in its general signification, means pasture or grass-land, annually mown for hay: but it is more particularly applied to lands that are so low as to be too moist for cattle to graze upon them in winter without spoiling the sward.
An improvement in agriculture by watering of meadows has of late come into much use, and been found of very considerable importance. In the Monthly Review for October 1788, the editors acknowledge the favour of a correspondent, who informed them, that watering of meadows was practised during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I. A book was written upon the subject by one Rowland Vaughan, who seems to have been the inventor of this art, and who practised it on a very extensive plan in the Golden Valley in Herefordshire. Till this note to the Reviewers appeared, the inhabitants of a village called South-Cerney in Gloucestershire had assumed the honour of the invention to themselves, as we are informed in a treatise upon the subject by the reverend Mr. Wright curate of the place. According to a received tradition in that village, watering of meadows has been practised there for about a century, and was introduced by one Welladwyfe, a wealthy farmer in South-Cerney. His first experiment was by cutting a large ditch in the middle of his ground, from which he threw the water over some parts, and allowed it to stagnate in others; but finding this not to answer his expectations, he improved his method by cutting drains and filling up the hollows; and thus he succeeded so well, that his neighbours, who at first had called him a madman, soon changed their opinion, and began to imitate his example.
The advantages which attend the watering of meadows are many and great; not only as excellent crops of grass are thus raised, but as they appear so early, that they are of infinite service to the farmers for food to their cattle in the spring before the natural grass rises. By watering we have plenty of grass in the beginning of March, and even earlier when the season is mild. The good effects of this kind of grass upon all sorts of cattle are likewise astonishing, especially upon such as have been hardly wintered; and Mr. Wright informs us, that the farmers in his neighbourhood, by means of watering their lands, are enabled to begin the making of cheese at least a month sooner than their neighbours who have not the same advantage. Grass raised by watering is found to be admirable for the nurture of lambs; not only those designed for fattening, but such as are to be kept for store: For if lambs when very young are stopped and stinted in their growth, they not only become contracted for life themselves, but in some measure communicate the same diminutive size to their young. The best remedy for preventing this evil is the spring feed from watered meadows; and Mr. Wright is of opinion, that if the young of all kinds of farmer's flock were immediately encouraged by plenty of food, and kept continually in a growing state, there would in a few years be a notable change both in the size and shape of cattle in general. Such indeed is the forwardness of grass from watered meadows, that the feed between March and May is worth a guinea per acre; and in June an acre will yield two tons of hay, and the after-math is always worth twenty shillings; and nearly the same quantity is constantly obtained whether the summer be dry or wet. In dry summers also, such farmers as water their meadows have an opportunity of selling their hay almost at any price to their neighbours.
Land treated in this manner is continually improving in quality, even though it be mown every year; plainly the herbage, if coarse at first, becomes finer; the soil, proves by if swampy, becomes sound; the depth of its mould is augmented, and its quality meliorated every year.
"To these advantages (says Mr. Boswell in his treatise upon this subject) another may be addressed to the gentleman who wishes to improve his estate, and whose benevolent heart prompts him to extend a charitable hand to the relief of the indigent poor, and not to idleness and vice: almost the whole of the expense in this mode of cultivation is the actual manual labour of a class of people who have no genius to employ their bodily strength otherwise for their own support and that of their families; consequently, when viewed in this light, the expense can be but comparatively small, the improvement great and valuable."
As a proof of the above doctrine, Mr. Wright produces an instance of one year's produce of a meadow the produce in his neighbourhood. It had been watered longer of a water than the eldest person in the neighbourhood could remember; but was by no means the best meadow upon the stream, nor was the preceding winter favourable for watering. It contains six acres and an half. The spring-feed was let for seven guineas, and supported near 200 sheep from the 1st of March till the beginning of May: the hay being sold for 3 guineas, and the after-math for six. Another and still more remarkable proof of the efficiency of watering, is, that two of the most skilful watermen of that place were sent to lay out a meadow of seven acres, the whole crop of which was that year sold for... two pounds. Though it was thought by many impossible to throw the water over it, yet the skill of the workmen soon overcame all difficulties; and ever since that time the meadow has been let at the rent of three pounds per acre. From manifold experience, our author informs us, that the people in that part of the country are so much attached to the practice of watering, that they never suffer the smallest spring or rivulet to be unemployed. Even those temporary floods occasioned by sudden showers are received into proper ditches, and spread equally over the lands until its fertilizing property be totally exhausted. "Necessity (says he) indeed compels us to make the most of every drop; for we have near 300 acres in this parish, that must all, if possible, be watered; and the stream that affords the water seldom exceeds five yards in breadth and one in depth: therefore we may say, that a scarcity of water is almost as much dreaded by us as by the celebrated inhabitants of the banks of the Nile."
Considering the great advantages to be derived from the practice of watering meadows, and the many undoubted testimonies in its favour, Mr Wright expresses his surprise that it has not come into more general use, as there is not a stream of water upon which a mill can be erected but what may be made subservient to the enriching of some land, perhaps to a great quantity. "I am confident (says he), that there are in each county of England and Wales 2000 acres upon an average which might be thus treated, and every acre increased at least one pound in annual value. The general adoption therefore of watering is capable of being made a national advantage of more than 100,000l. per annum, besides the great improvement of other land arising from the produce of the meadows and the employment of the industrious poor. Such an improvement, one would think, is not unworthy of public notice; but if I had doubled the sum, I believe I should not have exceeded the truth, though I might have gone beyond the bounds of general credibility. In this one parish where I reside there are about 300 acres now watered; and it may be easily proved that the proprietors of the land reap from thence 100l. yearly profit."
In Mr Boswell's treatise upon this subject, published in 1790, the author complains of the neglect of the practice of improving the wet, boggy, and rushy lands, which lie at the banks of rivers, and might be meliorated at a very small expense, when much larger sums are expended in the improvement of barren uplands and large tracts of heath in various parts of the kingdom: and he complains likewise of the little information that is to be had in books concerning the method of performing this operation. The only author from whom he acknowledges to have received any information is Blyth; and even his method of watering is very different from that practised in modern times; for which reason he proposes to furnish an original treatise upon the subject; and of this we shall now give the substance.
