NOTES. 47 



though they in general like moisture, and injure crops most in damp weather, 

 yet do not agree with wetness. 



446 Smith's Observations on Water- Meadows, &c. p. 93. The celebrated 

 wheel invented by Mickle, and employed for raising water to float off the moss 

 at Blair- Drummond, in Stirlingshire, might supply the water. Mr Boys men- 

 tions a wind-pump near Deal, that costs only thirty guineas, and would raise 

 1600 butts in twenty-four hours. 



447 Middlesex Report, p. 322. 



448 Smith's Observations, p. 87. 



449 Several works are published, which give practical directions for the for- 

 mation and management of water-meadows : as those of Wright and Boswell, 

 Smith's Treatise, above quoted, and Mr Young's Calendar. In the Ap- 

 pendix to the General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 130, there are several 

 useful plans and suggestions, by Mr John Boulton, a native of Gloucester- 

 shire, who had been for seven years an irrigator there, and has since practised 

 for above twelve years in Aberdeenshire. 



450 Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 260. 



45 1 The plan resembled in principle the modern system of warping. 



452 Marshall's Midland Counties, Minute 27. The system of floating w;>- 

 wards ought, however, not to be given up, as it may answer in many cases, 

 where irrigation cannot be practised, but at an enormous expense. 



453 After fens are flooded by the breaking of banks, the water generally lies 

 on the ground during a whole year : much mischief is done, but the land pro- 

 duces afterwards great and clean crops. 



454 Colonel Fullarton's Report of Ayrshire, p. 48 ; and General Report of 

 Scotland, vol. ii. p. 361. The crops should be sown on lazy-beds. 



455 The observations on the flooding waste lands, are principally taken from 

 Dr Rennie's Treatise upon that subject, printed in the General Report of Scot- 

 land. Appendix, vol. ii. p. 17. 



456 In the end of summer, and beginning of autumn, if there is a severe frost 

 for a few hours, its effects are peculiarly destructive near flooded lands. 



457 An account of this curious practice was given me by the Baron A. de 

 Meyondorff, a Livonian nobleman, in 1329, whose post-town is Riga. 



458 When the political divisions of a country are made the basis of inquiry, 

 no part of it is overlooked or neglected ; and there is reason to expect, that 

 every local useful practice may be brought to light, and ample information ob- 

 tained, regarding the real state of a country, and the means of its improvement. 



459 Lincolnshire Report, p. 326. 



460 An account of the Italian practice will be found in the Appendix, 

 No. XII. p. 44. 



461 Mr Day of Doncaster, (West Riding Report, p. 171), states, that warp- 

 ing was first tried " about 50 years ago," and his information was given in 

 1793. Mr Marshall was informed at Booth Ferry, near Armin, that one Bar- 

 ker, a small farmer at Rawcliff, was the first warper of land ; and that Jennings 

 of Armin, was a Stewart or professional person, who extended the practice- Tra- 

 dition says, that Barker, like other men of aspiring genius, hurt himself at the 

 outset, (as is too often the case), by the prosecution of his scheme, which he was, 

 in consequence, on the point of giving up ; but laying his case before a friend, 

 he advanced him fifty pounds, which enabled him to complete his grand design, 

 by which he afterwards made a little money, so as to be able to forward his 

 children's progress in life. One of his sorts is now settled in business at Hull. 

 Mr Marshall very properly adds, that those who have made, or are making for- 

 tunes by this discovery, ought to ascertain who made it, and should lose no time, 

 in raising a monument to his memory. Eastern Department, p. 107, note. 

 Mr Wells, of Booth Ferry, near Howden, mentions it as a tradition, that the 

 utility of this process was an accidental discovery. A stubble field was inundated 

 with water from the river, and covered with mud. The benefit which the field 



