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General Principles and Directions for Irrigation. Vol. XI. 



the means of getting rid of the water, and 

 without having a gradual, though not a ra- 

 pid, transmission of the water over the sur- 

 face ; but in cases where the inclination is 

 too great, the supply must be more gradu- 

 ally rendered. 



The frequency with which water may be 

 applied to meadows, and the length of time 

 which it maybe suffered to remain on them, 

 are points lo be considered. At Welbeck, 

 at the Duke of Portland's, after the prepared 

 land was sown with grass seeds, the water 

 was brought upon them as soon as it was 

 thought they would bear it ; i. e., after they 

 had become sufficiently rooted, and the 

 ground consolidated around them. This 

 would vary, according to the season, from 

 one month to six. The great danger to be 

 apprehended upon newly-sown lands is the 

 washing away the dirt from their roots. 

 The duke himself remarks that, " short of 

 that, they cannot be watered too soon, or 

 too long at a time, unless the land has very 

 recently been drained, in which case it 

 would not be well to increase the natural 

 strength of the springs until the land had 

 forgotten its wet propensities. On really 

 dry land there are only two limits to the 

 length of irrigation, viz., the want of water, 

 and the want of consistency in the soil, so 

 that it shall not be washed away from the 

 roots of the grass." 



After the grass had become sufficiently 

 strong, the water was kept going over it for 

 about four days, and then taken off. The 

 grass was mown as soon as it was ready for 

 the scythe, and the water again turned over. 

 The same course was pursued upon the old 

 grass land. About once a month, the water 

 is turned on for three or four days at a time, 

 according to the supply, and this throughout 

 the year. When the water is abundant, it 

 is applied oftener than once a month ; but 

 how long it should be kept on, is somewhat 

 matter of judgment in reference to the wea- 

 ther and the state of the ground. The man- 

 ager of the works chooses to keep it on until 

 he sees its effects upon the grass. 



Lord Hatherton, on his meadows at Ted- 

 desley Park, informs me, that they com- 

 mence irrigation about the 1st of Novem- 

 ber, and the water remains three or four 

 days on the land. If the supply is sufficient, 

 it should be renewed once a fortnight. In 

 a dry season, it is advisable to apply it im- 

 mediately after cutting the grass; but it 

 must not then be allowed to remain many 

 hours in the same place, especially if the 

 sun is powerful. 



Mr. Oliver, at Lochend, where the sewer- 

 age water of the city was used, deemed it 

 unsafe to apply the irrigation immediately 



after the cutting of the grass, but considered 

 it altogether advisable to wait until the grass 

 had acquired some growth. The sewerage 

 water, in this case, was of great strength, 

 and a different rule was applicable from a 

 case where the water of irrigation was pure. 

 Mr. Reals, who farms some cold land one 

 thousand feet above the level of the sea, in 

 Somersetshire, and who has improved a con- 

 siderable tract by irrigation, says, that " the 

 water should never be suffered to remain in 

 one place over the grass more than two or 

 three days at a time without being changed; 

 nor be turned upon the land in order to re- 

 main there during frost; but should the frost 

 set in while the water is on, by no means 

 alter it until the frost is gone; for if the 

 surface is exposed, and the frost continues, 

 it will most likely lift the land and kill the 

 grass." 



These observations will have peculiar 

 value in New England, where the frosts are 

 severe, and where grass lands, upon which 

 water stands in the winter, or lands upon 

 which grain has been sown in the autumn, 

 if particularly wet, are sure to suffer most 

 severely from freezing. 



I have already spoken of the quality of 

 the water used for irrigation. At Lord 

 Hatherton's, it is the water gathered from 

 the different drains, in different parts of the 

 farm, whose position was such that their 

 supplies could be turned to this purpose. 

 At the Duke of Portland's, a small river, 

 called the Maun, running through the neigh- 

 bouring town of Mansfield, supplies the wa- 

 ter of irrigation. After strong rains, when 

 the washings of the streets and sewers of 

 this town are' poured into the river, its wa- 

 ters become quite turbid, and have a supe- 

 rior efficacy. The sediment deposited by a 

 single watering, in such cases, is very ob- 

 servable. I shall presently speak more at 

 large of the application of sewerage water. 

 "In the management of the crops of grass 

 upon irrigated meadows," says one whose 

 practical knowledge of the subject allows 

 him to speak with authority, "experience 

 has shown that to let the grass grow to be 

 too old, viz., until the seed of it is in a for- 

 ward state, is productive of very great in- 

 jury to the land. When the grass has been 

 cut for hay in this state, and brown at bot- 

 tom, the land does not recover for a great 

 length of time. It is also found very desira- 

 ble, after beginning any meadow, or portion 

 of a meadow, which receives the water from 

 one carrier, and at one time, that the con- 

 sumption of it in a green state should be 

 carried on as quickly as possible, so that in 

 dry weather the water may not be kept off 

 of it too long ; for in that case it requires so 



