520 On converting a Moory Hill-side into Catch Meadow. 
and be less liable to be trodden in by cattle or horses passing over 
them. The water should never be suffered to remain in one 
place over the grass, more than two or three days at a time, 
without being changed, nor be turned upon the land in order 
to remain there during frost ; but should the frost set in while 
the water is on, by no means alter it until the frost is gone ; for, if 
the surface is exposed and the frost continues, it will most likely 
lift the land and kill the grass. After the hay is made I never 
stock the after-grass with anything but sheep, or cattle under two 
years old, feeding it down as close as possible by the 1st of No- 
vember. I then clean the gutters and roll the land in order to 
begin watering as soon as the springs begin to break in the 
autumn. November, February, and March are the best months 
for watering. 
All the land on this farm was valued under an Inclosure Act 
in 1804 by the surveyor at 2s. an acre. What I have converted to 
meadow would now let for 25s., and is still improving. The soil 
on this farm is part peat and bog, and brown loam resting on 
gravel, and a soft slaty rock. The fern grows in the brown loam, 
which on our moors is by far the best land for water meadows. 
The sides of the mountains in the north of England and Wales 
might be converted to catch meadows in the same way that I 
have done mine, provided the water is of good quality and the 
land can be made porous to let the water filter gently down. I 
have never found turning water over old pasture do much good, 
as the grass that comes up is coarse and thin, and the hay, if 
mown, is not of good quality. If, therefore, old pasture is in- 
tended for meadow, it will answer best to break it up first, work 
it clean, manure it well, and seed it down with those grass seeds 
that are most congenial for water meadows. 
The first Yearns Expense per Acre. 
£. s. d. 
Paring and burning 10 0 
Spreading ashes 0 16 
Working land with Finlayson's harrow, 
4 horses 15 0 
Harrowing and rolling 0 5 0 
60 bushels of lime and carnage ..250 
Slaking and spreading lime . . . . 0 0 
Turnip seed 0 2 0 
Drill and harrowing in seed . . . .030 
Hoeing turnips 0 5 0 
5 9 6 
Value of turnips 3 3 0 
First year's outlay £2 6 6 
