IRRIGATION. 



IRRIGATION. 



solution, where the art of man, with the com- 

 mon sewer water, has made sand hillocks 

 produce riches far superior to any thing of the 

 kind in the kingdom, or in any other country. 



By this water, about two hundred acres of 

 grass land, for the most part laid into catch- 

 work meadow, are irrigated ; whereof 130 

 belong to W. H. Miller, Esq., of Craigintinny, 

 and the remainder to the Earls of Haddington 

 and Moray, and other proprietors. The mea- 

 dows belonging to these noblemen, and part of 

 the Craigintinny meadows, are what is called 

 the old meadows, containing about 50 acres, 

 have been irrigated for nearly a century. 

 They are by far the most valuable, on account 

 of the long and continual accumulation of the 

 rich sediment left by the water; indeed the 

 water is so very rich, that the tenants of the 

 meadows lying nearest the town have found it 

 advisable to carry the common sewer water 

 through deep ponds, into which the water de- 

 posits part of the superfluous manure before 

 it runs over the ground. Although the forma- 

 tion 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 grass given green to 

 milch cows. 



The grass is let every year, by public sale, 

 in small patches of a quarter of an acre and 

 upwards, and generally brings from 24/. to 30/. 

 per acre per annum. In 1826, part of the Earl 

 of Moray's meadow fetched 571. per acre per 

 annum. 



About 40 acres of the Craigintinny lands 

 were formed into catch-work water meadow 

 before the year 1800, which comprises what 

 is called Fillieside Bank old meadows, and is 

 generally let at from 20/. to 30/. per acre 

 per annum. In the spring of 1821, 30 acres 

 of waste land, called the Freegate Whins, 

 and 10 acres of poor sandy soil, were levelled 

 and formed into irrigated meadow, at an ex- 

 pense of WOOL The pasture of the Freegate 

 Whins was let, previously to this improve- 

 ment, for 40/. per annum, and the 10 kcres for 

 60/. They now bring from 15/. to 20/. per acre 

 per annum, but may be much improved by ju- 

 diciously laying out 200/. more in better level- 

 ling that part next the sea, and carrying a 

 larger supply of water to it, which might be 

 easily done without prejudice to the other 

 meadows. 



This, perhaps, is one of the most beneficial 

 agricultural improvements ever undertaken; 

 for the whole of the Freegate Whins is com- 

 posed of nothing but sand, deposited from time 

 to time by the action of the waves of the sea. 

 Never was WOOL more happily spent in agri- 

 culture ; it not only required a common sewer 

 to bring about this great change, but a resolu- 

 tion in the proprietor to launch out his capital 

 on an experiment upon a soil of such a nature. 



Since the making of the Freegate Whins 

 into water meadows, Mr. Miller has levelled 

 and formed 40 acres more of his arable land 

 into irrigated meadow, worth, before the forma- 

 tion, 9/. per acre per annum. It will only re- 

 quire a few years before these meadows will 

 be as productive as the former ; for it is evi- 

 85 



dent that the longer water is suffered to run 

 over the surface of grass land, the greater 

 quantity of fertilizing substance will be collect- 

 ed; therefore, as the water is so very superior 

 in quality to all other water, a speedy return 

 for the capital laid out may be expected. The 

 expense of keeping these meadows in repair is 

 from 10s. to 15s. per acre per annum, which is 

 more than double the expense of keeping wa- 

 ter meadows in repair in general. 



It by no means, however, follows, as a neces- 

 sary result of any contemplated improvement 

 in irrigation, that the water should previously 

 undergo a chemical examination. There are 

 many other modes by which the farmer cart 

 form a pretty correct conclusion as to the fer- 

 tilizing properties of the water he. proposes to 

 employ. 



" The surest proofs," says Mr. Exeter, "of the 

 good quality of water (and the observations of 

 this gentleman will be readily confirmed by the 

 irrigators of the southern counties) as a ma- 

 nure, are the verdure of the margin of its 

 streams, and the growth of strong cresses in 

 the stream itself; and wherever these appear- 

 ances are found, though the water be perfectly 

 transparent, the occupier of the soil through 

 which it flows may depend, in general, on hav- 

 ing a treasure, if he is attentive to it ; but that 

 this is not invariably the case, and that there 

 are instances where a good water will not im- 

 prove the herbage of certain soils, is proved by 

 the following account (and there are several 

 other cases with which I am acquainted) of 

 the meadows of Mr. Orchard, of Stokes Abbey, 

 Devon. These two meadows are situated on 

 the side of a hill, their aspect nearly south 

 the superstratum a fine rich loam, from 8 to 10 

 inches deep, on a substratum of strong yellow 

 clay. No difference whatever can be seen by 

 the naked eye, in either the upper mould or 

 the substratum, or in the herbage growing on 

 the surface of them ; except that, in the lower 

 part of one, a few rushes appear, in conse- 

 quence of some small springs which rise near 

 them, but the water from them is not sufficient 

 to render any part of the land poachy. At the 

 head of the two meadows is a large pond, 

 formed by the collecting of some small runs of 

 spring water rising near it, and which is also 

 improved by the wash of a small farm-yard 

 adjoining, which, of course, must add to its 

 efficacy as a manure. When this water is 

 thrown over one of the meadows, it produces 

 the richest herbage in abundance, and this 

 field is regularly mowed for hay ; on the other 

 meadow, though repeatedly tried, it produces 

 no good whatever." (Jinn, of Jlgr. vol. xxx. 

 p. 206.) 



This result is attributable to the superior 

 tenacious, retentive quality of the substratum 

 of the lower field, or of some chemical differ- 

 ence in the composition of the soil ; and al- 

 I though almost any description of soil is adapt- 

 ed to the formation of water meadows, those of 

 a heavy clay description are generally the 

 most unsuitable, those of a light or peaty kind 

 are better, and those with a sandy or very ab- 

 sorbent gravel substratum still more so. There 

 are some of the most celebrated water mea- 

 dows on the banks of the Kennet of this de- 

 3L 673 