The first thing to be considered is, what lands are capable of being watered. These, according to Mr Boswell, are all such as lie low, near the banks of rivulets and springs, especially where the water-course is higher than the lands, and kept within its bounds by banks. If the rivulet has a quick descent, the improvement by watering will be very great, and the expenses moderate. On level lands the water runs but slowly, which is also the case with large rivers; and therefore only a small quantity of ground can be overflowed by them in comparison of what can be done in other cases; but the water of large rivers is generally possessed of more fertilizing properties than that of rivulets. In many cases, however, the rivers are navigable, or have mills upon them; both of which are strong objections to the perfect improvement of lands adjacent to them. From these considerations, our author concludes, that the watering of lands may be performed in the best and least expensive manner by small rivulets and springs.
There are three kinds of soils commonly found near the banks of rivers and rivulets, the melioration of which may be attempted by watering. 1. A gravelly or sandy warm firm soil, or a mixture of the two together. This receives an almost instantaneous improvement; and the faster the water runs over it the better. 2. Boggy, miry, and rushy soils, which are always found by the banks of rivers where the land is nearly level. These also are greatly improved by watering; perhaps equally so with those already described, if we compare the value of both in their unimproved state, this kind of ground being scarce worth anything in its unimproved state. By proper watering, however, it may be made to produce large crops of hay, by which horned cattle may be kept through the winter and greatly forwarded; though, in its uncultivated state, it would scarce produce anything to maintain stock in the winter, and very little even in summer. Much more skill, as well as expense, however, is requisite to bring this kind of land into culture than the former. 3. The soils most difficult to be improved are strong, wet, and clay soils; and this difficulty is occasioned both by their being commonly on a dead level, which will not admit of the water running over them; and by their tenacity, which will not admit of draining. Even when the utmost care is taken, unless a strong body of water is thrown over them, and that from a river the water of which has a very fertilizing property, little advantage will be gained; but wherever such advantages can be had in the winter, and a warm spring succeeds, these lands will produce very large crops of grass.
The advantage of using springs and rivulets for watering instead of large rivers is, that the expense of raising waters across them will not be great; nor are they liable to the other objections which attend the use of large rivers. When they run through a cultivated country also, the land floods occasioned by violent rains frequently bring with them such quantities of manure as contribute greatly to fertilize the lands, and which are totally lost where the practice of watering is not in use.
Springs may be useful to the coarse lands that lie near them, provided the water can be had in sufficient quantity to overflow the lands. "By springs (says our author), are not here meant such as rise out of poor heath or boggy lands (for the water issuing from them is generally so small in quantity, and always so very lean and hungry in quality, that little if any advantage can be derived from it); but rather the head of rivulets and brooks rising out of a chalky and gravelly... gravelly found firm soil, in a cultivated country. These are invaluable; and every possible advantage should be taken to improve the ground near them. The author knows a considerable tract of meadow-land under this predicament; and one meadow in particular that is watered by springs issuing immediately out of such a soil, without any advantage from great towns, &c., being situated but a small distance below the head of the rivulet, and the rivulet itself is fed all the way by springs rising out of its bed as clear as crystal. The soil of the meadow is a good loam some inches deep, upon a fine springy gravel. Whether it is from the heat of the springs, or whether the friction by the water running over the soil raises a certain degree of warmth favourable to vegetation, or from whatever cause it arises, the fecundity of this water is beyond conception; for when the meadow has been properly watered and well drained, in a warm spring, the grass has been frequently cut for hay within five weeks from the time the stock was taken out of it, having eat it bare to the earth: almost every year it is cut in six weeks, and the produce from one to three waggon loads to an acre. In land thus situated, in the mornings and evenings in the months of April, May, and June, the whole meadow will appear like a large furnace; so considerable is the steam or vapour which arises from the warmth of the springs acted upon by the sun-beams: and although the water is so exceeding clear, yet upon its being thrown over the land only a few days in warm weather, by dribbling through the grass, so thick a scum will arise and adhere to the blades of the grass, as will be equal to a considerable quantity of manure spread over the land, and (it may be presumed from the good effects) still more enriching.
"It is inconceivable what 24 hours water properly conveyed over the lands will do in such a season: a beautiful verdure will arise in a few days where a parched rusty soil could only be seen; and one acre will then be found to maintain more stock than ten could do before."
Mr Bofwell next proceeds to an explanation of the terms used in this art; of the instruments necessary to perform it; and of the principles on which it is founded. The terms used are:
1. A WARE. This is an erection across a brook, rivulet, or river, frequently constructed of timber, but more commonly of bricks or stones and timber, with openings to let the water pass, from two to ten in number according to the breadth of the stream; the height being always equal to the depth of the stream compared with the adjacent land. The use of this is occasionally to stop the current, and to turn it aside into the adjacent lands.
2. A SLUICE is constructed in the same manner as a ware; only that it has but a single passage for the water, and is put across small streams for the same purpose as a ware.
3. A TRUNK is designed to answer the same purposes as a sluice; but being placed across such streams as either cattle or teams are to pass over, or where it is necessary to carry a small stream at right angles to a large one to water some lands lower down, is for these reasons made of timber, and is of a square figure.
The length and breadth are various as circumstances determine.
4. A CARRIAGE is made of timber or of brick. If of timber, oak is the best; if of brick, an arch ought to be thrown over the stream that runs under it, and the sides bricked up: But when made of timber, which is the most common material, it is constructed with a bottom and sides as wide and high as the main in which it lies. It must be made very strong, close, and well-jointed. Its use is to convey the water in one main over another, which runs at right angles to it; the depth and breadth are the same with those of the main to which it belongs; and the length is determined by that which it crosses. The carriage is the most expensive instrument belonging to watering.
5. A DRAIN-SLUICE, or Drain-Trunk, is always placed in the lower part of some main, as near to the head as a drain can be found; that is, situated low enough to draw the main, &c. It is made of timber, of a square figure like a trunk, only much smaller. It is placed with its mouth at the bottom of the main, and let down into the bank; and from its other end a drain is cut to communicate with some trench drain that is nearest. The dimensions are various, and determined by circumstances. The use of it is, when the water is turned some other way, to convey the leaking water that oozes through the hatches, &c., into the drain, that otherwise would run down into the tails of those trenches which lie lowest, and there poach and rot the ground, and probably contribute not a little to the making it more unsound for sheep. This operation is of the utmost consequence in watering; for if the water be not thoroughly drained off the land, the soil is rotted; and when the hay comes to be removed, the wheels of the carriages sink, the horses are mired, and the whole load sometimes sticks fast for hours together. On the other hand, when the drain-trunks are properly placed, the ground becomes firm and dry, and the hay is speedily and easily removed.
