884 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK ix. 



of little worth ; but, by judicious watering and draining, it may be made 

 to produce an ample crop of hay. Much expense and judgment are, 

 however, necessary to bring this sort of land into cultivation; and 

 when it is very boggy, it requires more and longer watering than sandy 

 or gravelly soils. 



3. Strong, wet, and cold clay soils are the least susceptible of 

 improvement from irrigation, not only because of the frequent dead 

 level of their situation, but also from their tenacity, which will not 

 admit of their being drained without great expense and trouble. But 

 where the latter can be effected, and a strong body of water can be 

 thrown over them from a fertilising river during winter, whilst a warm 

 spring season follows, it has been stated that the crops of grass upon 

 such lands are immense. 



4. It may also be observed, that springy land is by no means suited 

 to irrigation, until it has been rendered firm and compact by a thorough 

 draining ; for the water thrown upon it will soak into it, and cause it 

 to produce, at best, only a coarse and rank herbage. 



Water-meadows are of local rather than of general interest, and as 

 such have seldom been made the subject of exhaustive inquiry. It is 

 hoped, therefore, that the following brief account of a definite investi- 

 gation which we made may present some features worthy of notice. 



The land on the banks of the Christchurch Avon, a river rising in 

 North Wilts, and flowing southwards through Wilts and South Hants 

 to enter the English Channel at Christchurch, is extensively laid out 

 in water-meadows. The particular meadows here noticed are on the 

 western side of the river, in South Hants, about eight miles south of 

 Salisbury. They lie upon a transported soil resting on the Upper 

 Chalk. This soil has originated, partly, no doubt, from the deposits 

 left by the river which has cut the valley, but chiefly from the rain- 

 wash which has rolled down the slopes of the Chalk " Downs " on the 

 west. This rain-wash consists of the aluminous and siliceous residue 

 derived from the weathering of the highly soluble chalk-rock. The 

 soil of the water-meadows, is in effect, a somewhat clayey loam, and, 

 though it rests on the chalk, it is only in a slight degree calcareous. 



The system of irrigation is intermittent, and is carried out by an 

 arrangement of artificial water " carriers," varying from two feet to 

 four or five yards in width, the feeding " carriers " occupying the 

 summits of ridges, and the drainage "carriers " extending along inter- 

 vening furrows. By means of sluices the " meads," as they are locally 

 termed, can be flooded at will, and the water is allowed to remain on 

 them for from three to fourteen days, and then they are dried for a 

 period the duration of which depends upon local circumstances. 

 This alternate flooding and drying goes on from September to March, 

 when the meads remain unflooded for a month or more, in order that 

 they may be grazed by sheep. Periodical floodings are then resorted 

 to till the middle of June, after which the meadows are dried for 

 mowing. Towards the end of July they are again flooded, and after- 

 wards grazed by horses and cattle till September. 



