106 Warping. 



tmacquainted with warping. A local explanation for the 

 existence of warp in the Trent is that the pressure of the 

 high hill close to the river npon its east side near the month 

 causes the bed of the river to rise, and this is scoured away 

 and carried up stream in the form of warp. They assert that 

 the top of the hill is perceptibly lower than at one time. I 

 have heard other theories put forward, but in my opinion they 

 are not worth quoting, and the first of those given here is the 

 one generally accepted. 



There are two kinds of warp land, one known as " top 

 land," or " old going land," the other as " new warp land," 

 or simply "warp land." 



The " old going land " has been in existence for centuries ; 

 it consists of a strip varying in width from a quarter to half a 

 mile, along each side of the tidal rivers wherever they flow 

 through a low lying tract of country. In olden times, before 

 the rivers Avere banked in, the high tides charged with warp 

 would overflow this land and deposit the mud they held in 

 suspension, and then drain on to the low lands lying further 

 away, making them waterlogged and swampy. 



Eventually these rivers were banked in, and these strips of 

 land were saved from the tide. 



These tracts of " old going land " are extremely fertile 

 and are excellently well drained. They are consequently in 

 great demand, for no matter what the season — except an 

 abnormal one like the present — a good crop is always certain, 

 in a wet season the drainage is so good that the crops 

 do not suffer, whilst in a dry one they are excellent, the soil 

 retaining moisture to a marked degree. 



The other class of warp land is more interesting and is less 

 understood. 



As has been already stated there is behind the comparatively 

 high land, in this level country, a low lying peaty or sandy 

 tract. From the nature of the soil, and the fact that it is too 

 low to drain into the river, these districts are of very little 

 value ; but provided that they do not lie too high, and are 

 within a reasonable reach of the river, they can be covered 

 with a thick coating of warp, when they at once become very 

 valuable land. 



The Method of Warping. 



The method of wax-ping may best be described by giving 

 the following concrete example, which can be taken as typical 

 of what is being done in several places at the present moment. 

 The land in case consists of from three to four hundred acres 

 lying within four or five miles of the river Trent, or Ouse, and 

 forming part of a large tract of laad which it has been decided 



