Duty of Water on Water-meadows 219 



THE DUTY OF WATER ON WATER-MEADOWS 



In this form of irrigation, immense volumes of water are 

 used on the land. In Italy, where the practice has attained 

 the highest stage of perfection, where it may have had its 

 origin, and from which been introduced into France, and even 

 into England at the time of the Roman invasion, the duty of 

 water appears to average only about 1.5 acres per cubic foot per 

 second. On these meadows in Italy there is maintained a nearly 

 continuous flow of water, night and day, from September 8 to 

 March 28 of each year, this being the legal time allotted to 

 Marcite, or winter-meadow irrigation. 



The lands are so laid out that the roots of the grass over the 

 whole meadow are continuously submerged beneath a thin veil 

 of relatively warm running water, this being turned off only long 

 enough to cut the grass, which is done two or three times during 

 the winter season, the green grass being used for the winter feed 

 of dairy cows, which are largely kept in the irrigated portions of 

 Italy. So large is the quantity of water used during a single 

 season on these meadows that did none of it drain away they 

 would become submerged to a depth of 300 feet. 



Carpenter, quoting Mangon, states that in southern France 

 and in the Vosges, where the most careful measurements of the 

 water applied to the meadows have been made, amounts are used 

 in some cases sufficient to cover the surface 1,400 feet deep ; 

 and that of this great volume, as much water as 160 feet on the 

 level sinks into and percolates through the soil of the field during 

 a winter season. But even in the summer irrigation, as much as 

 374 feet of water on the level are applied between April and 

 July, while of this amount no less than 88 feet percolates into 

 the ground or is evaporated. 



The meadows upon which these large volumes of water are 

 applied are usually permanent ones, and have had their surfaces 

 fitted with the greatest care, so that the relatively warm water 

 may be kept steadily flowing over the surface about the roots of 

 the grass in a thin veil until it is ready to cut, when it is turned 

 off only long enough to remove the crop. 



