406 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7. 



which causes the whole mass to run when worked 

 in wet we ather. The sub-soil being thus satu- 

 rated with water, and there being no lall to drain 

 it, the land is kept cold till late in the spring, 

 thereby preventing spring food tor ewes and lambs. 

 In all other respects, the land and climate are well 

 adapted for irrigation. Although these meadows 

 are under peculiar circumstances, there can be no 

 doubt of their success, if the same management 

 be persevered in. To prove this, I will refer the 

 reader to the following extract of a letter from the 

 proprietor, dated 27th September 1818. 



"I cannot furnish you with any account of the 

 quantity of* hay produced by my water meadows 

 this season, not having been myself at home 

 when the hay was made and the produce carried. 

 I saw them, however, before they were cut, and 

 the produce was very abundant indeed, where 

 heights had not been reduced; where these had 

 been lowered in order to preserve the level, the 

 quantity of grass was comparatively small. I 

 am, however, persuaded that both my first and 

 second crop is at least double the quantity the 

 ground would have produced had it not been wa- 

 tered; and I am the better able to judge of this, 

 from having meadows adjacent, to my water mea- 

 dows of similar quality, but not irrigated, with 

 which I can compare. 



"The only point in which I have hitherto been 

 disappointed, is in the earliness of the sprint. 

 The spring on my meadows is more backward 

 than I had expected it would be; so much so, that 

 hitherto I have seen no cause to expect they will 

 ever afford me a valuable resource for feeding 

 sheep in April, or even early in May." 



I had the management of laying out a ranrrp, of 

 watered meadows for his Grace the Duke of Athol 

 at Dunkeld, in the autumn of 1S27. They con- 

 tain thirty English acres, partly bed-work and 

 partly catch-work. The land is mostly of a peaty 

 nature, here and there mixed with a clayey sub- 

 stance. The field is divided into different divi- 

 sions, forming distinct parts, which can be irri- 

 gated separately. The water that irrigates the 

 first division is caught for irrigating the third divi 

 sion; what is used in watering the°second division 

 is caught again to water the fourth; and what 

 supplies the third division is caught for watering 

 the fifth portion: the whole being so arranged that 

 all the water from the first four divisions °can be 

 caught to irrigate another range of meadows, 

 which his Grace is intending to make at some fu- 

 ture period. 



The formation of those meadows is perfect in 

 every respect, for every possible pains have been 

 taken to make the most of the water; and, to ac- 

 celerate the carrying away of the produce, a road 

 is made through them. 



The expense of formation, including sluices and 

 bridges, was £7 per acre. The whole extent, in 

 1826, only gave a few hundred stone of hay; the 

 crop of 1828 was four thousand stone, and had 

 not the surface of the ground been so much bro- 

 ken under the operation of forming, a much larger 

 crop might have been expected. 



The soil of those meadows is so particularly 

 well adapted for irrigation, that there cannot be 

 the least doubt, if they are properly managed, 

 that they will give at least three hundred stone of 

 good hay per acre per annum, besides aftermath; 

 and I venture to say, that if his Grace's meadows 



do not succeed, it will not be owing to any fault in 

 the formation, soil, or water, but altogether care- 

 lessness in the management. In the autumn of 

 1826, Viscount Strathal! an commenced irrigation, 

 by forming fifteen acres, the greater part catch- 1 

 work meadow, lying on the banks of the river 

 Machany. The soil is partly alluvial and partly 

 gravel beds, the overflowing of the river having 

 washed away the greater part of the good soil; 

 which made the value of the land, previously to 

 its being watered, only worth from £0s. to 30s. 

 per acre of yearly rent. About twelve acres are 

 occupied by Messrs. John and Andrew Craw- 

 lord, who pay interest for the capital expended. 

 The crop of hay and grass, in 1827, was very 

 good, but the crop of 182S was very abundant and 

 of the best quality, which was greatly owing to 

 good management; for it is evident that if' a wa- 

 ter meadow is not well managed, the crop will 

 not only be very deficient, but wherever the wa- 

 ter is allowed to run at random, the grass will ei- 

 ther be stinted in its growth for want of water, or 

 will become coarse in those places where it has 

 got. too much and the greater part will be com- 

 posed of aquatic plants.* 



Neither of these extremities can be attributed to 

 the management of those meadows, for the ten- 

 ants pay every attention to them; indeed, if all 

 water meadows were as well taken care of, there 

 would be no occasion for complaint against the 

 system; and instead of the, practice creeping so 

 slowly into the country, many thousand acres of 

 barren soil would long ere now have been as pro- 

 ductive as the best land in the kingdom. 



An experimental water meadow was made in 

 1S20 on the farm of Forr, near Crieff, t the pro- 



* I have since been favored with the following let- 

 ter from the tenants: — 



"Ladysloun, 2d March, 1832. 



"Sir — According to promise, we send you an ac- 

 count of our water meadows, viz:— 



"Ladystoun meadow, on an average of years, pro- 

 duces from two hundred and fifty to two hundred and 

 eighty stones (tron weight) of hay per Scotch acre. 

 The expense of keeping is about 5s. per acre year- 



"Milnton meadow produces, on an average, from 

 three hundred to three hundred and twenty stones. 

 The expense of management about the same, and is 

 still improving. 



"The land is thus of a great deal more value to us, 

 besides the advantage derived from having the earliest 

 and latest cutting grass in the district. 

 We are, Sir, 



Your obedient Servants, 



JOHN CRAWFORD. 



To Geo. Stephens, Esq. a. j. crawford." 



tThe following letter contains the sentiments of 

 one of Lord Willoughby's tenants on the subject of 

 irrigation: — 



"Souih Forr, near Crieff, 24 Oct. 1828. 



"Sir — As you are going to publish a second edition 

 of your Essay on Irrigation, &c, I should neither do 

 justice to you nor the system, if I neglected to ac- 

 knowledge the great benefit I have received from the 

 watered meadow you had the management of making 

 on my farm, in the autumn of 1826. The crop of hay 

 this year (1S28) was upwards of three hundred stone 

 per acre, besides a considerable quantity that was cul 



