Page:EB1911 - Volume 14.djvu/878

Rh in upward or subterranean irrigation to send the water on and to take it off very gently, in order to avoid the displacement and loss of the finer particles of the soil which a forcible current would cause.

In warping the suspended solid matters are of importance, not merely for any value they may have as manure, but also as a material addition to the ground to be irrigated. The warping which is practised in England is almost exclusively confined to the overflowing of level ground within tide mark, and is conducted

mostly within the districts commanded by estuaries or tidal rivers. The best notion of the process of warping may be gained by sailing up the Trent from the Humber to Gainsborough. Here the banks of the river were constructed centuries ago to protect the land within them from the encroachments of the tide. A great tract of country was thus laid comparatively dry. But while the wisdom of one age thus succeeded in restricting within bounds the tidal water of the river, it was left to the greater wisdom of a succeeding age to improve upon this arrangement by admitting these muddy waters to lay a fresh coat of rich silt on the exhausted soils. The process began more than a century ago, but has become a system in recent times. Large sluices of stone, with strong doors, to be shut when it is wished to exclude the tide, may be seen on both banks of the river, and from these great conduits are carried miles inward through the flat country to the point previously prepared by embankment over which the muddy waters are allowed to spread. These main conduits, being very costly, are constructed for the warping of large adjoining districts, and openings are made at such points as are then undergoing the operation. The mud is deposited and the waters return with the falling tide to the bed of the river. Spring-tides are preferred, and so great is the quantity of mud in these rivers that from 10 to 15 acres have been known to be covered with silt from 1 to 3 ft. in thickness during one spring of ten or twelve tides. Peat-moss of the most sterile character has been by this process covered with soil of the greatest fertility, and swamps which used to be resorted to for leeches are now, by the effects of warping, converted into firm and fertile fields. The art is now so well understood that, by careful attention to the currents, the expert warp farmer can temper his soil as he pleases. When the tide is first admitted the heavier particles, which are pure sand, are first deposited; the second deposit is a mixture of sand and fine mud, which, from its friable texture, forms the most valuable soil; while lastly the pure mud subsides, containing the finest particles of all, and forms a rich but very tenacious soil. The great effort, therefore, of the warp farmer is to get the second or mixed deposit as equally over the whole surface as he can and to prevent the deposit of the last. This he does by keeping the water in constant motion, as the last deposit can only take place when the water is suffered to be still. Three years may be said to be spent in the process, one year warping, one year drying and consolidating, and one year growing the first crop, which is generally seed-hoed in by hand, as the mud at this time is too soft to admit of horse labour.

The immediate effect, which is highly beneficial, is the deposition of silt from the tide. To ensure this deposition, it is necessary to surround the field to be warped with a strong embankment, in order to retain the water as the tide recedes. The water is admitted by valved sluices, which open as the tide flows into the field and shut by the pressure of the confined water when the tide recedes. These sluices are placed on as low a level as possible to permit the most turbid water at the bottom of the tide to pass through a channel in the base of the embankment. The silt deposited after warping is exceedingly rich and capable of carrying any species of crop. It may be admitted in so small a quantity as only to act as a manure to arable soil, or in such a large quantity as to form a new soil. This latter acquisition is the principal object of warping, and it excites astonishment to witness how soon a new soil may be formed. From June to September a soil of 3 ft. in depth may be formed under the favourable circumstances of a very dry season and long drought. In winter and in floods warping ceases to be beneficial. In ordinary circumstances on the Trent and Humber a soil from 6 to 16 in. in depth may be obtained and inequalities of 3 ft. filled up. But every tide generally leaves only in. of silt, and the field which has only one sluice can only be warped every other tide. The silt, as deposited in each tide, does not mix into a uniform mass, but remains in distinct layers. The water should be made to run completely off and the ditches should become dry before the influx of the next tide, otherwise the silt will not incrust and the tide not have the same effect. Warp soil is of surpassing fertility. The expense of forming canals, embankments and sluices for warping land is from £10 to £20 an acre. A sluice of 6 ft. in height and 8 ft. wide will warp from 60 to 80 acres, according to the distance of the field from the river. The embankments may be from 3 to 7 ft. in height, as the field may stand in regard to the level of the highest tides. After the new land has been left for a year or two in seeds and clover, it produces great crops of wheat and potatoes.

