E M B

384

EMB

flooded by the highest spring-tides, excepting about threemonths in summer, when the tides were lower. They wereseldom, however, covered above the depth of one or two feet,and never above four or five. Eighty acres of the aboveconsisted of a rich sea marsh, or ings, as they call them there,almost a true level, excepting where hollows were formedby the egress and regress of the tides, and the passage offresh water from the higher grounds ; and about 4 or 5 acres,which were about 16 inches lower, being a younger marsh,and nothing but what they call ink-grass growing upon it;other grasses, such as clover, rib-grass, &c., grew on therest of the marsh, forming a very beautiful close cover inthe summer. The other 20 acres were at an average about18 inches higher ; consequently the sea did not cover themso often. It had formerly been ploughed, but not for about20 years past. Last time it was in corn, it was floodedimmediately after being sown, which rendered the cropalmost entirely useless, and deterred former tenants fromploughing it again. Mr. Ilannay began to bank this fieldin the autumn of the year 1798, by making a dike along theside opposite to the river, in a direct line facing the east.This dike was made, at an average, about 3-| feet high, and6 feet broad at bottom, and 20 inches at top, built after thesame manner with that mentioned below. He enclosed,along with the said fields, he says, 4 acres of the marshadjoining, by making a dike 5 feet high, and 5 feet in bottom,almost wholly of solid feals or sods, with a very little stuff,properly beat, in the heart of it, which makes an excellentfence, and promises to be a very durable one. This dike,together with two small drains, one on each side of it, abouttwo feet deep, cost 3d. per yard. The division-dikes of thewhole marsh, which now, divided into four parts, are all builtafter the same manner, only that there is no loose stuff inthe heart of some of them, but all of solid feal, jointed likebricks, as may be seen at Figure 17, which represents an endview, or section of it. This dike, meant as a permanentfence, answered as a temporary bank, and enabled him toplough that field in spring, 1799, although the bank roundthe whole marsh was not finished till the winter following.He sowed oats on this field, and, considering the badness ofthe season, had a very good crop ; particularly so on thatpart which had not been ploughed formerly. On fartherconsideration, he altered the plan of the bank round themarsh, (which extends in a circular direction facing the north)by making it, at an average, about four feet and a half high,and allowing about two feet in the base for one in height, asat Figure 18, where abc represent an end view, or sectionof it, every small span representing the section of a feal orsod ; a b shows the inside of the bank, with the green sideof the. feal down ; b c the base; a c the side next the water,with the green side of the feal out, (which adds greatly bothto the strength and beauty of the bank ;) and d the heart ofthe dike, made up with stuff properly compressed with arammer. The stuff was taken from a ditch, in the inside ofthe bank, leaving a casement of a foot, which ought to havebeen three at least; and, where the ground is of a sandynature, more ; as the fresh water, running in the inside, waslikely to undermine the bank, had he not prevented it, bycutting a new drain, and filling the old one with the stuffcast from it. The only creek worth noticing, through whichthe bank passed, was about 40 feet wide, and 9 feet deep,in the bottom of which a wooden pipe, with a stopper, waslaid through the bank.

There are now about 50 acres of the same kind of marsh-land adjoining his ; and also about 100 acres on the' otherside of the river, banked in, all nearly in the same manneras represented in the figure. The bank on a farm on the

side of the river opposite to his, was made almost a quitswreck, by an extraordinary tide, owing to its '1' ^ u p theexposed to the south-west winds, which always sen .^j U ryhighest tides ; but on his side, though suffering som e ^ n( ]s,from the same high tide, he was not affected by t * l0S ? „ bunkas they blew right over the bank. In his opinion, ^, oU ldon the other side of the river, in order to be dura * , v ithrequire to be 30 feet broad, and 8 feet high, c< ^ e ^ l0U ld b®feals, with the green side out; and that no stu J a sand/lifted within 6 or 7 feet of it, the ground being oi e j9«nature. It might be made after the form shown co n "

The whole of this turned out most excellent land, t jja®tinues to produce to this day some of the finest cropspart of the country. nlish^

Another improvement of the same nature was acco 0 fon what in Scotland is termed carse land, on the g s q.,Netherton of Grange, belonging to James J? eterJ£ j’ r tak eI1by Mr. John Hoyes, his tenant. The work was i® year’ 3under an agreement with the proprietor, to allow i e lio*rent, of £195 sterling, with the farther allowance o q'|,erating the farm-houses to the extent of £150 ®° ^

method adopted for carrying on the operations was ^e>After looking over the carse, and marking out the 11 pne,

the length of which is 1,400 yards, mostly in a ng 1 ’ 1 ' texcept an angle at the distance of 300 yards from tlie t jj-end, and a segment of a circle at about 250 from the soeast end ,t was resolved to make the embankment 6 fee to yJ n P art t * ie ’ ground, and to allow 2 t jjg

breadth in the bottom of every foot in height, as seen A eV eldraught of the mould at Figure 20. After taking th® Jot the carse, it was found, that where the ground w®* Jetfand a good deal of it broken by runs of the sea and f

or t he water, the dike would require to be 8 and e

high, to have it on a level at the top ; so that the 8 ^

would be 9 feet high. The embankment was bud ^

following manner: It was begun on the highest g roun , ’ 7 0 orthe west end, and two moulds set up at the distance ot ' ()ie80 yards; the height, 6 fee t, by 12 broad in the base, .

slope on the outside 6 feet, on the inside 4 feet, and the ^ e a

at the top 2 feet; the sides made up with feal from the ^

ground on the outside of the dike, which were laid,"' 1 ^.grass-side down, two feal deep on each side of t . jn,the outside feal of the first course with the ends out j( je

and the other running along ; the next course, the oD

real running along, and the outside out and in> ° n . t healternately, each course consisting of a head and runn > 0body of the dike being made up of the carse g roU ° yfithwhich the feal had been cut, and packed down by ® , (get,beaters. When this was brought to the height of 4 o . er eanother piece was begun, leaving an intermediate spac®> _ t j,j 9there were any water-runs, for the egress of the t,a y pa rt»was found necessary, to draw off the water from the 10 ''' t ;jes;of the carse, which would have been filled up in sp» n ® u ldand, by coming in at the end and over the high'grout®* )]a( lhave been prevented from getting out by the dike, fillnot been done in that way ; so that the embankmen q,j )eS ein detached pieces, till it was brought near the heigh*- ^ 0 {intermediate spaces were then filled up, between tn gJeOone and rise of next spring-tide, after laying ^ 0V ^ n |..vv:d er ‘pipes with stoppers in the dike, to carry off the si® ^ c fo9 3In carrying on the work, they had in some places . v> l3tover lakes and runs made by the tides, which rec l u u pu i » rl ' 9quantities of materials, the dike being in some pla® eS / rea tes cof 10 feet high, and 22 broad in the base: tll< ' ° n6 Jakepart of the dike being 16 to 18 feet broad. There: was ^; £ iiof 150 feet in length, and 50 feet in breadth, fi,ie ^ bi cb tb0earth, clay, and sand, to the height of 5 feet» 011

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