Norfolk Farming. 267 



that towards the east consisting' of the grass marshes which skirt 

 the Yare and the Bure ; and that on the west bordering the river 

 Ouse, and forming the Norfolk boundary to the great level of 

 the fens. The marshes to the east are almost all in grass, and 

 are chiefly occupied by large arable farmers, who live at some 

 distance from them, and who find them very useful for stowing 

 away their colts, odd horses, and young stock in the summer. 

 These marshes freshen but will not fatten a bullock, and are 

 pretty sound and dry for sheep. Almost all these grass lands 

 are fed ; some few are mown for hay by those occupiers whose 

 home-farms are contiguous. The hay is made in a slovenly 

 manner — cut, turned, cocked, and carted. Hands are sure to 

 be scarce in such an out-of-the-way, ofF-lying district. One 

 would think that machinery was doubly needed there ; but a 

 tedding-machine or horse-rake is hardly to be seen on the whole 

 level. 



Although several steamers have been recently built, these 

 marshes are mostly drained by windmills ; and though there 

 is no regular system of drainage, the marshes within seven 

 miles of the sea are very seldom flooded. Occasionally the 

 river banks give way, and a flood of salt water rushes in. On 

 such an emergency the old windmills are most inefficient : 

 "after a storm comes a calm," and they often cannot go when most 

 needed. But for ordinary purposes they answer fairly, and drain 

 the land cheaply and well. Higher up the streams the drainage 

 is very indifferent, and some of the land is in consequence 

 almost valueless. A well-planned system of arterial drainage 

 would keep all these lands dry ; but although here and there 

 some spirited proprietor may bank in his marsh, drain it, and 

 make it excellent land, there has as yet been but little general 

 improvement to note. Recently the \ armouth bridge has been 

 rebuilt and its water-way widened. This allows the more rapid 

 egress of the fresh water, but also as readily admits the tides. 

 Floods are, therefore, more frequent on the unsecured lands than 

 formerly, for the water in the river often rises above the highest 

 level of these marshes. 



The fenny district of Norfolk, which lies at the south-west 

 corner of the county, may be dismissed in very few words ; for 

 though it forms part of Norfolk, its farming properly belongs to 

 Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, the great fen counties. Much 

 improvement has taken place on these peaty soils, draining and 

 claying being the most conspicuous. The greater part of the 

 Norfolk fens has, happily, a substratum of clay, the overlying 

 peat varying in thickness from 2 to 20 feet. Even at the latter 

 depth clay is raised to the surface by means of deep trenches. 

 It often happens that the peat, by being weighted and well 



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