178 ' KENTISH BOTANY. [Jufie, 



sifled. Its fertility is almost proverbial. Cultivation is not the 

 rule here, but the exception ; but where the land was under til- 

 lage the crops were luxuriant. Grazing, is the occupation of 

 the inhabitants ; and sheep, colts or fillies, breeding mares, and 

 a few bullocks, constituted the stock of the graziers. The sheep 

 are numerous and of the Southdown breed. 



From this brief notice of the physical condition of Romney 

 Marsh, it appears that the sea, which has washed away miles from 

 the north-eastern shore of the county, as for example, in the Isle of 

 Thanet, — for the Reculver is believed to have been three miles from 

 the sea in very remote times, and half a mile distant in almost 

 living memory — has added much to the dimensions of this part of 

 Kent. Its area is probably doubled since the Romans built the 

 first wall, near Dymchurch, to dyke out the ocean. 



The physical contrast between this obscure nook and the Isle 

 of Thanet is remarkable ; this forces itself on the notice of even 

 superficial observers. 



In Thanet the land, or the surface, or the soil, has diminished 

 almost one-half since the beginning of the historic period, or since 

 the seventh century. During the same period its population, 

 wealth, and material progress, have been constantly on the in- 

 crease. Here it may truly be said, as the poet said of England 

 during the golden age : — 



" There was a time, ere England's griefs began, 

 When every rood of land maintained a man." 



This cannot be said of Roraney Marsh. The number of foals, 

 breeding-mares, bullocks and cows, sheep and lambs, which it 

 rears and fattens, is immense, and is to be reckoned by thousands 

 and tens of thousands. But here there is barely one man for 

 every twenty acres, where, at the poet's reckoning, there should be 

 eighty. And of these, how many are supported by the land ? Barely 

 the half of them. The land requires no labour, for it is all pas- 

 turage; it is naturally so fertile, that it produces abundantly 

 in all seasons, good or bad, without any manure, except what is 

 dropped by the sheep, and beeves, and horses, by which it is 

 grazed. Its fences need no repair, for the dykes or ditches are all 

 but indestructible. The sole trade of Romney Marsh is that of 

 live stock ; and this trade is in few hands, and can be successfully 

 carried on with a large capital and a small amount of labour. • 



