Fanniiif/ of Devonshire. 
All 
quality and produces large crops of hay and aftermatli, but a 
slight inspection will show us that the quantity may be readily 
increased by the employment of resources which are generally 
available. I refer to the practice of irrigating meadow-land, and 
I find that notwithstanding the inducements which land thus 
treated offers to the farmer, yet comparatively speaking he has 
rarely benefited himself by its application. There are two 
modes of irrigating land, and the nature of the surface deter- 
mines our course of procedure. When the land is hilly and a 
copious su])ply of water at our disposal, the catclmork principle 
is adopted. It is peculiarly applicable to the hill sides of this 
county, which have good springs of water at a favourable 
height. Great care is necessary in laying out land for irriga- 
tion in order to derive full advantage from the practice ; but 
the expenses of carrying out this method are of small amount 
and quickly repaid. The cost varies with the difficulties of 
the locality, from 11. per acre — the capital thus expended fre- 
quently pays from 40 to 50 per cent, annually. This is surely 
sufficient inducement to lead to a more attentive consideration of 
its merits, for much land which now ])roduces little but heath 
and fern may be converted into good pasture-land. The ordinary 
mode of procedure is to pare and burn the surface, apply the 
ashes with a liberal quantity of lime, and then get a crop of 
turnips. These are fed on the land, and the grass-seed is then 
sown. The water passages are finally cut according to the sur- 
face of the land at distances varying from 20 to 30 yards regulated 
by the texture of the soil and the slope of the ground — the fall 
should be about 1 in 80 or 100. Attention in thoroughly cleaning 
the land is well repaid, and care should be exercised in selecting 
the varieties of seeds best adapted for water-meadows. The 
water after it has been used on the steep land may be advan- 
tageously employed on the flat bottoms, but this should not be 
done if o. fresh supply can be obtained, for its value for irrigation 
decreases in proportion to the extent of surface over which it has 
passed. 
1 have omitted any descriptive account of the method adopted 
for watering flat meadows as it does not differ from the general 
practice of other counties. There is another point of manage- 
ment which demands more attention than is here devoted to it. 
It is essentially necessary for a good water-meadow that two rules 
should be complied with, viz., that the plant receives a proj)er 
supply of water; and in the second place, that this water must 
never stagnate in the soil. It is to the latter that I now refer, and I 
would, therefore, urge the importance of irrigated land being pro- 
perly drained. It is water in motion is beneficial to vegeta- 
tion ; but when it becomes stationary its action is reversed and 