6. HATCHES are best made of oak, elm, or deal; the use of them is to fit the openings of wares, trunks, or sluices; and to keep back the water when necessary, from passing one way, to turn it another. They ought to be made to fit as close as possible. When hatches belong to wares that are erected across large streams, or where the streams swell quickly with heavy rains, when the hatches are in their places to water the meadows; they are sometimes made so, that a foot or more of the upper part can be taken off, so that vent may be given to the superfluous water, and yet enough retained for the purpose of watering the meadows. In this case, they are called flood-hatches: but Mr Bofwell entirely disapproves of this construction, and recommends them to be made entire, though they should be ever so heavy, and require the assistance of a lever to raise them up. For when the water is very high, and the hatches are suddenly drawn up, the water falls with great force upon the bed of the ware, and in time greatly injures it: but when the whole hatch is drawn up a little way, the water runs off at the bottom, and does no injury.
7. A HEAD-MAIN, is a ditch drawn from the river, rivulet, &c., to convey the water out of its usual current, MEAN
current, to water the lands laid out for that purpose, by means of lesser mains and trenches. The headmain is made of various dimensions according to the quantity of land to be watered, the length or descent of it, &c. Smaller mains are frequently taken out of the head one; and the only difference is in point of size, the secondary mains being much smaller than the other. They are generally cut at right angles, or nearly so with the other, though not invariably. The use of these mains, whether great or small, is to feed the trenches with water, which branch out into all parts of the meadow, and convey the water to float the land. By some, these smaller mains are improperly called Carriages.
9. A Trench is a small ditch made to convey the water out of the mains for the immediate purpose of watering the land. It ought always to be drawn in a straight line from angle to angle, with as few turnings as possible. It is never deep, but the width is in proportion to the length it runs, and the breadth of the plane between that and the trench-drain. The breadth tapers gradually to the lower end.
10. A Trench-Drain is always cut parallel to the trench, and as deep as the tail-drain water will admit, when necessary. It ought always, if possible, to be cut down to a stratum of sand, gravel, or clay. If into the latter, a spade's depth into it will be of great advantage. The use of it is to carry away the water immediately after it has run over the panes from the trench. It need not be drawn up to the head of the land by five, six, or more yards, according to the nature of the soil. Its form is directly the reverse of the trench; being narrower at the head, and growing gradually wider and wider until it empties itself into the tail-drain.
11. The Tail-Drain is designed as a receptacle for all the water that flows out of the other drains, which are so situated that they cannot empty themselves into the river. It should run, therefore, nearly at right angles with the trenches, though generally it is thought most eligible to draw it in the lowest part of the ground, and to use it to convey the water out of the meadows at the place where there is the greatest descent; which is usually in one of the fence-ditches; and hence a fence-ditch is usually made use of instead of a tail-drain, and answers the double purpose of fencing a meadow and draining it at the same time.
12. A Pane of ground, is that part of the meadow which lies between the trench and the trench-drain; and in which the grass grows for hay. It is watered by the trenches, and drained by the trench-drains; whence there is a pane on each side of every trench.
13. A Way-Pane is that part of the ground which lies in a properly watered meadow, on the side of the main where no trenches are taken out, but is watered the whole length of the main over its banks. A drain for carrying off the water from this pane runs parallel to the main. The use is to convey the hay out of the meadows, instead of the teams having to cross all the trenches.
14. A Bend is made in various parts of those trenches which have a quick descent, to obstruct the water. It is made, by leaving a narrow strip of greenward across the trench where the bend is intended to be left; cutting occasionally a piece of the shape of a wedge out of the middle of it. The use is to check the water, and force it over the trench into the panes; which, were it not for these bends, would run rapidly on in the trench, and not flow over the land as it passes along. The great art in watering consists in giving to each part of the pane an equal proportion of water.
15. A Gutter is a small groove cut out from the tails of these trenches where the panes run longer at one corner than the other. The use is to carry the water to the extreme point of the pane. Those panes which are intersected by the trench and tail-drains, meeting in an obtuse angle, require the assistance of gutters to convey the water to the longest side. They are likewise useful, when the land has not been so well levelled, but some parts of the panes lie higher than they ought; in which case, a gutter is drawn from the trench over that high ground, which otherwise would not be overflowed. Without this precaution, unless the flats be filled up (which ought always to be done when materials can be had to do it) the water will not rise upon it; and after the watering season is past, those places would appear rusty and brown, while the rest is covered with beautiful verdure. Our author, however, is of opinion, that this method of treating water-meadows ought never to be followed; but that every inequality in water-meadows should either be levelled or filled up. Hence the waterman's skill is shown in bringing the water over those places to which it could not naturally rise, and in carrying it off from those where it would naturally stagnate.
16. A Catch-Drain is sometimes made use of when water is scarce. When a meadow is pretty long and has a quick descent, and the water runs quickly down the drains, it is customary to stop one or more of them at a proper place, till the water flowing thither rises so high as to strike back either into the tail-drains so as to stagnate upon the sides of the panes, or till it flows over the banks of the drains and waters the grounds below, or upon each side. It is then to be conveyed over the land in such quantity as is thought proper, either by a small main, out of which trenches are to be cut with their proper drains, or by trenches taken properly out of it. In case of a stagnation, the design will not succeed; and it will then be necessary to cut a passage to let the stagnating water run off. Even when the method succeeds best, Mr Bofwell is of opinion, that it is not by any means eligible; the water having been so lately strained over the ground, that it is supposed by the water-men not to be endowed with such fertilizing qualities as at first; whence nothing but absolute necessity can justify the practice.
17. A Pond is any quantity of water stagnating upon the ground, or in the tail-drain, trench-drains, &c. so as to annoy the ground near them. It is occasioned sometimes by the flats not having been properly filled up; at others, when the water not being close shut, in order to water some grounds higher up, the water is thereby thrown back upon the ground adjacent.
18. A Turn of water signifies as much ground as can be watered at once. It is done by shutting down the
The hatches in all those wares where the water is intended to be kept out, and opening those that are to let the water through them. The quantity of land to be watered at once must vary according to circumstances; but Mr. Boswell lays down one general rule in this case, viz. that no more land ought to be kept under water at one time than the stream can supply regularly with a sufficient quantity of water; and if this can be procured, water as much ground as possible.
19. The Head of the meadow, is that part of it into which the river, main, &c. first enter.
20. The Tail is that part out of which the river, &c. last passes.
21. The Upper Side of a main or trench, is that side which (when the main or trench is drawn at right angles, or nearly so, with the river) fronts the part where the river entered. The lower side is the opposite.
