288 On Warping Land. 



the contiguous lands, whether cultivated or not, from being 

 overflowed. The ti'de is then admitted, and detained, until 

 the sediment in the water is deposited, upon the surface of 

 the land. To render the plan efficacious, there must be a 

 complete power over the water, either to keep it out, or to 

 let it in, according to circumstances ; and to accomplish 

 these objects, there must be, not only a cut or canal made 

 to join the river, but a sluice, (provincial! y dough), to open 

 or shut, as required. The effect is very different from that 

 of irrigation, for it is not the water that produces the effect, 

 but the warp or mud ; and the great object is, not to ma- 

 nure, but to create a soil of the richest quality, and that at a 

 moderate expense ( 465 ). 



4. The Season for Warping. June, July, and August are 

 undoubtedly the best months for warping, on account of 

 their being in general the driest seasons of the year. Land, 

 however, may be warped in any season, provided the weather 

 be dry, and the fresh water in the river very low. When 

 the season is wet, and the river full of fresh water, this ope- 

 ration cannot be advantageously executed. The fresh water, 

 in this case, stems the tide, and occasions a degree of stag- 

 nation, favourable to the repose of the prepared matter, 

 and consequently it is not half so muddy, nor capable of de- 

 positing the same quantity of sediment, as when the tide 

 flows in more freely, and stirs up the mud. Warping, in 

 spring, is attended with no peculiar advantage, more than 

 in summer, as there can be no crop the first year. The se- 

 diment must lie to soak and dry, before the ground can be 

 cultivated ( 4(J5 ). 



5. The Expense and Profit Without ascertaining the si- 

 tuation of the lands proposed to be warped, it is impossi- 

 ble to calculate the sum it will require to embank the 

 lands, to build the doughs or sluices, to cut the drains, 

 &c., and the quantity of land the same drains and cloughs 

 will be sufficient to warp ; for the greater the quantity, the 

 less will be the expense per acre. There are great quanti- 

 ties of land, however, which might be warped, for so small 

 a sum as from L.3 to L.4 per acre; an expense trifling, 

 when compared to the profit that is derived from the opera- 

 tion. Mr Webster, at Bankside, in Yorkshire, purchased 

 a farm of 212 acres, which he warped. The price was L.ll 

 per acre, and the expense of warping about L.12 more, or 

 L.23 in all. It was immediately rendered by warping worth 

 L.70, and in some parts, even L.100 per acre, at which 

 price warped land frequently sells : but even at L.70 the 



