to the Firft Volume. 599

» The more gradual and eafy the external flope is made, the’ refittance againft the fea will of courfe be the lef fudden, and the embankments lef liable to injury: this flope mufi therefore be made according to its expofure to the winds and tides; but nothing can be a greater error than to make it too bold or upright*.” See Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 2.“ Theinfide flope thould alfo be faced with turf, which may be laid with the green fide downwards, as in building any common fod wall. Some expert fodders can finith this kindof work extremely neat, by fetting the fod on edge, ac- cording to the flope intended to be given, and with proper mallets and beetles ram the earth hard behind, which confolidates the work as it advances, and tends very much to its durability. When the firft or lower courfe js finithed, they pare the upper edge of the fods with a tharp knife quite even by laying a rule to them; and then they goon with the fecond courfe, which they finith in the fame manner, and {0 proceed till the whole height is completed; which, when finithed properly, looks very beautiful and fmooth, not a joint between the turfs being feen. If turf is to be ufed in covering the outfide flope, it muft all be laid with the grafs uppermoft, and well beaten down with a flat fod beetle for that purpofe; and for their better fe- curity it may not be amifs to drive a fmall ftake, of about eighteen inches long or more, through every fod. The fods for this purpofe fhould at firft be carefully taken up and traced by aline, all of the fame breadth, and their edges cut as even as poflible, that they may make the clofer joints, which will tend very much to their fecurity till they grow properly together. In laying the different courfes of thefe fods, care fhould likewife be taken that the joints of the one are covered by the other, in the way that good brick-work* is made.”

If it be propofed to reclaim a piece of land upon which the fea ebbs and flows every tide to a greater depth than inthe foregoing cafe, as in a creek, or on the fide of a large river, a different mode of proceeding, it is obferved, mutt be adopted ac- cording to the foil and to the materials intended to be ufed,’“ If there are plenty of fiones to be eafily had, a bulwark may be formed of thefe, with a mixture of clay, either by land-carriage, or(which in fome cafes is preferable) by carrying them in flat-bottomed boats, or punts, and throwing them overboard till a bank is accumu- lated. If fiones cannot fo eafily be had, a quantity of clay, or other materials fit for the purpofe, thrown in in the fame manner, may anfwer equally well. It is fuppofed that moft of the embankments in Holland were done in this manner, by earrying*the clay dug out of the canals in boats, and throwing it into the water. In either cafe it 1s neceflary to fix up ftrong poles before the work is begun, as guides for laying down the materials. Sluices are alfo requifite at certain places to let out

* Beatfon in Communication to the Board of Agriculture, Vol. II.

ie VOL. 1, 48