22. The Upper Pane in a meadow, is that which lies on the upper side of the main or trench that is drawn at right angles with the river: where the river runs north and south, it enters in the former direction, and runs out in the southern, the main and trenches running east and west. Then all those panes which lie on the north side of the mains are called upper panes; and those on the south side the lower panes. But when the mains, trenches, &c. run parallel to the river, there is no distinction of panes into upper and lower.
The instruments used in watering meadows are:
1. A Water-Level. The use of this is to take the level of the land at a distance, and compare it with that of the river, in order to know whether the ground can be overflowed by it or not. This instrument, however, is useful only in large undertakings; for such as are on a smaller scale, the workmen dispense with it in the following manner: In drawing a main, they begin at the head, and work deep enough to have the water follow them. In drawing a tail-drain, they begin at the lower end of it and work upwards, to let the tail-water come after them. By this method we obtain the most exact level.
2. The Line, Reel, and Breast-Plough, are absolutely necessary. The line ought to be larger and stronger than that used by gardeners.
3. Spades. Those used in watering-meadows are made of a particular form, on purpose for the work; having a stem considerably more crooked than those of any other kind. The bit is iron, about a foot wide in the middle, and terminating in a point: a thick ridge runs perpendicularly down the middle, from the stem almost to the point. The edges on both sides are drawn very thin, and being frequently ground and whetted, the whole soon becomes narrow; after which the spades are used for trenches and drains; new ones being procured for other purposes. The stems being made crooked, the workmen standing in the trench or drain are enabled to make the bottoms quite smooth and even.
4. Wheel and Hand barrows. The former are used for removing the clods to the flat places, and are quite open, without any sides or hinder part. The latter are of service where the ground is too soft to admit the use of wheel-barrows, and when clods are to be removed during the time that the meadow is under water.
5. Three-wheeled carts are necessary when large quantities of earth are to be removed; particularly when they are to be carried to some distance.
6. Short and narrow Scythes are made use of to mow the weeds and grass, when the water is running in the trenches, drains, and mains.
7. Forks, and long Crooks with four or five tines, are used for pulling out the roots of sedge, rushes, reeds, &c. which grow in the large mains and drains. The crooks should be made light, and have long stems to reach wherever the water is so deep that the workmen cannot work in it.
8. Strong Water-boots, the tops of which will draw up half the length of the thigh, are indispensible necessary. They must also be large enough to admit a quantity of hay to be stuffed down all round the legs, and be kept well tallowed to repel the running water for many hours together.
The principles on which the practice of watering meadows depend are few and easy.
1. Water will always rise to the level of the receptacle out of which it is originally brought.
2. There is in all streams a descent greater or smaller; the quantity of which is in some measure shown by the running of the stream itself. If it runs smooth and slow, the descent is small; but if rapidly and with noise, the descent is considerable.
3. Hence if a main be taken out of the river high enough up the stream, water may be brought from that river to flow over the land by the side of the river, to a certain distance below the head of the main, although the river from whence it is taken should, opposite to that very place, be greatly under it.
4. Water, sunk under a carriage which conveys another stream at right angles over it, one, two, or more feet below its own bed, will, when it has passed the carriage, rise again to the level it had before.
5. Water conveyed upon any land, and there left stagnant for any length of time, does it an injury; destroying the good herbage, and filling the place with rushes, flags, and other weeds.
6. Hence it is absolutely necessary, before the work is undertaken, to be certain that the water can be thoroughly drained off.
In Mr. Wright's treatise upon this subject, the author considers a solution of the three following questions as a necessary preliminary to the operation of watering.
1. Whether the stream of water will admit of a temporary dam or ware across it? 2. Can the farmer raise the water by this means a few inches above its level, without injuring his neighbour's land? 3. Can the water be drawn off from the meadow as quickly as it is brought on?—If a satisfactory answer can be given to all these questions, he directs to proceed in the following manner.
Having taken the level of the ground, and compared it with the river, as directed by Mr. Boswell, cut a deep wide ditch as near the dam as possible, and by it convey the water directly to the highest part of the meadow; keeping the sides or banks of the ditch of an equal height, and about three inches higher than the general surface of the meadow. Where the meadow... When a meadow lies cold, flat, and swampy, the width of the bed, or the distance between the trough and drain, ought to be very small, never exceeding five yards; indeed, in this case, you can scarcely cut your land too much, provided the water be plentiful; for the more you cut, the more water you require. The fall of the bed in every meadow should be half an inch in a foot; less will do, but more is desirable; for when the draught is quick, the herbage is always fine and sweet. The water ought never to flow more than two inches deep, nor less than one inch, except in the warm months.
Mr Wright proceeds now to answer some objections made by the Reviewers in their account of his first edition of his work. 1. That the Gloucestershire farmers use more water for their lands than is necessary. To this it is answered, That where water is plentiful, they find it advantageous to use even more water than he recommends; and when water is scarce, they choose rather to water only one half, or even a smaller portion of a meadow at a time, and to give that a plentiful covering, than to give a scanty one to the whole. 2. The Reviewers likewise recommend a repeated use of the same water upon different and lower parts of the same meadow, or to make each drain serve as a trough to the bed which is below it. But though this method is in some degree recommended by the celebrated Mr Bakewell, and taught by a systematic waterer in Staffordshire, he entirely disapproves of it; excepting where the great declivity of the land will not admit of any other plan. "This cannot (says he) be a proper mode of watering grass-land in the winter-time; for it can be of no service to the lowest parts of the meadow, unless as a wetting in spring or summer. The first or highest part of a meadow laid out according to this plan will indeed be much improved; the second may reap some benefit; but the third, which receives the exhausted thin cold water, will produce a very unprofitable crop. Our farmers never choose more than a second use in the same meadow, and that very seldom; they call even the second running by the significant name of small-lever; which, they say, may possibly satisfy thirst, but can give very little life or strength to land (A). It is a much better method to have a meadow laid out so as to be watered at several
(A) As by the concurrence of Mr Bofwell with this author, and likewise by the agreement of so many practical farmers, it seems established as a fact, that water does really lose its fertilizing properties by running over grass, it may not here be amiss to explain the principle on which it does so.
