Farming of Lincolnshire. 381 



tion respecting the average produce per acre of each kind of 

 land, — 





Tract of Soil. 



Wheat. 



Barley. 



Outs. 



Beaus. 









Qrs. 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 







Clay land . 









4 







Sand land . 



4 



5 



7 







The Fens of South Lincolnshire have already occupied a pro- 

 minent place in the report on the Great Level, published in the 

 Journal in 1847, and therefore a lengthened statement here of 

 the varied rotations and peculiarities of husbandry to be found in 

 these fens would be only a repetition of the same circumstances : 

 a few observations under the heads ^^Peat'' and Alluvium 

 will therefore suffice. 



Feat. — The chief process upon which all success in the tillage 

 of the black land formerly depended was paring and burning ; and 

 because the earth was of a nature to be easily consumed by 

 the fire, it was unsparingly cut and dissolved into ash and air. 

 As drainage became improved, the peat losing its moisture, con- 

 tracted itself, and occupied less space than before, so that from 

 these causes the whole surface was found to subside, and approach 

 nearer to the subjacent clay. Some years ago the clay could 

 not be found in most parts of Deeping Fen, unless by sinking 

 pits or trenches, and the ditch bottoms were all moor. Now, 

 however, the clay is frequently ploughed up, and in the bottom 

 of the ditches is found the subterranean timber which underlies 

 the moor, resting upon the clay. So troublesome are these trees, 

 in consequence of the lowering of the surface (about 2 feet in 

 25 years), that, when fallowing, the ploughs have each a wooden 

 pin to connect the heel-tree with the plough-cock, and directly 

 the share catches a tree the pin breaks, thus letting go the team 

 without breaking the implement. The ploughman carries a 

 bundle of reeds (of which thousands grow in the ditches) with 

 him, and when he is stopped in this manner he sticks down a reed 

 as a mark for the digger who follows him to take up the wood. 

 Immense quantities of these black tree roots and stems are dug 

 up every summer in Deeping Fen. Cultivation still further com- 

 presses and concentrates the loose mould, until it is found in 

 some parts of the Fens that by far too much has been burnt 

 away, and that there is a danger of the soil becoming too stiff 

 and clayey. Paring and burning was superseded by the plan of 

 intermingling the peat and its heavier sub-soil of clay, silt, or sand. 

 This has converted a light, loose, and scanty yielding soil into a 

 firm and most productive soil, capable of bearing the heaviest 



