Improved Sjjstem of laying out Catch-Meadows. 



175 



both water and space as much as possible. It is obvious that 

 a number of deep and broad seams, following the tortuous 

 course which must be pursued in search of a level, would 

 take up a great deal of land, besides interposing serious ob- 

 stacles to haymaking, and proving otherwise inconvenient ; 

 they have, moreover, the disadvantage of retaining a great 

 deal of water, which filters away through the bottom of 

 them^ depositing the most valuable part of the sediment it 

 contains in the gutter, instead of distributing it over the field ; 

 besides, they delay the process of irrigation, which it is desirable 

 to render as rapid as possible, and, where only a small quantity 

 of water can be obtained^ ^hey defeat the irrigation altogether ; 

 and lastly, they are more expensive to clean out when the time 

 comes for preparing the land for watering. I am told that 2^. an 

 acre is a moderate charge for cleaning out the old class of gutters ; 

 while the small level gutters may be cut afresh, when once the 

 levels have been marked out, for just half that sum. 



According to the explanation which I have now given, it will 

 appear that the field is watered by stages ; and, were the system 

 always followed in the manner I have described, the upper stage 

 would always receive the benefit of the greatest amount of sediment 

 when the river is foul after the rains ; the second stage would be the 

 next in favour, and so on, till the lowest part of the field received 

 nothing but Avater in almost a filtered state. This disadvantage 

 is obviated by the use of feeders or small transverse gutters, which 

 run from the carriage gutter at the top across all the level gutters 

 to the lowest of all. By 



GnticT. 



stops in the proper places, 

 the water can thus be con- 

 veyed directly from the 

 carrier to any one of the 

 catch-gutters, without pass- 

 ing over the intervening 

 land at all, and the lowest 

 portion of the field may be 

 watered first, and the highest last, if desired. 



One more contrivance deserves to be noticed, though it is not 

 peculiar to ]Mr. Bickford's system. In some cases it is desired 

 to carry the water along a level line on the hill-side, without 

 any fall at all. In order to make it flow, an occasional sharp 

 turn is made, and the gutter continued at a lower level. The 

 fall thus caused communicates motion to the water along the 

 preceding level gutter. 



The plough with which the gutters are cut was exhibited at the 

 Exeter meeting in 1850, by Mr. Thomas Moore, of Newton St. 

 Cyres, and was, on that occasion, " commended " by the judges. 

 A drawing of it is annexed. The two knives, a a, cut a slice 



