NEW EWGX.AND FAEiMEK, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoricui.tubjl Warkhocsk.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24, 1836. 



NO. 33. 



(For the New Engliind Fanner.) 

 IRRIGA.TIOIir, 



Bv Hon. John W. Lincoln. 



(Continued from page 255.) 



1st. — The Objects of Irrigation. 



" It is geiiprally supposed, that watering lands is 

 only calculated for the purpose of encouraging the 

 production of grass ; but irrigation is likewise 

 applicable to the culture of grain, and has even 

 been made use of for promoting the growth of 

 timber 



" 1st. Grass There are four modes by which 



water promotes the melioration of grass lands. It 

 preserves a favorable degree of temperature ; im- 

 proves the crop, by the nourisiiing substances it 

 conveys ; destroys heaths and other weeds, which 

 delight in a dry soil ; and as a mere element it is 

 beneficial, more especially in dry seasons. 



" Running water prevents the tender roots and 

 leaves of grass, from being affected by cold ; and 

 if the irrigation be carried on in .smnmer, the wa- 

 ter coo's the plants and the soil. In either season, 

 it moderates the temperature, but it is particularly 

 useful in winter and spring, by forwarding the 

 rasses so much, that in the course of the j'ear 

 almost double the product, under careful manage- 

 ment, may he obtained. 



" Water, as a carrier, conveys other substances 

 :o the soil, by which it may be enriched. 'J'his 

 s obviously the case when land is irrigated by 

 nuddy waters, which leave behind tliom rich 

 nould, and other substances. If lime or inarl be 

 leld'in so ution, the waters become highly enricb- 

 ng. Other soluble and nutritive substances are 

 Iso capable of being conveyed by water in the 

 arae manner on passing through fertile tracts. 



Meadow plants cut green, without any external 

 loisture on their stalks or leaves, and afterwards 

 ried, lose by exsiccation from 66 to 70 parts out of 

 00. This very large proportion of moisture — 

 lOugh water is perhaps not the only substance 

 arried oti' — is a direct proof, that water ilself 

 nters largely into the composition of those vege- 

 ibles. Water is likewise of use, by the more 

 quable diffusion of nutritive matter in the soil 

 hieh it necessarily occasions. 

 " The system of watering lands, however, can 

 ver be carried to perfection, unless when accom- 

 anied by drainage and enclosure. Stagnant wa- 

 r and impetuous torrents do essential injm-y ; 

 U if entirely under command, so that it may be 

 id on or taken off at pleasure, water may become 

 useful instrument in the hands of a skilful hus- 

 mdman. Drainage is, therefore, a necessary |)re- 

 iration for irrigation. 



" With respect to enclosure, it cannot be of any 

 al tise to water lands, unless they are secured by 



I itable fences, from poaching and trespass. In- 



deed these are necessary, not only for the advantage 

 of the grass, but for the safety of the stock, as 

 sheep cannot be suffered to resort to lands flooded 

 in suinmor, from the risk of the rot. 



" 2d. Corn. — In the East Indies, not only rice, 

 but wheat and barley are raised by means of Irri- 

 gation ; and it ■ has long been a practice in some 

 parts of Scotland, to enrich the soil for crops of 

 grain, by the same means. Mr Serymsoure, of 

 Tcaling, a gentleman in Torfarshire, followed the 

 practice for nearly fifly years, and with such suc- 

 cess, that by the operation, one enclosure, which 

 had got into an exhausted state, was so enriched 

 by it, that it preserved an imcommon degree of 

 fertility for a succession of crops, (one of them 

 wheat) without fallow, lime, or marl, and with very 

 moderate assistance from dung. The common 

 method was very different. After watering for 

 one or two seasons, they ploughed for, oats, and 

 by taking two or three successive crops, the soil 

 was exhausted, and run out into weeds and pov- 

 erty. Nothing else could be expected fror»i such 

 management. But in other parts of Scotland, 

 irrigation was not only practiced with considerable 

 success, and for crops of grain, but it contributed 

 to destroy the immense quantities of wild oats 

 which formerly were so prevalent, and for the de- 

 struction of which no other means were known, 

 previous to the introdiiction of fallowing and of 

 green cVops. 



