76 



Irrigation and Drainage 



irrigated by pumps, worked usually by horse-power, taking water 

 from wells or cisterns. In the mountainous portions of the Tyrol, 

 meadow irrigation is said to be both very extensive and very 

 ancient, and in recent times many of the old works have been 

 reconstructed and new ones introduced. 



So, too, in parts of Bavaria, meadow irrigation is common, 

 and at Baiersdorf, on the river Regnitz, the writer counted, in 



Fig. 15. Wheel for lifting water, at Baiersdorf, Bavaria. 



1895, no less than 20 of the wheels represented in Fig. 15 in a 

 distance of 1% miles, all of them used in lifting water for meadow 

 irrigation, the grass being cut and fed to the cows green. 



Even in England, there are numerous water-meadows which 

 have been irrigated so long that the time at which they were laid 

 out, and the canals and ditches dug, is unknown. It is thought 

 that some of the English water-meadows were constructed under 

 the direction of Roman engineering skill, while others have sup- 



