[ 10 ° ] 



SOIL. 



The soil of these moors may be comprehended under four divi- 

 sions : 



First, 

 Strong, dry, and fertile clay of a considerable depth. 



Second, 

 Red earth of various depth from one foot to six feet, covering 

 the black, moory earth of the heath. 



Third, 

 Black moory earth on the surface with a substratum of clay at 

 various depths. 



Fourth, and Lastly, 

 The turf bog. 



The first of these descriptions of land may be considered as of 

 the best quality, being highly productive, and particularly so in a 

 wet summer. If shut up early in the spring it will produce from 

 two to three ton of hay per acre. Its value may be estimated from 

 2 to 3I. per acre, and it is for the most part devoted to grazing. 



It is no less remarkable than true, that this land will fat a sheep 

 nearly as well in the winter as the summer, if not stocked more 

 than one to an acre. 



The vast advantage resulting from the inclosure of the waste 

 lands in the parishes before enumerated is so manifest, that whoever 

 runs may read. 



A moiety of the manor of Wedmoor might have been pur- 

 chased about twenty years ago for 20,0001. It is now worth 7000I. 

 per annum. The improvements in Huntspile, Mark, Mear, Glas- 

 tonbury, Eddington, &c. &c. are nearly similar. In the latter 

 hamlet single rights have been sold for more than 800I. and all 

 this without any concomitant inconvenience. At first the scheme 

 was highly unpopular, and its first promoters were on the eve of 

 falling a sacrifice to popular fury and resentment, but by coolness 

 and perseverance they weathered the storm : all parties are now 

 satisfied, and acknowledge the wisdom of the measure. Nor has 

 the advance of the poors rate been in any degree equal to what has 

 been experienced in neighbouring parishes, where no inclosure has 

 token place, as will be shewn by the following statement. 



Wed, 



