Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/51

be cut at equal distances in a parallel direilion, and of a proper <!ept'i for re eiving all the water which overflou-s the adjacent lands, and conducing it to the principal drain with such rapidity, as to keep the whole stream in constant mo- tion. For, if it be sutFered to stag- hate, it will be produftive of the worst consequences ; as the turf would become rotten, the soil be soaked without being ameliorated, arid the land produce only coarse grass, rushes, or other aquatic weeds. Where the meadows are cold, flat, and swampy, the width of the bed, that is, of the intermediate space between the trough and drain, ought never to exceed six yards. In such cases, the land cannot be too much intersefted, especially when there is an abundant supply of water. The fall of the bed in every meadow ought to be in the proportion of one inch to each foot ; for a rapid current always contri- butes to produce fine and sweet _ herbage ; but the water ought never ■ to flow more than two inches, nor less than one inch deep, except during the summer months. Such is the method of irrigation prattised in Gloucestershire, and likewise, with very few variations, in the counties of Wilts, Dorset, Cambridge, Hants, &:c. Its advan- tages, ir.deed, are so important that, we tru,5t, no rational agriculturist will hesitate to adopt the practice of floating land throughout Britain, in every situation where a command of water can be obtained. — Com- mon meadows are not only enrich- ed, but those of a swampy nature are consolidated by means of the mud conveyed on them. They are also protected from the effects of frost by the flowing water, or by NO. IX.-^VOL, III. IR R C3J the ice when it is frozen ; hence the roots of-grass remain unafFefted by the cold, and excellent crops arc thus produced so early, as to be of intinite service for spring food, before the natural grass appears. By irrigation, ' good pasturage may be procured in the beginning of March j and, if the season be mild, much eariier. This crop is particulariy excellent for feeding such cattle as have been hardly wintered j and so great are the benefits attending the flooding of lands, that the farmers of Glouces- tershire are enabled to conmnence the making of cheese, at least o?ie month earlier tiian those who do not possess the same opportunity. The utility of watering land is still farther evinced by this circunl- stance, that from the great for- wardness of grass, the feeding be- tween the months of March and May is worth one guinea per acre ; in June one acre will yield two tons of hay ; and the ojter-grass may always be estimated at twenty shil- lings, whether the summer be wet or dry. — The expence of irrigation is computed at from 31. to 61. per acre. Land may be floated at any pe- riod of the year. In the months of December and Januar}^, the chief care consists in keeping the soil sheltered by the v/ater from the severity of frosty nights. It Mill, however, be necessary to expose the surface to the air every ten days, or fortnight, during the win- ter, by laying it as dry as possible for a few days : and to discontinue the flooding, whenever the land is covered with a sheet of ice. In February, greater attention is required j for, if the water be suf- fered to flow over the meadow for several days in. succession^ 3 white -D scuxa