THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



it would very soon show such places as are too 

 high or hollows necessary to fill up. The stuff 

 taken out in forming the water furrows, drains 

 and conductors with what is gained by reducing 

 high places, is generally enough for levelling 

 the beds to keep the water in constant motion, 

 but the nearer the beds are brought to an_ in- 

 clined plain, the better for the purpose of irriga- 

 tion. When the land is very unlevel with a^ 

 thin sward on it, I would recommend every pro- 

 prietor to plough the whole and take a crop of 

 oats before forming it into water meadow. If 

 tne sward or grass is strong enough to be lifted, 

 to lift the turf, and form the subsoil with the 

 plough or spade and lay the turf down again. 

 In either of these cases the beds should be raised 

 12 inches in the centre. Whenever the whole 

 surface of a piece of the ground is broken to be 

 constructed into an irrigated meadow, the for- 

 mation should be done with the greatest nicety, 

 for the greater the pains that are taken at the 

 first forming, the easier the management will be 

 ever after." 



The directions given by Stevens for sha- 

 ping and grading the beds have been ver- 

 batim, that, if they should seem better than 

 the substitute about to be proposed, they 

 may be adopted by the farmer. The beds, 

 recommended by him, and here termed for 

 distinction "Elevated beds" (being one 

 foot higher at their centre than sides) are in 

 many respects objectionable. They are very 

 difficult to water if over 200 feet long and 

 of rapid descent. They consume an im- 

 mense quantity of water, (of which at cer- 

 tain seasons there is a scarcity) and, conse- 

 quently, require an expensive conductor. 

 They must pursue a straight line, (what- 

 ever b^ the shape of the ground) for a 

 crook in the feeder will prevent a sufficient- 

 ly free passage of water through. They re- 

 quire feeders, stops and feeder notches, 

 which are but imperfect devices to remedy 

 an imperfect plan. They will not work on 

 a side hill at all, and will prove next to use- 

 less where the descent exceeds one foot in 

 ten feet. 



These objections to elevated bed irrigation 

 in England are of much less importance 

 than with us. The streams there are but 

 little affected by drought, and consequent- 

 ly a scarcitv of water is seldom experi- 

 enced. Feeders and stops are defective not 

 because they cannot distribute the water, 

 but because they require constant supervis- 

 ion. For side hills or steep descents, a sub- 

 stitute is found in a plan termed " catch-water 

 Irrigation " hereafter to be described. It 



is not claimed for flat bed irrigation, that it 

 will accomplish more than elevated bed Ir- 

 rigation, but that it will perform as much 

 with less water, Jess labour and less super- 

 intendence. 



If an elevated bed be 30 feet wide, the 

 fall from the feeder to the water furrow will 

 be one foot in fifteen feet. There is there- 

 fore a strong tendency of the water to es- 

 cape at once into the furrow, where it is 

 lost for the purpose of Irrigation. If the 

 longitudinal inclination of the bed be con- 

 siderable, this tendency is much diminished, 

 but the same object may be attained, by di- 

 minishing the lateral inclination. If a bed 

 be elevated at the centre 6 instead of 12 

 inches, the lateral inclination will be re- 

 duced one half, and if it be not elevated at 

 the centre at all, or in other words, if it be re- 

 duced to a perfect level laterally, the whole 

 tendency of the water will be in the line of 

 the length of the bed. A drop of water de- 

 livered upon the upper extremity of the bed 

 will pass to its lower extremity without the 

 aid of a feeder or any other device. This 

 is the purpose of flat bed Irrigation. 



Flat Beds 



are designed to prevent any waste of water 

 into the furrows. They must therefore be 

 perfectly flat or level laterally or in»the line 

 across them. In the line of their length, 

 or longitudinally, they must, like elevated 

 beds, have a continuous inclination. They 

 must also have, on either side, deep water- 

 furrows to receive ..the water absorbed by 

 them and to dry them when the water of 

 Irrigation is cut off. In theory they must be 

 made perfectly flat laterally, but in practise 

 a perfect level would be made difficult to 

 obtain, and more difficult to maintain. It 

 may be disturbed by the slighte.-t settlement 

 in the land, or by the hoof of cattle, and 

 when once lost, the water will further in- 

 crease the irregularity. A remedy for this 

 inconvenience will be found in a small 

 bank 6 inches high raised on both sides of 

 the bed and adjoining the water-furrow. 

 The earth from the water furrow will be 

 sufficient to build the bank, which should 

 be sodded at the time of its construction, 

 though the precaution is not absolutely ne- 

 cessary. This bank, running on either side 

 of the beds for their whole length, confines 

 all water received from the conductor, and 

 compels it to follow the course of the bed. 

 It also serves to correct all inequalities in 



