CHAPTER XXII. THE CLIMATE OF IRELAND; WOULD BE IMPROVED BY GENERAL DRAINAGE, ARTERIAL AND LOCAL-BAD RESULTS OF WANT OF DRAINAGE-IMPORTANCE of drainage, but imperfECTLY REALISED BY GOVERNMENT, LANDLORDS, AND CULTIVATORS IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND-OPERATIONS UNDER ARTERIAL DRAINAGE ACTS IN IRELAND; QUITE INSUFFICENT; WHAT IS REQUIRED -GOVERNMENT HITHERTO NOT UNIFORMLY SUCCESSFUL; ACCOUNT OF GOVERNMENT DRAINAGE WORKS ON THE SHANNON; CATCHMENT BASINS OF THE SHANNON AND ITS TRIBUTARIES; DRAINAGE SACRIFICED TO INLAND NAVIGATION; INUNDATIONS AND SATURATIONS 150 MILES ALONG THE SHANNON-ARTERIAL DRAINAGE A GOVERNMENT WORK; MUCH WANTED IN IRELAND; IRELAND HERETOFORE NEGLECTED BY GOVERNMENT IN THIS RESPECT; NEXT IN IMPORTANCE TO THE LAND QUESTION. THE climate of Ireland is one of her difficulties, inasmuch as its uncertainty renders the southern and western parts of the island, as a rule, unsuitable for the growth of wheat. No doubt, there are seasons, such as that commencing with the autumn of 1867, and terminating with the summer of 1868, highly favourable to the wheat crop in Ireland; but against this there is, not unfrequently, a recurrence of wet years, such as 1860, 1861, and 1862, most unfavourable not only to wheat, but to other cereal crops in the country. Ireland, as already observed, forms a barrier or shelter to Great Britain against the Atlantic vapours, which first break on her southern and western coasts, leaving there, but too often, an excessive quantity of their moisture. This moisture, as we have seen, has its advantages and disadvantages. But the latter would be greatly diminished if a well-devised, thorough system of arterial drainage were carried out by Government; and if, simultaneously with this, the occupying tenant were induced, as he can only be by complete security of tenure, to put his labour and capital freely into the land, as is done in other countries. As a rule, the landlords of Ireland either will not or cannot drain the farms on their estates; and, naturally enough, their CLIMATE OF IRELAND-WANT OF DRAINAGE. 89 tenants-at-will won't do so. But there can be no doubt that, if the Irish farmer enjoyed a secure tenure, defeasible only by non-payment of rent-if, in fact, he felt he was labouring for himself he not only would thoroughly till his land, but he would avail of Government aid for drainage purposes, borrowing, under the Land Improvement Acts, money, to be repaid, principal and interest, in twenty-two annual instalments of 6 per cent.; or, better still, if a desirable modification of the Act were carried out, in thirty-five annual instalments of 5 per cent.1 This double improvement-thorough culture and local drainage, in conjunction with complete arterial drainage— would rapidly carry off the superfluous water, which now lies so long, in wet seasons, on low, flat lands, and would greatly diminish the evaporative surface; thus considerably ameliorating the climate, and vastly improving the agriculture of the country. The essential principles of vegetation are heat, humidity, and free access of air. Many countries have as great a rainfall as Ireland, and some a greater; but then they have powerful evaporative solar heat, to absorb the superfluous moisture, and promote a rapid, vigorous vegetation. Owing to its moist and temperate climate, Ireland, perhaps of all countries in the world, most requires complete and perfect drainage; and yet in this respect Ireland is lamentably backward. In several districts of the country, undrained and badly farmed, with the land saturated and a low temperature, in wet summers, it is impossible for the plant, chilled in a cold soil, to attain its normal growth; and hence those districts are but too generally characterised by 1 Under the Land Improvement Acts, at present, loans may be repaid by a rent charge of 5 per cent. payable for thirty-five years, where the money is expended on buildings of all kinds, clearing land of rocks, and planting for shelter. Money borrowed for all other purposes of improvement under the Acts, is repayable in twenty-two years at 6 per cent. This latter might with advantage be extended. inferior cereals and root crops, and sour, innutritious pasture. If the same land were properly drained, and, where necessary, subsoiled, the rains, descending to the roots of the plants, would carry down ammonia, nitric acid, and other fertilising substances from the air, would yield just the necessary supply of moisture; and, having thus done their duty, would flow off, leaving the soil pervious to the air and solar heat. The difference between drained and undrained lands has been, not inaptly, compared to the contrast presented by the state of a man enjoying full reaction after a healthy cold bath, and the condition of a traveller obliged to sit for hours in wet clothes, thoroughly chilled. In the one case there has been a brief, invigorating immersion, followed by a glow; in the other case, a