80 



Biuming Land for Manure. 



and burning clay, renders further consideration requisite before it 

 could be urged upon agriculturists as a profitable work. 



The object, it appears to me, is to burn the earth only to a black 

 or charred state. This can be best performed in small heaps ; the 

 continuation of fire in large heaps renders the centre perfectly 

 red, and as hard as a brick. I have read the Report by Walter 

 Long, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- 

 land, and am pleased with his skill in overcoming this difficulty ; 

 but whether the expense of erecting kilns and preparing the clay 

 according to his suggestions is practicable and profitable to the 

 tenant farmer, I have many doubts. 



Wishing to promote the objects of the Royal Agricultural So - 

 ciety is my inducement for penning these remarks. 



Framlingliam^ December, 184G. 



VII. — On the Great Level of the Fens, including the Fens of South 

 Lincolnshire. By John Algernon Clarke. 



Prize Report. 



The Great Level of the Fens forms one of the most interesting 

 districts in the kingdom, as regards both its past history and its 

 present state. The mists that obscure its ancient condition, the 

 conjectural nature of its early history, and the abundance of cu- 

 rious remains found beneath its surface, afford the highest interest 

 to the antiquary and the man of science ; an air of romance is 

 thrown over its early records by the battles of the Saxons against 

 their Norman invaders ; while to the engineer and agriculturist 

 the progress and accomplishment of its drainage, and the improve- 

 ment of its husbandry, present a series of some of the mightiest 

 works that skill and perseverance have ever achieved. 



This great level extends itself into the six counties of Cam- 

 bridge, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Northampton, Suffolk, and Nor- 

 folk, being bounded by the high lands of each. It is about 70 

 miles in length, and varies from 20 to 40 miles in breadth, having 

 an area of more than 680,000 acres. Through this vast extent of 

 flat country there flow six large rivers with their tributary streams, 

 namely, the Ouse, the Cam, the Nene, the Welland, the Glen, 

 and the Witham. These were originally natural channels for 

 conveying the upland waters to the sea ; and whenever a heavier 

 downfall of rain than usual occurred, and the swollen springs and 

 rivulets caused these rivers to overflow, they must necessarily 

 have flooded the level to a great extent. This, however, was not 

 the principal cause of the inundation of the Fens; — these rivers 

 were not allowed a free passage to the ocean, being thus made 



