282 



value of sucli lands, by these means, has been increased from one to twelve shill' 



ngs, their ori- 



ginal value, to forty and sixty shillings per acre. But when connected with a breed* ' fl I f 



sheep, the advantages derived from these meadows is hardly to be estimnf^rl f ^i 



o ^ II 1.-^ ^ .1 1 , ..11 ' ^^ *"^y Pi'oduce 



a tuJl bile ot grass at least three weeks earber than the common pastures and th 



when every other kind of food is scarce. 



a season 



Irrigated meadows seldom or never require any manure, the water beino- found s ffi ' 

 produce that extreme degree of fertility for which they are remarkable'^. 



tto 



* Sir H. Davy gives the theory of the effects of water in increasing the fertility of meadows. He sa s th 



causes, some chemical, some mechanical. '' When land has heen covered hy water in the winter ^. ; n i • . ^" ^^^^^' 



the moisture that has penetrated deep into the soil, and even the subsoil, becomes a source of nourishment 



plant in summer, and prevents those bad effects that often happen in lands in their natural sMIp fr«,« i 



^ suiie, irom a long contmuance of dry 



roots of the 



weather. 



h ^ 



7 



" When water used in irrigation has flowed over a calcareous country, it is generally found impregnated with carbonate f 

 lime; and in this state it tends in many instances to ameliorate the soil. 



" Even in cases where the water used for flooding is pure, and free from vegetable or animal substances, it acts by causino- the 

 more equable diffusion of nutritive matter existing in the land; and in very cold seasons, it preserves the lender roots and leaves 

 of the grass from being affected by frost. 



" Waterisofgrcater specific gravity at 42° Fahrenheit, thanatS2=, the freezing point ; and hence in a meadow irrigated in 

 winter, the water immediately in contact with the grass, is rarely below 40° ; a degree of temperature not all prejudicial to the 

 living organs of plants. 



" In general, those waters which breed the best fish are the best fitted for watering meadows ; but most of the benefits of irri- 

 gation may be derived from any kind of water. It is however a general principle, that waters containing ferruginous impreg- 

 nations, though possessed of fertilizing eff-ects, when applied to calcareous soils, are injurious on soils that do not effervesce 

 with acids; and that calcareous waters which are known by the earthy deposit they afi-ord when boiled, are of most use on 

 siliceous soils containing no remarkable quantity of carbonate i^nime."— Agricultural Chemistry, page 305, et seq. 



The proper business of irrigation begins in October, and is carried on till April, according to circumstances. In cold 

 backward situations it is continued latest, and in warmer soils it is generally finished in February. As soon as the latter-math 

 is eaten bare, the water-carriages are cleared out, and the stops and sluices made good. The water is then admitted on the 

 land, and suffered to remain for two or three weeks, with a dry interval of a day or two; or, according to others, the water is 

 continued on the meadow two weeks at first, then laid dry for one week, and again laid under water for two weeks more. The 

 state of the grass affords the best rule to judge of the frequency of waterings. It is a general principle to make the meadows as 

 .dry as possible between every watering, and to stop the water the moment any scum appears on the surface, for that indicates 

 the land has had water enough ; in f\ict, it is caused by the fermentation excited by the decay of the grass. As soon as the land 

 has been sufliclently dry after the last watering in February or March, the early grass, of which there is always an abundance, 

 is consumed by ewes, and lambs, if a breeding flock of sheep is kept. In order to prevent the sheep from trampling too much 

 of the grass at first, some Farmers use hurdles, by which they portion out the consumption of a day. Open spaces are left in 

 the hurdles, to give the lambs free range of the meadow at large. Mr. Davis says, that one acre of good grass will be sufficient 

 for five hundred couples for a day. It is usual to leave off depasturing the meadows about the beginning of May, when the 

 water is again admitted to prepare the land for a crop of hay. Two days flooding at this season is all that the land can re- 

 ceive without injury; it is then laid dry, and the process mav be said to be finished for that season. Six weeks is usually 

 suflicient to produce the crop of hay ; so rapid is vegetation in ihese mead 



The following is a statement of the produce of a water-meadow of nine acres, belonging to His Grace the Duke of Bedford. 



1803. Stocked with twelve score of sheep, and it kept them three weeks. • 



ows. 



1804, 



April 16, Shut up for hay. 



June 23. Cut the crop for hay, supposed to be about two tons per acre. 



Aug. 20, Cut the second crop for hay, supposed to be about one ton and a half per acre. 



Sept. IC, Stocked it with four score of fat sheep : three weeks after that it was depastured with lean bullocks, as 

 long and as often as they could find food. 



Feb. 27, Stocked with eight scor^ and four lamb hogs; they have now (April 28, the time this account was 

 drawn up) been nine weeks in it. It had more and better water this last winter than that before; but from the 

 want of grass upon the farm, it was in this instance eaten longer than it otherwise would have been. 



