- 

 dressed with the manure made from part of the 

 produce, which is consumed in winter by the 

 sheep of the farm in a wooden shed near the 

 meadow. 



By this simple method of improvement, fifteen 

 acres of common sheep pasture land give the pro- 

 prietor from three thousand five hundred to four 

 thousand stone of hay per annum, averaging 6d. 

 per stone.* What an immense advantage to a 

 sheep farm! By this simple process of enclosing 

 and cutting a few small feeders and drains, the 

 owner is enabled to provide food for his flock, 

 when his less fortunate neighbors' sheep must ei- 

 ther starve or be supplied from the farm yard; but 

 I am afraid there are but very few sheep farmers 

 who are so fortunate as to have any hay over and 

 above what is requisite for stock at home. 



Sir George fed the same number of sheep on 

 the farm as he did before ihe meadow was cut off 

 and enclosed; and 1 am fully persuaded that the 

 same improvement might be made on almost eve- 

 ry sheep farm in Tweeddale, for, in almost all of 

 them, there are situations where five, ten, or fif- 

 teen acres might be enclosed and partially irri- 

 gated, as in every pastoral district there are nu- 

 merous rills which might be easily collected and 

 used to the greatest advantage at a very trifling 

 expense; so that instead of being obliged, in 

 snow storms, to send fifty thousand sheep to a 

 milder climate of the southern parts of Dum- 

 friesshire, (when the owners are obliged to be at 

 the mercy of their southern neighbors, not to 

 mention the very serious injury the flocks receive 

 by so long and fatiguing a journey,) by adopting 

 the above system of improvement, a considerable 

 portion of the losses generally sustained would be 

 prevented. 



Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, Baronet, of 

 Castle Craig, is another liberal promoter of this 

 useful art. He commenced in the year 1817, by 

 forming five acres with the plough and spade into 

 regular bed-work. The land in its natural state 

 was a complete peat bog, valued at 8s. of yearly 

 rent per acre. 



The formation was difficult, on account of the 

 great number of deep peat holes, which were 

 obliged to be filled, to bring the surface to a pro- 

 per level. The expense of levelling and forming 

 the beds was £ 6 per acre, the crop of hay in 

 1824 was four hundred and sixty-six stone (twen- 

 ty-two pounds to the stone) per acre, valued at 

 5d. per stone, and the aftergrass at 18s. per acre, 

 making £10 12s. 2d. per acre of gross pro- 

 duce. 



Immediately above this, another meadow was 

 formed, in 1819, into bed-work, containing seven 

 acres; and, a little farther up the same stream, a 



*The hay of this meadow was sold, in 182fi, at from 

 Is. to Is. 3d. per stone. 



third was made, in 1823., of the same extent with 

 the last. The soil of those two meadows is partly 

 clay and partly moss, with a thin covering of clay 

 on the surface, the moss in many places being 

 from four to seven feet deep. The whole is regu- 

 larly laid into beds from thirty to sixty feet wide, 

 at an expense of £4 per acre, and Sown with 

 Yorkshire fog, foxtail, and perennial ryegrass 

 seed. The former of those meadows gave, in 

 1S24, the same quantity of hay per acre as the 

 five acre meadow, but of a superior quality; and 

 the latter two hundred and fifty stone per acre, the 

 greater part fiorin grass, (agrosiis stnlonifera. ) 

 Those meadows are irrigated by t":ie little river 

 Tarth, the water of which is superior to any wa- 

 ter in the country, both with regard to richness, 

 and being less subject to freeze than water in ge- 

 neral is in high situations; moreover, the supply is 

 abundant, which not only makes the management 

 easy, but gives the proprietor considerable advan- 

 tage over his neighbors. The aftergrass is gene- 

 rally worth 18s. per acre of yearly rent. 



On my return from Sweden in 1822, the first ir- 

 rigated meadow I was employed in making was 

 for G. S. Menteath, Esq. of Closeburn, in Dum- 

 friesshire. Mr. Menteath had commenced oper- 

 ations before my arrival, by levelling some ine- 

 qualities in a field near his house, which was well 

 suited for the purpose; but not having a person 

 sufficiently skilled in the science of irrigation, Mr. 

 Menteath availed himself of my assistance. 



After having surveyed the ground, I found that 

 a large range of meadows might be scientifically 

 formed, so complete in all their parts, that, what- 

 ever capital might be expended in the formation, 

 there could not be the least doubt of a good return 

 in three or lour years. The proprietor, having 

 viewed the system of irrigation with that penetra- 

 tion which he exhibits in every branch ot agricul- 

 ture, was determined not to lose any time in form- 

 ing, in the most accurate way. into water mea- 

 dows, at any reasonable expense, those parts of 

 his property which were contiguous to the man- 

 sion-house. To put this grand plan into execu- 

 tion, it was thought advisable to commence with 

 forming a piece of land, lying immediately below 

 the lime kilns, into bed- work. The water to be 

 used being brought from a great distance to drive 

 the machinery at the said lime kilns before it en- 

 ters the meadow, and, in its course, collecting a 

 considerable quantity of the finer particles of lime, 

 its effects are truly astonishing. The first crop of 

 hay, in 1824, which was of a superior quality, 

 was four hundred and twenty stones per acre, va- 

 lued at 8d. per stone, £14; the second crop, the 

 same year, was sold to the neighboring people on 

 the ground for £4 5s. per acre; and the aftergrass 

 was valued at 15s. per acre — making the whole 

 produce of one year £ 19 per acre. The value of 

 the ground belbre it was irrigated was £3 per 

 acre. The proprietor, thinking the beds of this 

 productive piece of land too flat to receive all the 

 advantage that irrigation is capable of imparting, 

 has since been at the additional expense of £3 

 per acre for fifing the turf; and after having raised 

 the beds in the centre twelve inches higher than 

 the surface of the ground at the sides of the 

 drains, has laid down the turf again. This is, 

 undoubtedly, an excellent, method, and will not 

 only give, the manager an opportunity of using 

 more water in a given time, and thereby collecting 



