416 



The Claying of Fen Soii-s. 



prime of life is nearly always at piece work either dyking, 

 claying, manure carting and spreading, hoeing, or harvest 

 work, the horses being worked mainly by lads. 



Duration of the Claying. — For the purpose of valuations of 

 Tenant Pvight, claying is valued on a seven-year basis, but this 

 is generally admitted to be a very conservative estimate. 

 George Cooke, already mentioned above, estimated claying to 

 last for 15 years, and provided it has been well done, there is 

 no doubt that its effects ma}^ be seen for 20 years. The 

 full benefit is not felt until the second year, by which time 

 the clay has become thoroughly incorporated with the soil. 

 During the first year much of the clay may be observed lying 

 -on the surface in small lumps. 



After a period of 15 years the operation may generally be 

 repeated with profit. By that time most of the clay w^ill have 

 l)een washed through the top soil. Indeed, the writer has known 

 fields which have been clayed 3 and 4 times at intervals of from 

 15 to 20 years. 



Benefits of Claying. — As regards the benefits derived by 

 various crops from claying, exact figures are w^anting, but it is 

 safe to say that both quantity and quality are affected. It is 

 a fact that originally, w^hen these lands w^ere first reclaimed 

 and brought into cultivation, the first improvement carried 

 out after draining was the application of large quantities of 

 clay. Without such an application it was found impossible to 

 gTow wheat at all, while oats yielded but a poor, light crop. 

 Practitioners have declared to the writer that their potato crops 

 were increased by 2 tons an acre after claying, and man- 

 golds considerably more. Heavy crops of corn will stand 

 better on land w^hich has been recently clayed, and this point 

 is of first importance in a district where the greatest bugbear to 

 the farm,er is a laid crop. 



It is by no means easy altogether to account for the great 

 benefit derived by fenland from a heavy application of clay. 

 There is no doubt that several factors are involved. That the 

 action is neither entirely chemical nor entirely mechanical is 

 certain. It has been held by some writers that the clay 

 supplies lime, in which the top soil is deficient. A glance at 

 the analyses given below of two typical blackland soils, with 

 their underlying clays, will show" that the top soil already 

 contains plenty of lime, and that the clay contains only a 

 very small percentage. In exceptional cases where the top 



