142 On the Foi^mation of Hillside Catch- Meadoics. 



work proceeds. This is followed by repeated rollings while the 

 meadows are moderately wet. 



The majority of these water-carriages being laid out upon the 

 forest hill side, and the land taken in hand as nature formed it, I 

 find the better plan (to eradicate the moss and encourage the 

 grasses) is to let the water flow over it freely for five or six days 

 in succession, a continued rush of water being certain to effect the 

 desired change, while a thin flow of water has but little effect, and 

 the process of improvement is retarded. The watering is re- 

 peated at intervals of a month (more or less), or according to the 

 supply of water ; but care is taken not to allow the water to remain 

 too long upon the same place^, as by neglect of this kind, coarse and 

 inferior aquatic grasses will spring up, such as are produced near 

 springs that have remained undrained. In the second season, when 

 a certain amount of improvement has taken place, the water may 

 be more thinly spread, and for shorter periods ; but local circum- 

 stances can alone dictate the working of these details. 



Upon steep hill sides that are stony, it is best to make the car- 

 riages rather wider and shallower, as the water wastes in passing 

 the stony ground when removed too deep ; in this case the lower 

 side will require strengthening, which may be done by removing 

 the surplus soil from the little cuttings that may occur, and which 

 are possibly close at hand. The washing of soil down these car- 

 riages is found to stop their porous bottoms. In favourable situa- 

 tions the carriers may be cut with a common plough to the required 

 width and depth, by which means they are more easily and cheaply 

 cleared of the soil, and afterwards trimmed and levelled to the 

 required form. By the circuitous route of a water-carrier in a 

 hilly country, passing as it does from hill to hill around and across 

 the valleys, a splendid opportunity is afforded for reconveying any 

 quantity of the accumulated soil in "fche valley" to the poor and 

 neglected "hill-side," which has been robbed for ages of this 

 deposit by the continued and ungoverned washings of the rainy 

 seasons. In valleys, when drained, the soil quickly decomposes 

 and dries, forming a rich " black mould," which is dug from the 

 upper side of the carriage, and when chopped rather small is 

 thrown into it ; then if a rapid fall can be given to the water for a 

 short distance, it will reduce itself so small as to mix with the 

 stream. The " waterman " is in attendance at the meadow^ that 

 the soil may be properly distributed, and to change the rush of 

 soil and water further on, as the work proceeds. The same plan 

 may be adopted on the " fiat meadows," at the foot of the hill^ a 

 heavier soil being used when it can be had, as these bottoms are 

 chiefly composed of black or other friable soil. 



The carrying out of this plan will depend much upon local 

 circumstances, choosing at all times the period of high waters 

 (after rains) for washing down the soil, especially when placed at 



