NEW JB]¥GL.AND FARMElt 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BAKKETT, NO. 52. NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoricultural Warehouse.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 2, 1836. 



NO. 34. 



-a.-s?ES<s\£rs>t?^i'iai53=, 



(For the New England Farmer.) 



irrig-ition, 



By Hon. John VV. Lincoln. 



(Continued from page 'I.^S.) 

 7th. Thf, Profit of Irrigation. 

 "The profit lesuhing from this operation, when 

 properly condiietod, is always considerable. Mr 

 Wilkinson proves, by authentic doouinents, that 

 all the out>;oings, liolh capital and interest, were 

 refunded in two years, besides a very permanent 

 increase in the value of the land. Mr Eyres de- 

 rived great advantage front his meadow even the 

 first season, by pasturing on it sheep, cattle, and 

 even cart horses. Mr Clough found that land, 

 which before irrigation was applied was not worth 

 more than sis shillings per acre, was thereby in- 

 creased in value to £2 1.5s. jier acre, even to a 

 farmer; and if let to the inhabitants of a market 

 town in the neighborhood, would fetch £3 10s. if 

 not more. The fcdiowing is the statement given 

 of profit from the formation of an irrigated mea- 

 dow on the estate of Mr Ferguson, of Pitfour, in 

 Scotland, who lias carried on that species of im- 

 provement, with much energy and success. 

 1st. Interest, at 7 1-2 per cent, on the ori- 

 ginal expense of making, £10, on an 

 average per Scotch acre, - - - £0 15 

 ■2d. The old rent of the land, - - - -0100 

 3d. The annual expense, - . . - 8 



£1 13 

 " The annual value being £4 per acre, hence it 

 is stated there is a clear profit of £2 7s. per acre 

 per annum. 



" A very distinct account is given of the ex- 

 pense and. profit of a water meadow, in the Hamp- 

 shire Report. 'J'he produce is stated at £9 3s. 4d. 

 per annum, without including the advantage of 

 folding the sheep from the meadow, on tillage or 

 other uplands, which is estimated to be worth 16s. 

 8d. more. The expenses, including the interest 

 of the money expended in forming the meadow, 

 amount to £5 18s. 6d., leaving a balance of £3 4s. 

 lOd. in fiivor of the meadow. It is, however, 

 alleged, that neither the grass, nor the hay, con- 

 tains those feeding or fattening qualities, which 

 are found in upland herbage. The stock ivill hold 

 their own, or keep in the state they were in when 

 put to such food ; they will increase in size, but 

 not in condition. Others will not admit, to its full 

 extent, the truth of that doctrine, and besides 

 maintain, that the benefits resulting from irriga- 

 tion are sufficiently ample to supportthe practice, 

 even though its produce may not possess a feeding 

 or grazing quality. Nor Is the pecuniary profit 

 arising from irrigation so material as those indi- 

 rect, or secondary advantages resulting from the 

 systenj, which shall be afterwards detailed. 



8th. The Grasses best adapted for Water 

 Meadows. 

 ■" Where .the catch-work systenn is adopted, the 



surface of the meadow is rarely much broken ; 

 the ii.-itiiriil grasses in the ground are trusted to, 

 and it is seldom necessary to procure any seeds, 

 except for bare or vacant spots. When ridges, 

 however, are formed by the spade, or the i)lough, 

 they are generally tiestitute of grass when first laid 

 down. It is net essary, therefore, to sow the seeds 

 of such plants as are best calculated to jiroduce 

 valuable and abundant crops. 'I'hc most usual 

 are, — 1st, Perennial red clover, cow, or marl 

 grass {tnfolium Jlcxiiosum) ; 2d, The rough stalk 

 meadow grass (poa trivialis) ; and 3d, The crest- 

 ed dog's-tail {q/nosurus cristatus) ; Timothy {pfde- 

 um pratense) is greatly preferred for water mead- 

 ows in America ; and in boggy lands, florin {agros- 

 tis stolonifera) is found peculiarly productive in 

 that species of soil. Where the object is pasture, 

 rather than hay, white clover ought not to be 

 omitted. The soil of itself, when watered, will 

 produce grasses the most congenial to the state of 

 tne land, and the degree of moisture applied to it; 

 but a little manure at the commencement of irri- 

 gation by beds (unless the turf has been pared 

 and preserved to be put upon the surface) is 

 thought by some adviseable. 



9th. The Stock to be fed on Water Meadows. 

