Book III. 



IMPLEMENTS OF IRRIGATION. 



72.5 



are informed by Stephens, upwards of 200 acres are so Irrigated from the principal com- 

 mon sewer, and that, although the formation of these meadows is irregular, and the 

 management very imperfect, the effects of the water are astonishing : they produce 

 crops of grass not to be equalled, being cut from four to six times a year, and the crass 

 given green to milch cows. 



Sitbsect. 2. Implements made Use of i?i Watering Lands; and the Terms of Art 



peculiar to such Operations. 



4392. The principal instruments made use of in the preparation of lands for watering 



are the following : — 



4393 The level, of which different descriptions have already been given, is necessarily employed 

 to take the level of the land at a distance, compared with the part of the river, &c. whence it is 

 intended to bring the water, to know whether it can or cannot be made to float the part intended 

 to be watered. Bringing the water after them to work by is found very useful in undertakings 

 of this nature, especially when on a large scale, though the workmen' too frequently dispense 



with it. In drawing a main, 

 ffo they begin at the head, and 



work deep enough to have the 

 water to follow them ; and in 

 drawing a tail drain, they begin 

 at the lower end of it, and work 

 upwards, to let the water come 

 after them. The level should, 

 however, be made use of, as 

 being more certain and correct 

 Brown, an experienced irriga- 

 tor in the west of England, re- 

 commends a level (Jig. 677. a), 

 which when not in use may be 

 closed ;6) like a walking-stick. 

 There is also a compass level 

 (y?^*. 678.), which may be used 

 in the same way. 



4394. A line and reel, and a breast-plough, or turf spade fj^g-. 211.), are likewise absolutely necessary. 

 The use of the two former are well known ; but as the line is mostly used in the wet, it should for this 

 purpose be larger and stronger than those employed in gardening. The turf spade should be of the best 

 description, being principally employed in cutting turfs for the sides of the channels. 



4395. The spades made tise of in this sort of work (Jig. 679. ) should have the stems considerably more 



crooked than those of any other kind; the bit 



being of iron, about a foot wide in the middle, 



terminating in a point ; a thick ridge running 



perpendicularly down the middle, from thestem 



almost to the point ; the edges on both sides 



should be drawn very thin, and as they are 



obliged to be kept very sharp, they should be 



often ground and whetted. This necessarily 



wears them away, and they soon become nar- 

 row; they are then used for the narrow trenches 



and drains, whilst new ones are used for the 



wider. From the stems being made crooked, 



the workmen, standing in the working position 



in the bottom of the trench or drain, are en- 

 abled to make it quite smooth and even. 



Shovels of different forms [Jig. 680. a, b), and 



a scoop for lifting water (c), are also requisite. 

 4396\ The crescent (Jig. 679. b) is a tool made 



like the gardener's edging iron, only much 

 larger, having the form of a crescent, being very thin and well steeled, with a stem about three feet long, 

 and a cross handle to bear upon. It is used for tracing out the sides of the mains, trenches, drains. &c. 

 4397. The turf knife (fig.fSl.) has a cimeter-like blade, with a tread for the foot [a) 

 and a bent handle [b; : it is used for the same purpose as the crescent, and by some 

 preferred. 



4S98. Wheelbarrows also become necessary to remove the clods to flat places : they 

 may be open, without sides or hinder parts. 



4399. Handbarrows are likewise sometimes made use of where the ground is too 

 soft to admit of wheelbarrows, and where clods require to be removed during the time 

 the meadow is under water. 



4400. Three-u-heeled carts, §c. are necessary, when large quantities of earth are to 

 be removed, particularly when it is carried to some distance. 



4401. Scythes, of different sorts (Jig. 682. a, b), are required to mow the weeds and 

 grass, when the water is running in the trenches, drains, &c The crooks (b) should be 

 made light, and have long stems, to reach wherever the water is so deep that the work- 

 men cannot work in it. 



4402. Besides these, forks (c), and long four or Jive fined hacks, are requisite to pull out the roots of 

 the sedge, rushes, reeds, &c. which grow in the large mains and drains. 



682 



a 



I h 



3 A 3 



