140 AGRICULTIJHE Oy THE RHIXE. 



he accomplished is that the flow of the water shall everj'- 

 where be perceptible, and that none remains stagnant in 

 any part. In the beginning of winter, when the frost sets 

 in; the water is kept off the land. If the weather is open 

 and rain falls, the water may be turned on again. 



Spring is the season that demands the farmer's care. In 

 mild rainy weather the irrigation may be continued ; but 

 after floods, as in the autumn, the water must be allowed 

 to settle. When the sun grows powerful the irrigation 

 must cease altogether. In March and April a little 

 moistening is allowable ; but in these and the following 

 months the water may only be spread during the night. 

 In the middle of June occasional night-watering does 

 good, but none is let on for four weeks previous to the 

 hay harvest. 



The practice of cutting late in order that the grass may 

 sow itself is common in the district of Siegen, and differs 

 very much from the Italian plan, according to which the 

 grass is cut when it attains its full length without its be- 

 ing allowed to ripen. The colour of the hay at Siegen 

 is not good, and it is not greedily eaten by horses. The 

 ripening of the seed must also exhaust the land. 



As the water-meadows are not manured, all the dung 

 of the stables is appropriated to the arable and garden 

 land, which is usually small in extent ; but of a cold 

 meagre nature, and very unproductive. The fields lie on 

 slopes suflflciently level to retain the soil in heavy rains, 

 but too high to be watered. The decomposed clay slate, 

 of which the hills are mostly composed and which forms 

 the upper soil, is void of all mixture of limestone, and 

 none is to be had at any convenient distance for manuring. 

 Crops are consequently poor, and corn has to be pur- 



