Farming of Oorfordshire. 
221 
Willow boughs should be lopped off, alluvial deposits removed, 
and the encroachments of osier beds reclaimed. Gaps in banks 
and hedges should be levelled, and stout rails substituted in their 
room. Where the sinuosities of the stream are excessive the 
course should be made direct, and the convex bends of the river 
rounded off. The weeds growing in the bed of the stream and 
the flags and rushes on the banks should be cut twice in the 
year. Tliere can be no doubt that under-draining has much to 
do in causing flood. When rain descended on land not drained, 
the ground was thoroughly soaked before the water was thrown 
off, and on a vast extent of the clay soils it was only dispelled 
by evaporation ; but in the present state of the country, when a 
heavy fall of rain occurs, the immediate consequence ensues 
that the water is expelled tln-ough thousands of under-di-ains, and 
speedily finds its way into the nearest brook. As much water 
is thrown off in a day as was formei'ly discharged in a week. 
When it is considered that the water passing through 
Oxford is drained from 850,000 acres of land, it is time that 
the weirs on the Thames, which have now only a water way of 
thirty feet, should have double that space; for the evil of floods 
is a growing one, and the more extensively land is under-drained, 
the more rapidly will the water be poured into the valleys, and 
the greater should be the facilities devised for its speedy out- 
fall by a proper system of arterial drainage. Lower down the 
Thames, from Wallingford to Henley, the floods do little 
damage as they seldom occur in the summer. The traffic is 
considerable, and the locks, being under the superintendence of 
the Thames Commissioners, are kept in excellent order. Moderate 
winter floods are even beneficial. In passing rapidly over the 
land the water leaves a deposit equivalent to a coat of manure. 
A higli level of the river is also desirable. TheTliames meadows 
chiefly rest on gravel, and through this porous subsoil the water 
percolates, and by capillary attraction supplies nourishment to 
the roots of the grass in seasons of drought. 
The Thame stream is in a dreadful state ; in some parts the 
river is nearly silted up. A good rain is sure to send the waters 
out. There have been seventeen floods in twelve months, and a 
third of the hay this season lias been waslted away. Many years ago 
a commission was appointed, and the bed of the river was cleared 
out ; a rate being levied on the landowners to provide for the 
necessary outlay. This measure needs to be repeated ; and the 
occupiers of the meadows would gladly submit to an annual charge 
of 5 per cent, on the cost. The banks of the river are planted with 
Avillows, and weeds and rushes for the most part enjoy unmolested 
security. W^aterstock and Waterperry are exceptions, and at 
those parts all impediments to the free course of the water are 