" The system of irrigating for corn seems like- 

 wise to have succeeded in Somersetshire, where a 

 large tract of country, suffered to remain in pas- 

 ture for two years, was, during that time, at stated 

 intervals, regularly flooded by a stream descending 

 from the bids. It was then subjected to the fol- 

 lowing rotation of crops : first, wheat on the ley ; 

 second, turnips; and third, barley, and artificial 

 grasses. The produce of grain was very consid- 

 erable, namely of wheat, from 40 to 50 bushels, 

 and of barley from 50 to 60 bushels per statute 

 acre. In a late publication on the utility of water 

 meadows, a question therefore is not improperly 

 put, whether, upon ])articidar soils and under cer- 

 tain circumstances, irrigation might not produce 

 similar effects upon wheat, and several other plants 

 of the field and the garden, as upon herbage ? 

 The author adds, no good reason can be assigned 

 why this valuable improvement should be restrict- 

 ed to the cultivation of grasses. 



"Plantations. — It is recorded in the statistical 

 account of Scotland, that irrigation has likewise 

 been used for a very singular purjiose. Capt. 

 Shand, of Templand, in Aberdeenshire, conducted 

 water through his young plantations, and found 

 that when done with judgment, it was the cheap- 

 est and most effectual mode of en«ouraging the 

 growth of trees. To the alder, the willow, and 

 even the birch, and tlie ash, it may be of use ; 

 unless in very dry soils, however, it must be dan- 

 gerous to forest trees. But on the whole, the im- 

 j)rovetnent of grass, seems to be the great object 

 to which the watering of lands is applicable. 



2d. The Methods of conducting the Process. 



"Water meadows are of two sorts : Rowing-, 

 calculated for a flat country ; and catch-work for 

 sloping grounds. 



" Flowing Meadows. — Where the ground is flat, 

 the soil formed into beds, or broad ridges, like 

 tho.se met with at bleach fields. ■ They are com- 

 monly from 30 to 40 feet wide, and nine or ten 

 poles in length ; as in such situations, the great 

 object is, when once brought on, to he able to 

 carry off the water quickly. Hence it is necessary 

 to throw up the land into high ridges, with drains 

 between them. More of the failures in irrigation 

 arise from the ridges not being sufiiciently high, 

 and the slopes not being sufiiciently steep, than 

 from any other cause. 



" Catch-work Meadows. — It is difficult to give 

 an intclligiblv written description of the mode of 

 making these meadows. To be properly under- 

 stood, the operation must be seen. It may, how- 

 ever, in general be remarked, that the system is 

 calculated for sloping grounds ; and that after the 

 water is brought from the original stream, into a. 

 new cut, it is stopped at the end, so that when the 

 trench is full, the water is compelled to run at the 

 side, and flood the land below it. But as the 

 water would soon cease to run equally for any 

 considerable length, and would wash the land out 

 in gutters, it has been found necessary to cut 

 small parallel trenches, at the distance of from 20 to 

 30 feet, to catch the water again, (hence the name 

 originated,) and the same plan of spreading and 

 ditlusing, is continued until the v/ater reaches the 

 main drain at the bottom of the meadow. It is a 

 great advantage attending the catch-work system, 

 that it is not only less expensive, but the same 

 (piantity of water will do much more work. 



" In either of these ways, irrigation promotes 

 the growth of grass. The herbage of dry laud is 

 impoverished from the want of water ; that of wet 

 land, by its remaining stagnant ; but both these 

 evils are remedied by these processes. 



3d. Circumstances TO BE considered, previous 

 TO the Plan being undertaken. 



" The first point to be ascertained is, whether 

 there be a sufficient quantity of water at com- 

 mand. For want of due attention to this impor- 

 tant circumstance, mistakes have sometimes been 

 made, both in England and Scotland, which have 

 been extremely jirejndicial to the advancement of 

 irrigation. 



" The next objects are, the quality of the water, 

 and the nature of the soil, and subsoil, proposed 

 to be irrigated. It is then proper to consider how 

 and where the water can be taken out of the stream. 

 This can only be done with a proper level ; and 

 the assistance of a professed irrigator will be 

 necessary. 



" Irrigation being an operation requiring con- 

 siderable nicety and skill, cannot be advantage- 

 ously conducted without attentive hands to from 

 the soil, to lay on and shift the water, and to 