Under the article Agriculture, we have shown at some length, that the true food of plants is the parts of animal and vegetable substances dissolved and volatilized by putrefaction, in such a manner that they can be absorbed by the vessels of other plants, and thus become part of their substance. There are two ways in which these effluvia may be dissolved, viz. in air and in water; of consequence, air and water are the two media by which the food of plants is applied to them, and by means of which they are augmented in bulk. From the analysis of these two elements, it is known that both of them, at least in their ordinary state, contain a great quantity of volatilized earthly matter, which sometimes strikes our senses very forcibly when first emitted by putrefying bodies; but on being thoroughly dissolved by the atmosphere, it totally eludes them, and becomes the Phlogiston concerning which such violent disputes have arisen. This fine volatilized matter is absorbed from the atmosphere by the leaves of the plants, and from the water by their roots. Hence both elements, when loaded with vapours of this kind, are more favourable to vegetation than when in their pure state. Thus plants will thrive very well in putrid air, while they languish and die in the pure dephtlogisticated kind. Just so it is with the element of water. When this is loaded with a great quantity of putrid matter, it readily parts with it not only to the roots of plants, but to the atmosphere also; whence such vegetables as it has Meadows, very times, and to be at the expense of several small flood-hatches, than to water the whole of it at once by means of catch-drains.
"Sometimes it is necessary, in a large meadow, to convey the water that has been used under the works and troughs; and then the water above is supported by means of boards and planks, which we call a carry-bridge. Sometimes, the better to regulate the course of the water on the surface, especially in the spring, narrow trenches are dug, and the mould laid by the side of them, in order to be restored to its former place when the watering is finished. The earth and mud thrown out in cleansing and paring the ditches should be carried to fill up the low hollow parts of the meadow, and be trodden down with an even surface; which will easily be done when the water is on, the waterman being always provided with a strong pair of water-proof boots. If the mould thus used has upon it a turf that is tolerably fine, place it uppermost; but if it is sodgy and coarse, turn it under, and the water if it runs quick will soon produce a fine herbage upon it.
"The grounds that are watered in the easiest and most effectual manner, are such as have been ploughed and ridged up in lands about twelve yards wide. Here the water is easily carried along the ridge by means of a small ditch or trough cut along its summit, and then, by means of the stops in it, is made to run down the sides or beds into the furrows, by which it is carried into the master drain, which empties itself into the river. Every meadow, before it is well watered, must be brought into a form something like a field that has been thus left by the plough in a ridged state. Each side of the ridge should be as nearly as possible an exact inclined plane, that the water may flow over it as equally as may be." Mr Wright does not, like Mr Bofwell, disapprove of the use of flood-hatches; he only gives the following hint, viz. that their basis should be deep and firmly fixed, well secured with stone and clay, that it be not blown up. The following directions are given for each month of watering:
In the beginning of November, all the ditches, troughs, and drains, are to be thoroughly cleansed by the spade and breast-plough, from weeds, grass, and mud; and well repaired, if they have received any injury from cattle. After a shower, when the water is thick and muddy, turn over the meadow as much water as you can without injuring the banks of the works, especially if the land be poor; as in this month, according to our author, the water contains many more fertilizing particles, which he calls salts and riches, than later in the winter. In defence of this position, of which it seems the Monthly Reviewers have doubted, our author urges, that though he is not able to prove it by any chemical analysis, yet it seems evident,
has access to, arrive at the utmost luxuriance of growth. If the water is more pure, still they will thrive very well; but the luxuriance of vegetation is less than in the former case. At last, however, when the water has parted with a certain quantity of phlogistic matter, the process of vegetation is incapable of separating any more; and therefore such water, though applied to the roots of vegetables, cannot communicate to them any remarkable increase. Nay, it is no means improbable, that after water has arrived at this state, it will, instead of giving any fresh nourishment to the plants, again deprive them of the nourishment which they have already received; and this is probably what Mr Bofwell means, when, in the passage formerly quoted, he calls the water hungry. Mr Boswell, though quoted by Mr Wright as an advocate for the doctrine just now laid down, seems, in one part of his work at least, to be of a contrary opinion. This is in the 14th chapter of his book, where he remarks upon another publication on the same subject, the name of which he does not mention: "In page 4th of that pamphlet (says Mr Boswell), the writer informs us, 'if the water used be always pure and simple, the effect will by no means be equal to the above; that is, of a stream that is sometimes thick and muddy. We have a striking instance of this in two of our meadows, which are watered immediately from springs that arise in the grounds themselves. Their crops are early and plentiful, but not of a good quality, and the land remains unimproved after many years watering.'"
"The writer of this treatise (Mr Boswell), in a former edition, had asserted, and in this repeated, the contrary effects from a stream very near the spring-head, as clear as crystal.
"The gentleman (Mr Beverly of Keld) whom that writer mentions in his preface, made a short visit last spring into Dorsetshire, to satisfy himself of the fact. The editor had the pleasure to show him the stream alluded to, which he traced almost to the fountain-head. It was perfectly clear, and the water was then immediately conveyed out of the stream upon the lands adjoining, some of which it was then running over; others it had been upon, and the verdure was then appearing. The gentleman expressed himself perfectly satisfied with the fact. To him the editor wishes to refer, &c. Mr George Culley of Fenton near Wooler in Northumberland, with a truly noble and public spirit that does him great honour as a friend to his country, sent a very sensible young man from thence into Dorsetshire, to learn the art of watering meadows, and to work the whole season in those meadows under different watermen. This man was often over those meadows, and worked in some just below that were watered by the same stream. Might the editor presume to offer his opinion upon this seeming contradiction, it is very probable that the soils, both the upper and under strata, are very different, as well as those through which the different springs run."
From this passage, the latter part of which is not very intelligible, we might conclude that Mr Boswell prefers clear to muddy water for overflowing meadows. In his chapter on land-floods, however, he expresses himself as follows: "They will (says he) always be found of great use where the sweepings of towns, farm-yards, &c., are carried down by them; seldom any other erection is wanting besides a sluice or small ware to divert and convey them over the lands. If the situation of the land happens to be on the side of a hill, catch-drains are absolutely necessary for watering the lower part of the hill, after the water has been used upon the upper. In many parts of the kingdom, where there are large hills or extensive rising lands, great quantities of water run from them into the valleys after heavy rains: These might with proper attention be collected together before they get to the bottom or flat ground, and from thence be diverted to the purpose of watering those lands that lie below, with great advantage to the occupier, and at Meadow, a small expense. And should the land thus situated be arable, yet it would be found a beneficial exchange Of convert to convert it into pasture; particularly if pasturing arable ground should be a desirable object to the occupier. The method of performing it is thus recommended.
