280 MINUTES JUKE 



118. If they were properly drained from the 



YARMOUTH puddles of furface- water which ftand on them 



MARSHES. F 



till late in the fpring j their faces fmoothed by 

 levelling; and kept fo by the harrow and rol- 

 ler; their quality might be much improved. 



But, as to improvement, they are totally 

 neglected : the cattle are permitted to poach 

 them in winter ; and the tuflbcks which they 

 tread up remain {lumbiing-blocks to them all 

 the fummer : while the dung, collected by the 

 marfhmen, is fold to the upland farmers. 



The landlord finds mills, opens the fence- 

 drains, and hangs the gates; the tenant, who 

 generally rents them from year to year, and 

 frequently for only one year, turns in his ftock 

 as foon as the fur face is freed from water, and 

 keeps them in until the water, or the feyerity 

 of the weather, obliges him to draw them off. 



The flock are under the care of marjh-men, 

 who live in cottages fcattered over the Marflies; 

 each having his diftrict, or " level of 

 < marfhcs," to look after. His perquifite is a 

 frilling upon the pound-rent, which is fome- 

 times paid by the landlord; but more gene- 

 rally by the tenant. 



The marfri-men alfo keep cows, which pick 

 about in the fwamps, roads, and uninclofed parts, 



in 



