ARUNDO. 299 



that there is no farm possessing a bit of wet undrainable 

 land that may not be made to produce them. I have 

 often seen them growing in the muddy bottoms of old 

 clay-pits. Reeds flourish best in mud or moorish soil, 

 with from half to a whole foot of water flowing over 

 their roots. The piece of reeds I mean to give an ac- 

 count of, consists of a pond, or rather marsh, of about 

 four acres in extent ; soil, peat mud ; subsoil, hard gravel : 

 the water is hardly ever more than one foot deep over 

 the reeds. This marsh is surrounded by a ditch, and 

 the water is drawn from it at pleasure by a sluice. 

 About the middle of March the water is drawn off till 

 the pond is as dry as it can be got, then*the reed-cutter 

 goes and cuts it down with a hook of a scythe shape. 

 The reeds are laid in small heaps at the side of the pond, 

 and afterwards carted away, and stacked till wanted. 

 The weather will not hurt them. The reeds grown upon 

 the four acres produce a yearly crop worth £20. Reed 

 is used to thatch houses and farm buildings ; it is the 

 best roofing for dairies, and is often used for summer- 

 houses, for its neat appearance and coolness ; it is supe- 

 rior to slate-roofing, because it keeps out cold in winter 

 and heat in summer; it will last about eighty years. 

 Yards and gardens are often divided by reed fences, 

 which have a very light appearance ; posts six feet high 

 are set in the ground, seven or eight feet apart, and light 

 spars are nailed at the top and bottom of one side, two 

 other spars are nailed over the reed on the other, and 

 the whole is bound tightly with tar line. Sides of sheds 

 and other erections are often made of reeds in the same 

 manner. Light screens are also made of reeds and laths 

 for a protection for fruit walls. 



Reeds are also valuable for laying plaster floors and 