Observe the piece of land or field best adapted to the purpose, both for situation and soil. If it should be arable, make it first very level; and with the crop of corn sow all sorts of hay seeds; and as soon as it has got a green fward it may be laid out. In the lowest part of the ground draw a deep ditch for the current to run in through it; and continue it into some ditch or low part in the lands below, that the water may be freely carried off, after it has been used while it is in use. Draw ditches above the field intended to be watered about the sides of the hill, in such a manner that they may all empty themselves into the head of the ditch above-mentioned, just where it enters the field to be watered: then erecting a ware across this ditch, the field will be capable of being watered, according to the situation of the ditch in the middle or on the side of the field. It must then be conveyed by small mains or trenches, and subdivided again by branch-trenches, according to the site of the field and the quantity of water that can be collected; trench-drains must be drawn, and the water conveyed into the ditch by means of tail-drains. A person unacquainted with water-meadows cannot conceive the advantage arising from water thus collected and conveyed over this species of water-meadow (if it may be so called), being generally a firm good soil; for the water running down from rich cultivated hills, eminences, &c., sweeps away with it, when the rain falls very heavy, vast quantities of dung dropped by sheep and other cattle, and the manure carried upon arable lands; all which being now diverted, and carried over the meadow with an easy descent, gives time for the particles of manure to subside upon the ground at one season, or of being filtered from it as it dribbles through the grass at another; after which the warm weather pushes on vegetation amazingly. Meadows thus situated would be vastly superior to any other, if they had the advantage of a constant stream; but even as they are, taking the opportunity of watering them by every heavy rain or flood that happens, they will be found to be very valuable. The occupier of such lands is strenuously advised to let no time be lost in appropriating them to this use; because these lands are healthy for all kinds of cattle at almost all seasons; and the expense of converting them into this kind of water-meadow is exceeding small, the annual charges afterwards quite trifling, and the produce very considerable."
Mr Wright, having discussed the subject of the quality of the water, proceeds to give directions for watering through the different months of the year:
"In December and January, the chief care consists in keeping the land sheltered by the water from the severity of frothy nights. It is necessary, however, through the whole winter, every ten days or fortnight to give the land air, by taking the water off entirely, otherwise it would rot and destroy the roots of the grass. It is necessary, likewise, that a proper person should go over every meadow at least twice every week, to see that the water is equally distributed, and to remove all obstructions arising from the continual influx of weeds, leaves, sticks, and the like. In February, a great deal depends upon care and caution. If you now suffer the water to remain on the meadow for many days without intermission, a white scum is raised, very destructive to the grass; and if you take off the water, and expose the land to a severe frothy night, without its being previously dried for a whole day, the greatest part of the tender grass will be cut off. The only ways to avoid both these injuries are, either to take the water off by day to prevent the scum, and to turn it over again at night to guard against the frost; or, if this practice be too troublesome, both may be prevented by taking the water entirely off for a few days and nights, provided the first day of taking off be a dry one; for if the grass experience one fine drying day, the frost at night can do little or no injury. The scum is generated chiefly by the warmth of the sun, when the water is thin and used too plentifully. Towards the middle of this month we vary our practice in watering, by using only about half the quantity of water which is made use of earlier in the winter, all that is now required being to keep the ground in a warm moist state, and to force vegetation.
"At the beginning of March, the crop of grass in the meadows is generally sufficient to afford an abundant pasturage for all kinds of stock, and the water is taken off near a week, that the land may become dry and firm before the heavy cattle are turned in.—It is proper, the first week of eating off the spring-feed, if the season be cold, to give the cattle a little hay each night."
"It is a custom (says Mr Wright) with some farmers in Hampshire, to eat off the spring-grass of their meadows with ewes and lambs, in the same manner that we do a field of turnips, by inclosing a certain portion each day with hurdles or stakes, and giving them hay at the same time. This is certainly making the most of the grass, and an excellent method to fine and sweeten the future herbage. In this month and April, you may eat the grass as short and close as you please, but never later; for if you trespass only one week on the month of May, the hay-crop will be very much impaired, the grass will become soft and woolly, and have more the appearance and quality of an after-math than a crop. At the beginning of May, or when the spring feeding is finished, the water is again used for a few days by way of wetting.
"It is rather remarkable, that watering in autumn, winter, or spring, will not produce that kind of herbage which is the cause of the rot in sheep; but has been known to remove the cause from meadows, which the rot in before had that baneful effect. If, however, you use sheep, the water only a few days in any of the summer mouths, all the lands thus watered will be rendered unsafe for the pasturage of sheep. Of this I was lately convinced from an experiment made by a friend. At the beginning of July, when the hay was carried off, and the water rendered extremely muddy and abundant by several days rain, he thought proper to throw it over his meadows for ten days, in which time a large collection of extremely rich manure was made upon the land. In about a month the meadow was covered with uncommon luxuriancy and blackness of herbage. Into this grass were turned eight eight found ewes and two lambs. In six weeks time the lambs were killed, and discovered strong symptoms of rottenness; and in about a month afterwards one of the ewes was killed, and though it proved very fat, the liver was putrid and replete with the infect called the fluid or weevil: the other ewes were sold to a butcher, and all proved unfound. This experiment, however, convinces me, by the very extraordinary improvement made thereby in the meadow, that muddy water in the summer is much more enriching than it is in autumn or winter; and ought, therefore, to be used for a week at least every wet summer, notwithstanding its inconveniences to sheep, the most profitable species of flock."
Mr Boswell, besides his general directions for watering, gives many plans of the ditches, drains, &c., for particular meadows, some of them done from an actual survey. But these being confined to particular situations, we shall here only speak of his method in general. In his third chapter, entitled A general Description of Water-meadows, he observes, that "lands capable of being watered, lie sometimes only on one side and sometimes on both sides of the stream designed to supply them with water. In the former case, when they have a pretty quick descent, the land may be often watered by a main drawn out of the stream itself, without any ware; though he acknowledges that it is by far the best way to erect a ware, and to draw mains on each side, to dispose of the water to the best advantage.
Boggy lands require more and longer continued watering than such as are sandy or gravelly; and the larger the body of water that can be brought upon them, the better. The weight and strength of the water will greatly assist in compressing the foil, and destroying the roots of the weeds that grow upon it; nor can the water be kept too long upon it, particularly in the winter season; and the clover it is fed, the better.