 " The advantage which a sheep farmer derives, 

 when the climate will admit of it, by feeding his 

 ewes and lambs in spring on a watered meadow, 

 can hardly be estimated. At that pinching period 

 of the year food is always scarce, and lambs once 

 checked in their growth cannot soon be fattened 

 afterwards. There is an interregnum (if I maybe 

 allowed to use that expression) between the vege- 

 tation of one year and that of another, which is 

 best supplied by an early crop of grass. Where 

 this expedient is not resorted to (unless where 

 Swedish turnips are extensively cultivated) the 

 farmer may have nothing to give his flocks, and 

 then he will suff'er severely. During spring. Bake- 

 well recommends that no heavier slock than sheep 

 or calves should be admitted on the meadow. 

 Much, however, depends upon the quality of the 

 soil and subsoil, for where either consists of gravel, 

 a farmer can feed his cows during spring, and 

 after making a considerable quantity of cheese, 

 may obtain three tons of hay per acre. In Wilt- 

 shire, after a crop of hay is taken, it is not usual 

 to attempt a second, unless hay is very scarce ; for 

 the grass being of a soft nature, it takes so much 

 time to dry that it can seldom be well made into hay, 

 but it is of much greater value when fed with 

 dairy cows, who may remain on the meadows, till 

 the flooder begins to prepare for the winter water- 

 ing. In autumn, fatting beasts, and even cart 

 horses, have been put on a water meadow. 



lOth. On Water Meadow Hat. 

 " The grass of water meadows being frequently 

 large and coarse in its nature, makes it advisable 

 to cut it young ; and then, if it be well made, the 

 hay is of a nourishing and milky quality, either 

 for ewes, or dairy cows. It has likewise been 

 given to horses, and when properly made, they 



thrive upon it. It is proper, however, to observe, 

 that from the great succulence of the herbage, the 

 making of water meadow hay requires a very con- 

 siderable degree of attention ; and that when the 

 grass from which it is made has been overwatered, 

 or rendered impure by scum or mud; or when 

 the hay has been ill made in the fields, or injured 

 in the stacks, it will be hurtful to any stock to 

 whom it is given ; but that altogether originatcB 

 tiom mismanagement ; and it has been found by 

 experience, that cows, if they do'not fatten so well, 

 yet give much more milk from water fed hay, cut 

 early, from its softness and siicculency, than from 

 any hay made from grass naturally instead of be- 

 ing artificially irrigated. 



11th. Objections urged against Irrigation. 



" It has been asserted, that water meadows ren- 

 der a country unhealthy, by making the water 

 stagnant. But no opinion can be more erroneous. 

 In fact, where meadows are irrigated, the water 

 must constantly be passing over the surface with 

 a brisk current, and always kept in action, to be 

 of any service. Many of the best meadows also, 

 in their original state, were unwholesome mo- 

 rasses, the draining of which has essentially con- 

 tributed to the salubrity of the air. 



" Others think, 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 eatit, and when they 

 do, their appearance proclaims that it is far from 

 being of a nutritious quality. But this objection 

 is never applicable to meadows skilfully made, 

 and properly managed ; and whenever the grasses 

 are coarse, they should be cut earlier, if intended 

 for hay. Rushes and water plants are proofs that 

 the meadow lies too flat and is ill managed. 



12th. Advantages of Irrigation. 

 " Where the situation is favorable, the following 

 benefits result from the ]>ractice of irrigation. 1st, 

 With the exception of warping, it is by far the 

 easiest, cheapest, and most certain mode of im- 

 proving poor land, in particular any poor, dry, 

 gravelly soil. 2d, The land, when once im- 

 proved, is put in a state of perpetual fertility, \v\t\t- 

 out any occasion for manure, or trouble of weed- 

 ing, or any other material expense. 3d, Itbecemcs 

 so productive as to be capable of yielding the 

 largest bulk of hay, besides one or two crops of 

 pasture, every year. 4th, In favorable situations, 

 it yields grass early in the season, when it is 

 doubly valuable ; and .5th, Not only is the land 

 thus rendered fertile, without having any occasion 

 for manure, but it produces food for animals, 

 which is converted into manure to be used on 

 other lands, thus augmenting, in a compound pro- 

 portion, that great source of fertility. Were these 

 advantages more genera ly known, or more fully 

 appreciated, all the districts in the kingdom might 

 become like South Cerney, in Gloucestershire, 

 where every spring or rivulet, however insignifi- 

 cant, is made subservient to the purpose of irriga^ 



