( 153 ) 



X. — On Mr. Bichford^s Metliod of Irrigation. 

 From Mr. Archer. 



To Mr. Pusey. 



Sir, — I HAVE just seen Mr, Bickford, who tells me that he has 

 recently returned from Pusey, where he has been employed by 

 you to introduce his new system of irrigation, and that you are 

 desirous of receiving the ojiinion of its success from any who 

 have put the system in practice. 



I should premise that, having a good deal of water meadow, or 

 land capable of being watered, the water also being of excellent 

 quality, issuing from the trap rock, I had previously turned a 

 good deal of attention to the subject of irrigation ; and some years 

 ago laid out at some expense about 20 acres of my lawn on the 



drop system," then supposed to be the most approved method. 

 With this, however, after one winter's experience, I was 

 thoroughly dissatisfied. It did not allow for heavy gushes of 

 water from rain, &c., and was a cumbersome business, requiring 

 an attendant constantly on the spot to regulate it. 



I then partially obviated the " gushing " evil, by cutting, as in 

 Mr. Bickford's system — " watering" gutters, taken out of and 

 parallel to the " carrying " gutters ; but the slovenliness arising 

 from the want of the even distiHhution of water as effected by his 

 system, and the consequent requisite " looking after " the man 

 in charge of the water meadows, proved such a constant source of 

 discomfort and annoyance, that I had nearly determined in the 

 present winter not to incur even the expense of cleaning up my 

 gutters, when I read Mr. Bickford's article. 



On carefully perusing this, I was satisfied he had furnished to 

 the Journal a very valuable article, and accordingly I went to 

 Crediton to see Mr. Bickford, and visit in his company some of 

 the meadows laid out on his system, the result of which was so 

 conclusive to my mind, that I engaged him to come to me in 

 November last, and experiment upon a small 2-acre meadow con- 

 tiguous to my farmyard, reserved for weakly lambs in the spring, 

 but which had never been irrigated, through fear of the lambs 

 tumbling into the large gutters used under the old system. 



Half a wet winter's afternoon sufficed to cut the gutters with 

 the plough used by him after being dialled out ; and the water 

 being laid on, distributed itself beautifully and evenly over the 

 surface. It was interesting to watch the horizontal gutters gradually 

 filling and discharging themselves, while at the same time a slight 



weep " would be just perceptible in the vertical gutters, insen- 



