Book III. IRRIGATION OF GRASS LANDS. 7S1 



those carried on what is termed horizontal or level gutters. In some places in Essex, it. is the practice to 

 irrigate during winter by means of the water of occasional floods. Sometimes this water is obtained from 

 the ditches along the sides of the roads, and from the drainages of villages; and in these cases is more or 

 less enriched by earthy materials. 



414.' As an example of the benefit of flooding, vre refer to Loch Ken, in Kircudbrightshire, the most 

 striking instance known in Great Britain of advantage being derived from the inundations of a lake. 

 At the head of that beautiful piece of water, there is a Hat of about 240 statute acres, which is rendered' 

 by flooding, one of the richest spots in Scotland. Many acres in it produce at the rate of three tons of 

 hay each, and some parts of it have been cropped with grain for twenty-five years in succession, without 

 any manure, except what it receives from the inundations it experiences. These, however, leave behind 

 them a variety of enriching substances. (Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv. p. SifiO.) 



4443. Floating upwards. The ancient and now obsolete practice of flooding, or, as 

 it was termed, of floating upwards, was practised in various parts of the kingdom. For 

 that purpose, the water was penned, in times of floods, by means of a dam or floodgate 

 across the bottom of the meadow or flat to be watered. The waters were not suffered 

 to remain long upon the land, but were let off as soon as it was judged that they had 

 deposited their sediment. The benefit arising from this method of using floodwaters, it 

 is said, was considerable ; but when the improved mode of irrigation by floating ridges 

 was introduced, and found more advantageous, the other was discontinued. {Marshal's 

 Midland Counties, Minute 27.) 



4444. Watering land by machinery. If the land be put in a proper form for irrigation, 

 and supplied with a good stream at proper seasons, there can be no difference from the 

 method of getting it on the surface ; and if all other circumstances are equally favour- 

 able, the same fertility may be expected from water thrown up by a drain-mill, as from 

 that which runs from a brook. {Smith's Observations on Water Meadoics, &c. p. 93.) 

 A cheap and effectual power for raising water in sufficient quantities to flow about ten 

 acres at a time, would be an invaluable acquisition ; for a productive water meadow is 

 probably the true mark of perfection in the management of a farm. {Middlesex Report, 

 p. 322.) 



4445. Sea under. Smith suggests the idea of employing machinery to raise not only 

 fresh but even sea water for irrigation. {Observations, p. 87.) It is well known how 

 much all kinds of stock are improved by salt marshes, and how beneficial to them is a 

 moderate quantity of saline matter. There are many parts of the kingdom where, by 

 the aid of machinery, these advantages might be obtained at a moderate expense. 

 (Code.) 



4446. The expense of irrigation varies according to the nature of the work. Where 

 the catch-work system is practicable, in favourable situations, the forming may be done 

 as low as ten shillings per acre. This fact is, in many cases, decisively in favour of this 

 natural and simple mode, which requires also much less water, and often answers fully 

 as well as flat flooding, i General Report, vol. ii. p. 598.) The expense of bed-work, 

 as it is called, is, however, considerable. If the ground to be flooded be smooth on its 

 surface, or in regular ridges, and if the water can easily be brought to the meadow, with 

 a temporary wear, supposing the extent to be almost twenty acres, it may be done at from 

 51. to 10/. per acre: but if the land be of large extent, with an irregular surface; if 

 a large conductor and a proper wear shall be required, with hatches both in it and also 

 in the feeders ; and if the aid of a professional person, to lay out and oversee the work, 

 be necessary (which is generally the case), the expense will vary from 10/. to 20/. per 

 acre. {General Report, vol. ii. p. 598.) Nay, in Wiltshire, where they are anxious to 

 have their meadows formed in the most perfect manner, with that regularity which the 

 nice adjustment of water demands, the expense per acre has amounted to 40/. {Smith's 

 Observations on Irrigation, p. 56.) 



4447. Objections to irrigation have been made on the supposition that it renders a 

 country unhealthy; but as the water is continually kept in motion, this is not likely to 

 be the case, and indeed is found not to be so in Gloucestershire, Lombardy, and other 

 places where it is extensively practised. It is also thought that though the produce may 

 be increased, it becomes in a few years of so coarse a nature, mixed with rushes and 

 water plants, that cattle frequently refuse to eat it ; and when they do, their appearance 

 proclaims that it is far from being of a nutritious quality. {Rutland Report, p. 114.) 

 But this objection is never applicable to meadows skilfully made and properly managed ; 

 and whenever the grasses are coarse, if intended for hay, they should be cut earlier. 

 Rushes and water plants are proofs that the meadow lies too flat and is ill managed. 

 {Code.) 



4448. The principal impediments to irrigation are the claims of different individuals on 

 one stream, as millers, canal owners, &c. ; the intermixture of property and interests ; 

 and the existence in some cases of adverse leases. 



4449. The formation and arrangement of surfaces for irrigation, however simple in 

 principle, is in practice one of the most difficult operations of agricultural improvement. 

 Whoever, therefore, contemplates extensive and intricate works of this kind will find it 

 desirable to call in the assistance of a professor and contractor of reputation. In Glou- 

 cestershire there are a class of men known as "flooders," who have under them a com- 



