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YIU. -^Drainage of Hethel WoodFarm. By Hamilton Fulton. 



To Mr. Puseij. 



Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I have much 

 pleasure in forwarding^ to you the statement of the facts con- 

 nected with the drainage of Hethel Wood estate ; the details I 

 will at once proceed to give as briefly as possible. This tract oi 

 land is a late purchase of Sir John Peter Boileau, Bart., of Ket- 

 teringham Hall, whose zeal for the most liberal promotion of 

 agricultural and other improvements is well known in the county 

 of Norfolk. It contains about 1 54 acres, and is situated in a 

 nearly level and table-land district of about 4 square miles in 

 extent. Indeed, such is its flat appearance, that persons in the 

 locality believed it incapable of drainage. 



The nature of the surface and subsoil is of a most uniform 

 character, and consists of detrital deposits. With the pulverization 

 of the soil, which has been going on for ages Vv^ithout proper drain- 

 age, it has become a compact and inert clay, which extends to a 

 depth of from about 1 foot to 1 8 inches : underneath this the soil 

 is composed of a similar description of clay, but has numerous 

 nodules of chalk, and is consequently of a more marly character 

 than the surface soil. In this subsoil there are also present pockets 

 of sand ; from thence downwards it increases in its chalky pro- 

 perties until it reaches the upper chalk. As regards the inclina- 

 tion of its general surface, it was found, when the levels were 

 carefully taken, that the average fall was about 1 foot in 800. 

 Seeing, therefore, that the fall was so slight, it was thought to be 

 necessary that the inclination of the main drains should be par- 

 ticularly attended to, and the fall economised as much as possible ; 

 keeping in view, at the same time, the desirability of making the 

 draft of the minor drains as short as practicable for the same 

 reason, namely, the slight fall. It may be well here also to state 

 that it has been the custom to drain lands of a similar description 

 in this vicinity, by digging trenches '2 to 3 feet deep, and filling 

 them in with brushwood at the bottom ; but this system has been 

 found to be efficient for four or five years only. It appears to 

 me that the inefficiency after the expiration of this period is to be 

 accounted for by the gradual consolidation of the particles of 

 clay around these brushwood stems, which stop the passages by 

 which the water found its exit ; for these passages must at first 

 be so numerous, and the streams of percolation so divided, that 

 they do not possess sufficient strength to maintain their courses. 

 1 know it is the opinion of many that these brushwood stems in 

 course of time will decay, and thereby provide larger passages for 