Warping is practised only in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, on the estuary of the Humber, and in the neighbourhood of the rivers which flow into it—the Trent, the Ouse and the Don. The silt and mud brought down by these rivers is rich in clay and organic matter, and sometimes when dry contains as much as 1% of nitrogen.

Constant care is required if a water-meadow is to yield quite satisfactory results. The earliness of the feed, its quantity and its quality will all depend in very great measure upon the proper management of the irrigation. The points which require constant attention are—the

perfect freedom of all carriers, feeders and drains from every kind of obstruction, however minute; the state and amount of water in the river or stream, whether it be sufficient to irrigate the whole area properly or only a part of it; the length of time the water should be allowed to remain on the meadow at different periods of the season; the regulation of the depth of the water, its quantity and its rate of flow, in accordance with the temperature and the condition of the herbage; the proper times for the commencing and ending of pasturing and of shutting up for hay; the mechanical condition of the surface of the ground; the cutting out of any very large and coarse plants, as docks; and the improvement of the physical and chemical conditions of the soil by additions to it of sand, silt, loam, chalk, &c.

Whatever may be the command of water, it is unwise to attempt to irrigate too large a surface at once. Even with a river supply fairly constant in level and always abundant, no attempt should be made to force on a larger volume of water than the feeders can properly distribute and the drains adequately remove, or one part of the meadow will be deluged and another stinted. When this inequality of irrigation once occurs, it is likely to increase from the consequent derangement of the feeders and drains. And one result on the herbage will be an irregularity of composition and growth, seriously detrimental to its food-value. The adjustment of the water by means of the sluices is a delicate operation when there is little water and also when there is much; in the latter case the fine earth may be washed away from some parts of the meadow; in the former case, by attempting too much with a limited water current, one may permit the languid streams to deposit their valuable suspended matters instead of carrying them forward to enrich the soil. The water is not to be allowed to remain too long on the ground at a time. The soil must get dry at stated intervals in order that the atmospheric air may come in contact with it and penetrate it. In this way as the water sinks down through the porous subsoil or into the subterranean drains oxygen enters and supplies an element which is needed, not only for the oxidation of organic matters in the earth, but also for the direct and indirect nutrition of the roots. Without this occasional drying of the soil the finer grasses and the leguminous plants will infallibly be lost; while a scum of confervae and other algae will collect upon the surface and choke the higher forms of vegetation. The water should be run off thoroughly, for a little stagnant water lying in places upon the surface does much injury. The practice of irrigating differs in different places with differences in the quality of the water, the soil, the drainage, &c. As a general rule, when the irrigating season begins in November the water may flow for a fortnight continuously, but subsequent waterings, especially after December, should be shortened gradually in duration till the first week in April, when irrigation should cease. It is necessary to be very careful in irrigating during frosty weather. For, though grass will grow even under ice, yet if ice be formed under and around the roots of the grasses the plants may be thrown out by the expansion of the water at the moment of its conversion into ice. The water should be let off on the morning of a dry day, and thus the land will be dry enough at night not to suffer from the frost; or the water may be taken off in the morning and let on again at night. In spring the newly grown and tender grass will be easily destroyed by frost if it be not protected by water, or if the ground be not made thoroughly dry.

Although in many cases it is easy to explain the reasons why water artificially applied to land brings crops or increases their yield, the theory of our ordinary water-meadow irrigation is rather obscure. For we are not dealing in these grass lands with a semi-aquatic plant like rice, nor are 