To improve strong clay foils, we must endeavour to the utmost to procure the greatest possible descent from the trench to the trench drain; which is best done by making the trench-drains as deep as possible, and applying the materials drawn out of them to raise the trenches. Then, with a strong body of water, taking the advantage of the autumnal floods, and keeping the water some time upon them at that season, and as often as convenient during the winter, the greatest improvement on this sort of foils may be made. Warm sand or gravelly foils are the most profitable under the watering system, provided the water can be brought over them at pleasure. In foils of this kind, the water must not be kept long at a time, but often shifted, thoroughly drained, and the land frequently refreshed with it: under which circumstances the profit is immense. A spring-feeding, a crop of hay, and two aftermaths, may be obtained in a year; and this, probably, where in a dry summer scarce grass enough could be found to keep a sheep alive. If the stream be large, almost any quantity of land may be watered from it; and though the expense of a ware over it is great, it will soon be repaid by the additional crop. If the stream is small, the expense will be so in proportion.
The following method of improving a water-meadow that was springy has been tried by Mr Boswell with success. The meadow had been many years watered by a spring rising just above it from a barren sandy heath; the soil near the surface was in some places a gravelly sand, in others a spongy cobb, both upon a strong clay and sand mixture, which retained the draining of the lands above it. Whenever it had been watered, and left to drain itself dry, a yellowish-red water stood in many parts, and oozed out of others; the herbage being no other than a poor, miserable, hairy grass and small fedge. Chalk and ashes had been thrown over it to very little purpose. It was then drained underground allant all the different decrements, and all these drains carried into one large drain, which had been already cut for the purpose of carrying off the water when the meadow was overflowed. These drains were cut quite through the mixture of clay and sand, and as much deeper as the fall of the ground below would admit of; then, with chalk cut for the purpose, small hollow drains were formed at the bottom of these; the drains were then filled up with the materials that came out.
This was done in the beginning of summer, and the work frequently examined through the season; the soil was found firmer than before, and none of that nasty red water to be met with upon the surface, though it continually oozed into the drains. In autumn the meadow was again prepared for waterings, by repairing those trenches and drains that were properly situated; cutting others where wanted, for the purpose of watering meadows. The water being then brought over it from the same spring as before, the event answered the most sanguine wishes of the proprietor; the effects were visible the first year, and the ground has been constantly improving ever since.
Mr Boswell also informs us, that a gentleman in Scotland had applied to him for directions to water some lands lying on the sides of hills, where the descent is quick; and of which there are many in this country, as well as in the north of England. It would be difficult to water such lands by means of drains and trenches according to the directions already given; because the bends in the trenches must be very near together and large, as the water must flow out of the trench above the bend to flow over the pane below it; the number and size would likewise be inconvenient, and greatly offend the eye.
Lands of this sort are generally capable of being ploughed; in which case our author directs them to be once ploughed in the spring, and sown with oats or any other kind of grain that will rot the sward. When the grain is harvested, plough the land across; the last ploughing with the Kentish plough, which has a moveable mould-board, and is called a turn-wryl plough. This turns the furrows down the side of the hill, the horses going forwards and backwards in the same furrows. By this means the land is laid flat without any open furrows in it; dress it down in the spring very fine, and sow it with oats, and mix with some kinds of grass seeds very thick. Thus the ground will have but few irregularities; and as soon as the corn is carried off, or the following spring at farthest, the mains and drains may be cut out.
For watering coarse lands that are firm enough to bear bear the plough, and situated near a stream, our author gives the following directions.
"Let the land thus situated be ploughed once in the spring, and sown with any grain that will rot forward. As soon as the crop is off, plough it again, and leave it rough through the winter. Work it down early in the spring, and plough it in the direction the trenches are to lie, making the ridges of a proper size for watering, ten or twelve yards wide for instance; work it fine; then gather the ridges up again in the same manner, making the last furrows of each ridge as deep as possible. If the land be not fine, dress it down again, and gather it up a second time if necessary; and with a shovel throw the earth from the edges of the furrows to the tops of the ridges, to give the greatest possible descent from the trench to the drain. Sow it with oats and grass seeds very thick; and after the corn is carried off, the trenches may be formed upon the top of each ridge, dispersing the furrows with a spade as much as the fall of the land will admit of for the drains; taking care to procure sufficient fall at all events, to drain the lands after they have been watered. By this method the crops of corn will nearly pay all the expense, and the land will be in excellent order.
After the work of watering a meadow is totally finished, and the hay carried off, cattle may be let in to eat the after-math. When this is done, it will then be necessary to examine whether or not the mains have suffered any injury from their feet; whether there be quantities of mud or sand collected at the angles, &c., all of which must be thrown out and the breaches repaired; by which means the trenches, drains, &c., will last three years, but otherwise not more than two. The roots, mud, &c., may be used in repairing the breaches, but never left upon the sides of the trenches out of which they are taken. The tail-drains require to be cleansed oftener than any of the other works, for this obvious reason, that the mud, &c., is carried down from all the others into them; where if it be allowed to accumulate, it occasions a stagnation of water upon the meadow itself. In repairing the trenches, particular care ought to be taken that the workmen do not make them any wider than before, which they are very apt to do; neither are they to be allowed to throw the materials which they dig out in a ridge behind the edge of the trench, which both widens it and promotes weeds.
During the time of watering, it will be necessary to examine the meadow every two or three days in order to remove obstructions, &c. If the drains should be filled with water and run over, they ought to be made deeper; or if this cannot be done, they should be widened. In the winter time a regular strong water should be kept, avoiding very strong great floods. In this season the water may be kept on the ground with safety for a month or even six weeks if the soil be coky or boggy or a strong clay; but not quite so long if it be gravel or sand. At the second watering a fortnight or three weeks will be sufficient; and after Candlemas a fortnight will be rather too long. At the third watering a week will be sufficient, which will bring it to about the middle of March; by which time, if the weather be tolerably mild, the grass will be long enough for the ewes and lambs, or fatting lambs; which may then be turned into the meadow with great advantage. Even in the end of February, if the winter has been very mild, the grass will be long enough for them. Here they may be permitted to feed till the beginning of May, changing them into different meadows. As soon as they are taken out, the water must be turned in for a week, carefully examining every trench and drain for the reasons already given. The water is then to be shifted into others, alternately watering and draining, lessening the time the water remains upon it as the weather grows warmer; and in five, six, or seven weeks, the grass will be fit to be mown for hay, and produce from one to two tons, or even more, an acre upon good ground.
