218 THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



is not so much as when arable lands are submerged, sometimes carry- 

 ing away quantities of good soil, and otherwise spoiling the land for 

 some time afterwards. Caution and judgment must, however, be 

 used in forming embankments, as it is very essential to avoid pro- 

 jecting any portion of them so as to place it in the way of the water. 

 All turns and curves should be made with bold sweeps, so as to allow 

 the water to pass freely along without receiving any impediment in any 

 way. 



The course of the river itself should be examined, and any projecting 

 points should be removed and curved round, and all other obstacles 

 likely to check the water from flowing freely. 



The cost of the formation of embankments may be calculated pre- 

 viously by taking the distance the earth has to be removed, and cal- 

 culating the amount of cubic feet or yards a man will remove in one 

 day. If the earth can be removed with shovels alone, it will of course 

 cost less than if it is of such a degree of hardness that it requires to be 

 loosened with a pick. From experiments made, I find that an able- 

 bodied workman can throw out on an average nearly nineteen cubic 

 yards of loose soil in one day of ten hours. Presuming an able labourer 

 at work by contract, who will earn 3s. per day, this will give nearly 2d. 

 as the cost of throwing the soil into a cart, waggon, or barrow. 



Supposing the earth to be conveyed in wheelbarrows a distance of 

 about one hundred feet on an average, one man will wheel a loaded 

 barrow and empty it and return with it in the time that another man 

 will fill another barrow that is, presuming the ground is level. Thus 

 the cost of transportation will be about other 2d. per yard. There will 

 have to be added the formation and beating of the bank, and the tear 

 and wear of barrows, planks, &c. ; also the first lifting of turf on the 

 site of the bank, and the relaying of it on the bank. The size of the 

 bank will have to be taken into consideration, and the number of 

 cubic yards calculated in it per lineal yard. It is a good plan to have 

 the contractor bound in his agreement to uphold the bank for, say, six 

 or eight months after finishing it. This will cause him to pay more 

 attention in its first formation, and the chances are that the bank will 

 be more substantially made. No data can be accurately given as to 

 the cost of an embankment without knowing the character of the soil 

 to be removed, the size of the bank required, the distance the soil has 

 to be carted or wheeled, and the character of the ground over which it 

 has to be transported. 



It often occurs in the case of rivers that the banks are almost per- 

 pendicular, and the water gradually undermines the lower portion of 

 them, and this more especially where the soil is loose and friable. When 



