II. YORKSHIRE. 549 



fwam^, lying barely ?.^ove the level of a ri- 

 vulet running by the fide of it. The fub- foil 

 a blue^cky : the top-foil a black peat earth, 

 of an irregular depth ; varying from a foot 

 to three or four feet deep. The turf, a mat 

 of rufhes, fedges, and other palullrian 

 weeds, equally unpalatable and unproducr 

 tive, either of hay or pafturage j fome parts 

 of it being dangerous to ilock. The form 

 triangular : the area, containing nine or ten 

 acres, an entire flat ; except a gentle defcent 

 towards the longeft corner. The fttuaUoiiy 

 though low, extretneiy chilling, being ex- 

 pofcd on every fide in a naked watery plain. 

 The Improvements obvioully requifite in 

 this cafe, were ivarmth, and a proper degree 

 of drynefs. 



To obtain thefe, the rivulet and the fur- 

 rounding ditches were deepened ; and a deep 

 counter ditch, or main drain, funk at a diftance 

 from the boundary fence 5 leaving an irre- 

 gular border, of five to ten yards wide, en- 

 tirely round the area of the fite of Improve- 

 ment, which by this limple operation alone 

 was removed fufFiciently out of the water's 

 \(2y ', except at the lowed extremity, where 



the 



