DOI article:
Michelsen, Peter: Irrigation in Norway and elsewhere in Northern Europe
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0269
256
PETER MICHELSEN
Fig. 11. The valley of the river Kongeaen at Skrave, southern Jutland, Denmark. In the foreground a
canal for watering meadows, in the background a glimpse of the river. Photo P. M. 1957.
Das Tai der Konigsau bei Skrave im sudlichen Jutland, Danemark. Im Vordergrund ein Kanal zur
Bewasserung von Wiesen, im Hintergrund ist der Flu 11 zu erkennen. Foto P. M. 1957.
watering of meadows, distinguishing be-
tween two different methods. One was the
quiet form of irrigation, which made the wa-
ter seep its way among the roots of the grass.
The other method was the total flooding of
the meadow, the water level usually being so
high that it prevented frost from reaching the
roots.
The agitation for water meadows was very
strong during the last decades of the 18th
and the first half of the 19th centuries. The
topographic literature of the period, often
especially interested in agricultural eco-
nomy, indicates that many proposals from
writers and authorities were carried out by
the farmers. German water meadows were
taken for a model, the art of irrigating
meadows being particularly developed in the
kingdom of Hannover and in Westphalia
(Michelsen 1953).
The water meadows got a last boost from
1866, when a Danish society for the reclama-
tion of heath was founded. Earlier water
meadows had also played an important part
in the agriculture of sandy regions in the
western provinces of the country. Now an
effective utilisation of river valleys was seen
as the backbone of heath reclamation, and
the installations for irrigation of meadows of
this period were often very large. Long ca-
nals would carry the water from a river along
the edge of the valley, in order that the irri-
gation could take place in the area between
the canal and the river, the latter being situ-
ated a little lower than the former (fig. 11).
The large installations of the last decades
PETER MICHELSEN
Fig. 11. The valley of the river Kongeaen at Skrave, southern Jutland, Denmark. In the foreground a
canal for watering meadows, in the background a glimpse of the river. Photo P. M. 1957.
Das Tai der Konigsau bei Skrave im sudlichen Jutland, Danemark. Im Vordergrund ein Kanal zur
Bewasserung von Wiesen, im Hintergrund ist der Flu 11 zu erkennen. Foto P. M. 1957.
watering of meadows, distinguishing be-
tween two different methods. One was the
quiet form of irrigation, which made the wa-
ter seep its way among the roots of the grass.
The other method was the total flooding of
the meadow, the water level usually being so
high that it prevented frost from reaching the
roots.
The agitation for water meadows was very
strong during the last decades of the 18th
and the first half of the 19th centuries. The
topographic literature of the period, often
especially interested in agricultural eco-
nomy, indicates that many proposals from
writers and authorities were carried out by
the farmers. German water meadows were
taken for a model, the art of irrigating
meadows being particularly developed in the
kingdom of Hannover and in Westphalia
(Michelsen 1953).
The water meadows got a last boost from
1866, when a Danish society for the reclama-
tion of heath was founded. Earlier water
meadows had also played an important part
in the agriculture of sandy regions in the
western provinces of the country. Now an
effective utilisation of river valleys was seen
as the backbone of heath reclamation, and
the installations for irrigation of meadows of
this period were often very large. Long ca-
nals would carry the water from a river along
the edge of the valley, in order that the irri-
gation could take place in the area between
the canal and the river, the latter being situ-
ated a little lower than the former (fig. 11).
The large installations of the last decades