OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC WORKS.
35
" proprietors in the county of Waterford, nearly all of the works for which Land Improvement.
" loans had previously been made have been completed, and as far as I can " ascertain about 900 acres have been thorough drained during the past year.
" Nearly all of the land drained previous to the year 1851 has been tilled " during the past year, and where the occupiers had means to manure and « cultivate those lands the return has been equal to the most sanguine " expectations.
" We have now in this county 4,986 statute acres of land producing crops " which, previous to the passing of this Act of Parliament, were lying useless " and unproductive.
" In my district the deep system of thorough drainage has been universally " adopted, no minor drains being less than four feet in depth, the distance " apart varying from 30 to 40 feet; broken stones have, with one exception, " been used as conduits in the drains, and I am glad to be able to state that " a failure in the discharge from the drains has rarely occurred, and that on " the whole the works have been executed in a satisfactory manner.
" The embankments, of which several have been constructed under the " Act, have, without one exception, withstood the effects of the wind and tide, " and on the River Blackwater, where our principal embankments are situate, " they have been taken as models, both as regards execution and cost.
" The expense per acre of thorough drainage in this district has, of course, " varied according to circumstances ; drainage four feet deep and 40 feet apart " has on an average cost 3/.
10s.
per statute acre, the most expensive 51.
17s.,
" the least expensive 3/.
2s.
8d.
per statute acre.
" Subsoiling 18 inches in depth by the spade has averaged 21.
18s.
6d.
per " statute acre, the most expensive being 4/.
15s.,
the least 21.
per acre.
" Fencing has cost about 2s.
6d.
per statute perch, the fences being six feet " in height, faced on both sides with stone to the height of four feet, the " remaining two feet being faced with sods.
I consider these fences to be the " cheapest and most durable.
" Amongst the proprietors who have not only expended large sums in " improvement, but who have since paid attention to the maintenance of the " works, I may mention Mrs.
Osborne, Lord Huntingdon, Sir Nugent Humble, " Lord Cremornc, Mr.
R.
T.
Barron, and Mr.
Sherlock, but these proprietors " (Lord Cremornc excepted) have only improved land in their own hands."
Mr.
Charles W.
Wetland, Inspector of Drainage for the eastern division of County of Cork, the county of Cork, reports :•— Jfstern Division;
f ' L Mr.C.W.Welland,
" 111 the district comprising the chief part of the east riding of the county inspector of " of Cork, which has been intrusted to my superintendence, there have been Drainage.
" several new applications for loans, under the Land Improvement Acts " submitted to me for inspection and report during the past year, all of which " have been favourably received and sanctioned.
" Amongst the proprietors who have commenced operations under the Act
" during the year 1851 I may mention Mr.
E.
B.
Roche, M.P.,
Mr.
M.
" Longfield, Sir E.
Lynge, Bart.,
Mr.
J.
R.
Sarsfield, xMr.
J.
Power, Mrs.
C.
" Kearney.
" Other proprietors who had commenced draining in the years 1849 and " 1850 have continued their operations, and I am happy in being able to state " that the whole have been conducted in a satisfactory manner, and all parties " have expressed their approbation of the systematic, and at the same time " conciliatory manner in which the provisions of the Act have been carried " out by the arrangements made by the Board, and they are also satisfied that " the expenditure on drainage has been amply repaid by the improved " condition of the land which has been operated on.
" In addition to the direct advantages, a great public benefit has arisen from " the works by the extensive and suitable employment they have afforded %o " the labouring class of both sexes, which has tended materially to diminish " destitution, and consequently to reduce, and in some instances wholly clear " off, the poor rate taxation in the electoral divisions in which the works have " been carried on.
" I might mention many instances in which land previously of very little " value has been rendered fertile and profitable through the operations of this " Act, but to avoid prolixity I shall confine myself to a few cases.