Mr Boswell directs, that about a week before the grass is to be mown the water should be let into the meadow for 24 hours; which, he says, will make the ground moist at the bottom, the scythe will go thro' it the more easily, and the grass will be mown closer to the ground. This practice, however, is entirely disapproved of by Mr Wright. "Though it may prevail in Dorsetshire (says he), it is very seldom advisable, for the following reasons: Water made to run through a thick crop of grass, though it may appear ever so pure, will leave a certain quantity of adherent scum or sediment, which can never be separated from the hay, but will render it unpalatable, if not prejudicial, to the cattle that eat it. And this wetting of the land and grass will impede the drying or making of the hay perhaps some days, which in difficult seasons is of very great consequence; and it will likewise make the turf too soft and tender to support the wheels of a loaded waggon in carrying off the hay. Besides, there is reason to believe that one day's wetting in the summer will, upon most meadows, endanger the soundness of every sheep that feeds upon the aftermath."
The spring-feeding ought never to be done by heavier cattle than sheep or calves; for larger cattle do much hurt by poaching the ground with their feet, destroying the trenches, and spoiling the grass. Mr Boswell likewise greatly recommends a proper use of spring floods, from which he says much benefit may be derived; but if there is any quantity of grass in the meadows not eaten, these floods must be kept out, otherwise the grass will be spoiled; for they bring with them such quantities of sand and mud, which stick to the grass, that the cattle will rather starve than taste it. Great quantities of egrass or aftermath are frequently spoiled in flat countries by the floods which take place in the fall. In the winter-time, however, when the ground is bare, the sand and mud brought down by the floods is soon incorporated with the soil, and becomes an excellent manure. The certain rule with regard to this matter is, "Make use of the floods when the grass cannot be used; avoid them when the grass is long or soon to be cut."
"It has often been a subject of dispute (says Mr Boswell), whether, from the latter end of autumn to Candlemas, the throwing a very strong body of water, the end of where it can be done, over the meadows, is of any essential service or not? Those who consider it as advantageous, assert, that when the waters run rude and strong over the ground, they beat down and rot the tufts..." tufts of foggy or rough grass, sedge, &c., that are always to be found in many parts of coarse meadow-ground; and therefore are of peculiar service to them. On the other side it is alleged, that by coming in so large a body, it beats the ground (in the weak places particularly) so bare, that the sward is destroyed; and also brings with it such quantities of seeds of weeds, that at the next hay season the land in all those bare places bears a large burden of weeds, but little grass.
"The general opinion of the watermen upon this point is, that in water meadows which are upon a warm, sandy, or gravelly soil, with no great depth of loam upon them, rude strong watering, even in winter, always does harm without any possible essential service. On the contrary, cold strong clay land will bear a great deal of water a long time without injury; and boggy, corky, or spongy soil, will also admit of a very large and strong body of water upon it; provided the drains are made wide and deep enough to carry it off, without forcing back upon the end of the panes, with great advantage for almost any length of time at that season. The weight and force of the water vastly assists in compressing those soils, which only want solidity and tenacity to make them produce great burdens of hay: nothing, in their opinion, corrects and improves those soils so much as a very strong body of water, kept a considerable time upon them at that season."
Notwithstanding the above reasons, however, Mr. Bofwell informs us, "That he has doubts upon the subject; nor can he by any means acquiesce in this opinion, unless by rude strong waters he is permitted to understand only rather a larger quantity of water conveyed over the land at this early season than ought to be used in the spring or summer: unmanageable waters he believes always hurtful.
"It may be proper just to add (continues he), that as soon as the hay is carried off the meadows, cattle of any sort except sheep may be put to eat the grass out of the trenches, and what may be left by the mowers. This perhaps will last them a week; when the water may be put into the meadows in the manner already described, taking care to mow the long grass which obstructs the water in the trenches; and this mowing is best done when the water is in them. Let the weeds, leaves, &c., be taken out and put in heaps, to be carried away into the farm-yards; examine the trenches, make up the breaches, &c.; take particular care that the water only dribbles over every part of the panes as thin as possible, this being the warmest season of the year. The first watering should not be suffered to last longer than two or three days before it is shifted off (and if the season be wet, perhaps not so long, as warmth seems to be the greatest requisite after the land is once wet to assist vegetation) to another part or meadow beat out by the cattle, by this time fit to take it. Do by this meadow exactly the same, and so by a third and fourth, if as many meadows belong to the occupier. Observe at all times, when the water is taken out of a meadow, to draw up the drain-fluice hatches; as, without doing that, watering is an injury. By the time that three or four parts are thus regularly watered, the first will have an after-math, with such rich and beautiful verdure as will be astonishing; and both quantity and quality will be beyond conception better than if the lands had not been watered.
"Hence we see why every person should if possible have three or four meadows that can be watered; for here, while the cattle are eating the first, the second is growing, the third draining, &c., and the fourth under water. In this manner the after-math will in a mild season last till Christmas. A reason was given why the spring-grass should be fed only by sheep or calves; a reason equally cogent may be given, why the after-grass ought not to be fed by them, because it will infallibly rot them. "No sheep (says our author), except those which are just fat, must ever be suffered even for an hour in water-meadows except in the spring of the year; and even then care must be taken that every part of the meadows have been well watered, and that they are not longer kept in them than the beginning of May. Although at present it is unknown what is the occasion of the rot, yet certain it is that even half an hour's feeding in unhealthy ground has often proved fatal. After a short time they begin to lose their flesh, grow weaker and weaker: the best feeding in the kingdom cannot improve them after they once fall away; and when they die, animalcula like plaice are found in the livers. Scarcely any ever recover from a slight attack; but when farther advanced, it is always fatal. Guard by all means against keeping the water too long upon the meadow in warm weather; it will very soon produce a white fuliginous like cream, which is prejudicial to long upon the grass, and shows that it has been too long upon the ground already. If it be permitted to remain a little longer, a thick scum will settle upon the grass of the confluence of glue, and as tough as leather, which will quite destroy it wherever it is suffered to be produced. The same bad effects seem to arise from rude waters; neither can the scum easily be got off.
"Rolling meadows in the spring of the year is an excellent method. It should be done after Candlemas, when the meadow has been laid dry a week. It should be always rolled lengthwise of the panes, up one side of the trench and down the other. Rolling also contributes much to the grass being cut close to the surface when mown, which is no small advantage; for the little hillocks, fleavings of worms, ant-hills, &c., are by this means pressed close to the ground, which would otherwise obstruct the scythe and take off its edge; and to avoid that inconvenience, the workmen always mow over them."