78 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NORWICH AND DISTRICT 
around Diss. Clover and other small seeds grow well in Mid- and South 
Norfolk. ‘They are usually harvested in excellent condition and are in 
demand by North Country and Scottish farmers. 
THE MarsHLANDS AND FENs. 
The Marshlands and Fens extend in Norfolk from King’s Lynn to 
Wisbech and the Holland borders at Walpole Cross Keys near to Sutton 
Bridge. ‘The Marshlands are silty soils and the Fens black and peaty. 
Two types, at least, of fen are recognised, viz. overlying sand and clay 
respectively. ‘The former is the least fertile. The Fens are shrinking 
rapidly when cultivated and are reduced as much as 4 ft. in sixty years. 
This may be seen on the Southery-Feltwell road. Eventually the Fens 
will either become heavy clay or sandy soils, as the large stores of humic 
material are exhausted. 
The silty soil of the Marshlands may be divided into heavy and light, 
the extreme form of the latter being river silt formed in old creek and 
river beds. Skirt land is the term given to land which is a mixture of 
silt and loam on the margins of the Fens. Raised bands of silt sometimes 
run across black fen; these are probably the remains of the beds of old 
creeks. Patches of white marl are found and probably mark the site of 
former meres, the white earth being composed of shells. 
Silt soils present no cultural problems except those associated with 
heavy land on the heavy silts. Occasionally patches are found with a 
lime requirement, due to drainage troubles. The light black fen is 
occasionally sour and ‘ pans’ are often troublesome. 
In the case of both fens and silts there is never any fear of drought, for 
there is a perfect control of the water table by the system of drainage 
(by pumps in the case of fens). 
Modern pumping plants have reduced the danger of flooding to a 
minimum in the Fens, but the serious effects of floods in the past have 
left their mark, for farm buildings are crude in the extreme and the houses 
are also small and mean. On the other hand, the silt land is characterised 
by excellent buildings of a substantial nature and large, mansion-like 
houses. 
In the past, livestock, especially sheep, was an important industry on 
the silt land when this was under grass, and Cobbett refers with evident 
satisfaction to the hog-like sheep he noted there. Livestock have never 
been important on black fen. The only classes of stock kept to-day on 
both fens and silts to any extent, are bullocks and pigs. A great increase 
in the latter has occurred, partly due to the uneconomic nature of the 
cattle trade, and latterly owing to the Pigs Marketing Scheme. 
Pig manure proves as good or better than cattle dung and is less costly 
o produce. Pigs also are regarded as more efficient consumers of potatoes 
than bullocks. 
In the evolution of the silt lands, corn-growing followed the grazing of 
last century, when the grass was broken up and this was followed by 
potatoes. On the silts potatoes are grown more widely than beet and are 
really the chief crop of the area. Yields of 15 tons per acre of ‘ King 
Edward ’ potatoes of high quality are quite usual. Cereals and clover are 