protracted, thorough drenching, abstracting animal heat, and lowering the vital powers. The vast importance of drainage, arterial and local, to the agriculture of these islands, appears to be but very imperfectly realised by landlords, cultivators, and the Government. The generally wet state of the land (in England) is the first observ. able feature in its condition, and this prevails over a very large proportion of most parts of the country; and it is certainly a matter of surprise that so many tenants lay out their capital in the cultivation of land of this character, seeing that at best they must reap but scanty crops from it, and at times run the risk of losing them altogether. In this, however, the proprietors are more to blame than the tenants; still the fact of the latter agreeing to cultivate land which is in a wet and undrained state, is a proof that they are not sufficiently aware of the disadvantages they labour under in this respect.1 If these observations apply to England, à fortiori, are they applicable to Ireland. As things are, it is painful to witness, in many parts of Ireland, how much suffering and poverty are entailed on individuals and whole districts, what valuable resources for the production of food for the community lie all but useless, and what 1 'Book of the Landed Estate,' p. 5. By R. E. Brown, factor and estate agent, Wass, Yorkshire. Blackwood, 1869. GREAT NEGLECT OF ARTERIAL DRAINAGE. 91 serious loss and injury, material and moral, accrue to the British empire, for the want of that judicious application of labour and capital, which would change cold, ungrateful soils into rich tracts, blooming with fertility, and convert a poor, half-idle, and discontented population into comfortable and contented productive labourers. The Irish complain, and certainly with reason, that whilst millions of the public money are expended on other parts of the United Kingdom, those great works which only Government can deal with, such as the deepening of river beds and the arterial drainage of large districts, are nearly altogether neglected in Ireland, where there is so much work of the kind to be done. It is true that, under the Arterial Drainage Acts, considerable improvements have been effected in some districts. The total amount charged against the different undertakings under the Acts, including 70,2011. for works chargeable to counties, was, up to the 31st March, 1868, 2,390,613l. Of the total expenditure, 1,187,0471. have been remitted, and repayments in respect of the completed districts, to the amount of 920,110l., have been received at the Exchequer.' Since 1861 all executive operations under these Acts have been closed, and the duties of the Board have been confined to determining, on the application of proprietors, the amount of increased rent to be paid by tenants holding under leases, in respect of the benefit derived by them from improvements in their holdings resulting from drainage operations.2 Under an Act, passed 16th July, 1866,3 to provide for the better maintenance of works executed under the Acts for the drainage of lands in Ireland, twenty drainage districts have been formed, and in the nineteen which are being proceeded with, the area to be improved is 41,828 acres, at an estimated cost of 157,0872.1 1 Thom's 'Statistics of Ireland 1868,' p. 877. 2 Ibid. 4 Ibid. But all this is quite insufficient-very far short, indeed, of what is required. It is not by mere local efforts of a few associated proprietors, deepening a small watercourse in their particular district, under the provisions of an Act of Parliament, which we may contradistinguish as subarterial drainage; nor is it again by isolated works here and there undertaken by Government, even though these works were promptly and not unskilfully executed, that we can hope to see the evil remedied. What is wanted is one general, comprehensive, and self-consistent plan of arterial drainage, devised and carried into effect by the best engineering skill and experience that can be obtained—not a plan that will drain one district merely to throw its waters over another, but one which will first deepen and improve the main arteries (that is, the large rivers), and give their currents ample space and free vent, and thus, before increasing the volume of their affluents, provide a sufficient channel for the ulteriorly increased flow of the united waters. Government has certainly been anything but uniformly successful, hitherto, in its arterial drainage operations in Ireland. The whole question-and it is one of the greatest importance to the country-will, perhaps, be best illustrated by a brief account of the Government works for improving the drainage and navigation of the Shannon. The catchment basin of the Shannon and its tributaries comprises an area of 6,060 square miles, being nearly one-fifth of the whole area of the island, viz. :— 1 Taken from the recently published Ordnance Survey Map of Rivers and their Catchment Basins (Ireland). |