680 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



4199. Uomney marsh is one of the most extensive and fertile of fresh water marshes in Britain. It 

 contains near 24,000 acres ; besides which Walland marsh and Dinge marsh, which are comprised within 

 the walls, contain the former 12,000, and the latter 8,000 acres. Boys informs us that " the internal regu- 

 lations of these marshes are committed to the superintendance of expenditors. These are appointed by 

 the Commissioners of Sewers, and are to take care that the repairs of the walls are maintained in due 

 order, and that the costs attending the same be levied on each tenant according to the number of acres 

 occupied by him ; for which purpose they are to cause assessments to be made out, with the names of the 

 occupiers, and tlie rateable proportions to be borne by them respectively j and these rates, which must be 

 confirmed by the commissioners, are termed scots ; and that when any occupier refuses to pay his scot, 

 theexpenditors can obtain a warrant from the commissioners empowering them to distrain for the same, 

 as for any other tax." These marshes are both appropriated to the purposes of breeding and feeding. 



4200. Salt water marshes are subject to be overflowed at every spring tide, or at other 

 times, when by the violence of the wind, or the impetuosity of the tide, the water flows 

 beyond its usual limits. Their goodness is in a great measure analogous to the fertility 

 of the adjoining marshes ; and the extent of them differs according to the situation. 

 Embankments, as it is remarked in The Code of Agriculture, are perhaps the only means 

 by which they can be effectually improved, especially when they are deficient in pasture. 

 However, where pasture abounds, they are in some cases more valuable than arable 

 lands, the pasture operating as a medicine to diseased cattle. 



4201. Marshes on the Thames. In The Agricultural Survey of Kent it is asserted, that great profit is 

 made by the renters of marshes in the neighborhood of London bordering on the Thames, from joisting of 

 horses, the pasture being deservedly accounted salubrious to that useful animal ; for which reason, such 

 horses as have been worn down by hard travel, or long afflicted with the farcy, lameness, &c. have fre- 

 quently been restored to their pristine health and vigor, by a few months' run in the marshes, especially 

 on the saltings ; but as every piece of marsh land in some measure participates of this saline disposition, 

 so do they all of them possess, in a comparative degree, the virtues above mentioned, and for this reason 

 the Londoners are happy to procure a run for their horses, at 4*. or 5s. per week. And another method 

 practised by the graziers in the vicinity of London, is to purchase sheep or bullocks in Smithfield at a 

 hanging market, which being turned into the marshes, in the lapse of a few weeks are not only much 

 improved in flesh, but go off at a time when the markets being less crowded, have considerably advanced 

 in price, and thus a twofold gain is made from this traffick ; and as many of the wealthy butchers of the 

 metropolis are possessed of a tract of this marsh land, they have, from their constant attendance at 

 Smithfield, a perfect knowledge of the rise and fall in the markets, and consequently are enabled to judge 

 with certainty, when will be the proper time to buy in their stock and at what period to dispose of them. 



4202. In variwis districts qf the island that are situated on the borders of the sea, or near the mouths 

 of large rivers, there are many very extensive tracts of this description of land, which by proper drainage 

 and enclosure maybe rendered highly valuable and productive. This is particularly the case in Somer- 

 setshire and Lincolnshire, as well as that mentioned above. In the former of these counties, vast im- 

 provements have, according to Billingsley, as stated in his able Survey, been effected by the cutting of 

 ditches, for the purpose of dividing the property, and the deepening of the general outlets, to discharge 

 the superfluous water. Many thousand acres which were formerly overflowed for months together, and 

 consequently of little or no value, are now become fine grazing and dairy lands. 



Sect. VII. Of Downs and other Shore Lands. 



4203. Downs are those undulating smooth surfaces covered with close and fine turf 

 met with in some districts on the sea-shore ; the soil is sometimes sandy, and at other 

 times clay or loam. In inland situations there are also down lands, as in Wiltshire, 

 Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire ; in the two latter counties they are called " wolds. " 



4204. Sandy downs on the sea-shore, are often more valuable in their natural state, 

 than after cultivation. In a state of nature they frequently afford good pasture for 

 sheep and rabbits, and at other times produce grasses that may be used as food for 

 cattle, or as litter. But the great object should be to raise plants which contribute to 

 fix these soils, and to prevent them from being drifted by the winds, which often occasion 

 incalculable mischief. The most suitable plants for the purpose, are the elymus are- 

 narius, j uncus arenarius, arundo donax, ononis communis, gallium verum, tussilago peta- 

 sites, and a variety of other creeping^rooted plants and grasses. Of woody plants, 

 the elder is one of the best for resisting the sea breeze, and requires only to be inserted 

 in the sand in large truncheons. Where the sands on sea^shores are mixed with shells, and 

 not very liable to drift, if they can be sheltered by fences or an embankment, and 

 sown with white clover, it will be found 543 



both an economical and profitable improve- 

 ment, 



4205. Poor sandy soils- in inland dis- 

 tricts are not unfrequently stocked with 

 rabbits. When the production of arable 

 lands are high, it is found worth while to 

 break up these warrens and cultivate corn 

 and turnips; but it frequently happens that 

 taking the requisite outlay of capital, and 

 the expenses and risk into consideration, 

 they do not pay so well as when stocked 

 with rabbits. Such lands are generally 

 well adapted for planting ; but in this, as 

 in every other case where there is a choice, 

 circumstances must direct what line of im- 

 provement is to be adopted. 



