RIVER. 



clearly point out, that the fird and mod neceflary (lop to- 

 wards a cure is to level down the edge of the bank that is 

 next the water, fo as to make it (lope gradually down to- 

 wards the river. And that where the bank is very high, 

 and you have no other particular ufe for the earth that mult 

 be taken from it, the called method of difpoiing of it will 

 be to throw it into the river. But in whatever manner you 

 difpofe of the earth, the flope of the bank muft be continued 

 until the inner edge of it is as low as the furface of the wa- 

 ter, at the dried time of the year, and be made to afcend 

 gradually upward from the water with an eafy (lope, till it 

 comes to the level of the ground, or at lead rifes to fech a 

 height as the water never exceeds. And the work ought 

 to be performed as early in the fnmmer as poffible ; and the 

 ilope fhould be either immediately covered with turf, pared 

 from the furface of fome Celd that has a very ilrong fward 

 upon it, taking care to lay their ends in fuch a manner as 

 to be in as little danger as poffible of being wafhed away by 

 any accidental flood that might happen, before they arc- 

 grown together ; or, if turf of this kind cannot be had, it 

 (hould be fown very thick with the feeds of fome fmall mat- 

 rooted grafs, that fhould be kept in rcadinefs for that pur- 

 pofe, fuch as the creeping meadow-grafs. If the dream 

 has not been extremely rapid at the foot of the bank, fome 

 of the earth that was thrown into the water will be allowed 

 to fubfide to the bottom, and will there form a bed of loofe 

 foft earth, which will be of very great ufe afterward in 

 preventing the face of the bank under water from being 

 wafhed away. But in order to fecure this bulwark ef- 

 fectually for the future, the furface of this foft earth ought 

 to be indantlv duck full of the roots of bog-reeds, flags, 

 water-fpidcrwort, rufhes, and other mat-rooted aquatic 

 plants ; which, if allowed to remain till thev have once 

 ilruck root, will afterward form a barrier that nothing will 

 ever be able to dedroy. It is added, however, that if the 

 dream be too rapid to admit of this, and the bank of foft 

 earth much deeper than the furface of the water, it will be 

 of great ufe to fill up the bread of the bank with fmall loofe 

 ftones, with a little earth intermixed among them, carelefsly 

 thrown in till they rife near the furlace of the. water, which 

 would moll effectually fecure it againd any future encroach- 

 ments, if the bank is doped away above. It is further 

 Hated, that in cafe it fhould fo happen that doncs cannot 

 be eafily got for this purpofe, the only rccourfe is to dig 

 the bank fo low," as that at the undcrmod edge it may be 

 always below the furface of the water, and carry it out in 

 this way for a confiderable didance ; and then flick the 

 whole furface, that is below the water, full of mat-rooted 

 aquatic plants, ftrewing it over, if poffible, with a thin bed 

 of finall gravel or fand, as convenient, which will in a great 

 ire, it not entirely, defend it from future encroach- 

 ments. And this bank ought to continue to (helve down- 

 wards, even where it is below water ; and thofe aquatics 

 that will grow in the greatcd depth of water be planted on 

 til inn rmod bank, and the others behind them. The 

 water-fpiderwort will grow in four feet depth of water; 

 and the roots of the common yellow-flowered water iris 

 forms fuch a Ilrong and compart covering) upon the furface 

 of the hnl on which it grows, as would defend that foil from 

 being affefted by the water almoil as will as if it were a 

 rock. It is likewife an advantage attending this plant, 

 that it grows upon a firm bottom, and chiefly delights in 

 running water. But where the ftratum of foft earth is not 

 fo deep as to reach to the (urface of the water, and lies 

 upon a llratum of rock or hard gravel, there will be no oc- 

 calion tor throwing in llones of any kind. But as it is dif- 

 ficult to unit,- the vegetable mould to any of thefe Itrata, 



there will always be fome danger of its (eparating from 

 them, in violent inundations; and if the water once gets an 

 entry, the breach will not fail to grow larger and larger by 

 every inundation. To prevent this inconvenience, it will 

 be neceflary, after you have doped the earth away till you 

 reach the gravel or rock, to cover the place where the edge 

 of the earth joins the inferior flratum with a good many 

 fmall ftones, if tiny can be found, fowing between them 

 the feeds of any kind of plants that you think are moll 

 likely to thrive, which have ilrong matted roots, witli a- 

 fmall and flexible tops as podible. But where the objeft is 

 of great importance, it will be Hill more efTertually fecured, 

 if the face of the rock be dug entirely away for fome dif- 

 tance backward, and the place which that rock originady 

 occupied be then filled up with earth, and (loped back in 

 the fame manner as if it had been an earthen bank, in which 

 no rock was to be found. In all operations of this fort, 

 great care (hould be taken that no dones fhould be mixed 

 with the mould ; for every thing that makes an inequality 

 on the furface, or a difference in the firmnefs of particular 

 parts, is extremely pernicious. It is evident, that from the 

 impoflibility of ever making earth adhere firmly to done of 

 any kind, it mud always be an improper practice to face the 

 banks of a river to a certain height with done, which is 

 capped at top with earth ; as it mud always be liable to be 

 removed. This method has been tince found to anfwer per- 

 fectly in actual trials in fuch cafes. 



There is, the fame author oblerves, another mifchief pro- 

 duced by the fwelling of rivers, from the water overflowing 

 the rich flat ground, that is frequently met with on the fides 

 of them, which fometimes prevents them from being got 

 laboured at the proper feafon, fometimes fweeps off at once 

 the. whole crop, and fometimes dedroys it by covering the 

 whole furface with dones and gravel, to theunfpeakable de- 

 triment of the poff.'fTors of fuch ground. And as thefe 

 lands, fometimes termed haugbs, are generally very rich and 

 fertile, and fometimes of great extent, the damage that is 

 done by not getting them properly cultivated is very con- 

 fiderable. In refpeft to the mode of removing this fort of 

 inconvenience, it is remarked that thefe haughs are feldom 

 of great extent, excepting on level tracks, where the water 

 runs with no impetuous current ; and, therefore, they may 

 in general be preferved by means of a doping bank, raifed 

 all along the fide of the river, as far as the haugh extends, 

 which, if formed by the fame plan as thofe defcribed above, 

 will eafily confine the water within their boundaries, till it 

 rifes fo high as to overflow the top of the bank ; fo that if 

 thefe are raifed to a fufficient height towards the back part, 

 in fuch a manner as to be capable of containing the whole 

 of the water that at any time flows down the river, the 

 fields on each Ode will be efTertually fecured. And that 

 where the furface of the ground in the haugh is at any con- 

 fiderable height above the water in the river, the bank may 

 perhaps be raifed to the neceflary height, by throwing the 

 earth that is taken from the brink of the river to the othei 

 fide of the bank, fo as to form the new furface of the bank 

 on that direction, inilead of the old furface. But if the 

 furface of the ground is level on the oppotite fide of the 

 river, the earth that is taken from the triangle in the whole 

 will not, in that cafe, be fufficient to fill up the whole of 

 the other triangle, ami rail'e the bank to a proper height ; 

 to make up which deficiency, it will be neceflary to dig a 

 ditch at the back of the bank, throwing the earth into the 

 higher part of the bank, and facing up the line with dones 

 or turf, lo as to make it become .. fence to one fide of the 

 field that it prelerves from inundations. However, where 

 the lurfaccof the ground is extremely low, (o as to be but 

 T t 2 little 



