1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



407 



perty of the Right Honorable Lord Willoughby 

 de Eresby. The land, previously to its being 

 drained and made into a water meadow, was a 

 perfect bog, having been the remains of the old 

 bed of the river Earn. The drainage was ac- 

 complished by cutting a new water-course on the 

 south side of the bog; which operation gave an 

 outlet for the drainage of the whole farm. 



The expense of levelling the surface of the 

 ground, making the feeders and drains, and build- 

 ing the sluice to admit the water into the meadow, 

 was twenty-four pounds, or about seven pounds 

 per acre. The product of this little experimental 

 field has been far superior, both in quality and 

 quantity, to the tenant's most sanguine expecta- 

 tions, and, by careful management, there can be 

 no doubt that it will be still larger. Another wa- 

 ter meadow was made, in 1827, at Inverardran, 

 the property of Alexander Smith, Esq. This 

 meadow lies on the banks of the river Tay, im- 

 mediately above Loch Dochart, and is watered by 

 Inverardran brook; it contains about eighteen 

 acres. The greater part, before it was drained 

 and watered, was a perfect bog; and even now, 

 in time of high floods, the whole is covered with 

 water; but as that seldom happens except in 

 winter, no injury is done to the crop. It is laid 

 out partly in bed-work and partly in catch-work, 

 at an expense of £7 per acre. The greatest va- 

 lue that could be put on the land previously to its 

 being drained and irrigated, was fifteen shillings 

 per acre per annum. The crop of hay in 1828 

 was calculated to be four thousand stone, in that 

 district generally worth sixpence per stone, and the 

 aftergrass seven shillings per acre, which will 

 more than pay all expenses in keeping it in re- 

 pair.* 



A water meadow was made in the same year 

 for the Earl of Mansfield at Scone, containing 

 three acres, by means of lilting the turf, levelling 

 the ground into shape, and laying down the turf 

 again. 



The crop of hay in 1828 was seven hundred 

 stone of the best quality, besides a good crop of 

 aftermath which was eaten off by sheep. As the 

 supply of water is quite sufficient in all seasons, 

 and the land well sheltered from the winds, there 

 is every reason to expect a much larger return in 

 future. 



In 1827, I was employed by Hugh Rose, Esq. 

 of Glastullick, to introduce the system of irriga- 



green, and given to the cattle in the house. The 

 whole has been cut twice this season, and f am cutting 

 part a third time. The second and third crops are 

 worth more than what the whole rental of the land 

 was, previous to its being watered. One great advan- 

 tage of water meadows, is the extra quantity of ma- 

 nure it gives, without receiving any from the farm 

 yard. 



I am, Sir, 



Your most obedient Servant, 



ANDREW SHARP." 



*I have been favored with the above communication 

 by Mr. Black, the overseer at Inverardran, wherein he 

 adds— "the crop this year (182S) was all cut in July, 

 and by the 12th of August the whole meadow was co- 

 vered with an excellent crop of aftermath of the most 

 beautiful color, far surpassing anything of the kind in 

 that part of the country." 



tion on his estates in Ross-shire and Sutherland- 

 shire. On these estates three water meadows are 

 made, and a fourth levelled and lormed into bed- 

 work, and sown with grass seeds, for the recep- 

 tion of water in the autumn of 1830. The largest 

 of these meadows is at Dalmore, containing six- 

 teen acres, the greater part composed of sand beds 

 which have been formed by the action of the wa- 

 ter, worth only five shillings per acre in its origin- 

 al state. To keep the surface of the ground as 

 nearly as possible in its natural shape, it was ne- 

 cesi ary to form the beds the same way as the wa- 

 ter left it, so that the whole is a specimen of irreg- 

 ular bed and catch- work meadow. 



Any quantity of water that is necessary, can 

 ho admitted from Alness river by means of a 

 flood-sluice which is erected for that purpose. The 

 water, in time of floods, contains large quantities 

 of peat and other substances, which, in a few 

 years, will form a new surface to the sandy 

 soil. 



Arabella meadow, belonging to the. same pro- 

 prietor, and containing three acres, was formed 

 by means of lifting the turf J ploughing and level- 

 ling the surface, and laying the turf down again. 

 The third meadow, containing three and a half 

 acres, was, previously to the formation, full of 

 large stones, and the surface very unlevel; the re- 

 ducing of it to shape was partly by lifting the turf 

 and partly by the plough. The water used for ir- 

 rigating it is all from springs which rise within the 

 distance of a mile from the meadow; and, al- 

 though it does not contain a large quantity of sed- 

 iment, it seldom freezes, which is not the least ad- 

 vantage in irrigation. 



Although most of these meadows are formed of 

 the worst soil, yet, by a careful management, 

 they have every appearance of doing well, for 

 the Dalmore meadow already produces two hun- 

 dred stone of hay per acre; and the advantage 

 alone of the extra supply of manure, from five to 

 six thousand stone of hay yearly, in a country 

 where dung cannot be obtained for money, is not 

 the least. 



The late Elliot Lockhart, Esq. M. P. of Cleg- 

 horn, Lanarkshire, commenced irrigation some 

 years ago, by means of cutting a few catch- work 

 feeders across the ridges of a field that had been 

 laid down to grass after corn; but the levelling of 

 the surface had been so imperfectly executed, that 

 the water had very little effect. 



In 1827, the proprietor was at the expense of 

 lifting the turf, and after having levelled the sur- 

 face by means of the plough and spade, the turf 

 was laid down again, and new feeders were cutfor 

 the equal distribution of the water. The effect of 

 this last improvement has been astonishing, part 

 of the meadow having given, in 1S28, the amaz- 

 ing crop of five hundred and forty stone of excel- 

 lent hay per acre at one cutting, which is the 

 largest crop ever known to have been taken from 

 any water meadow in Britain.* The remainder 



*It is a singular fact, but not generally known to ag- 

 riculturists, that by merefy lifting the turf of an old 

 pasture field that is overrun with moss, and by means 

 of plou^hinp; and loosening the sub-soil, and laying 

 down the same turf" again, the whole of the moss will 

 disappear the first season, without applying either wa- 

 ter or manure to the surface. 



