Middle Level 



99 



supposed that ten steam-engines, costing about 4000Z. each, 

 would drain the land much more effectually than the 150 wind- 

 mills. By some it is hoped that the recent Act will give to 

 three-fourths of the land a natural outfall ; and that whenever the 

 outfall below Lynn is improved, this benefit will extend to all. It 

 is confidently expected that for a very large quantity of land 

 neither windmills nor steam-engines will be required, and that 

 for the remainder the cost for coals will certainly not exceed half 

 the present amount. 



The principal part of this Level consist of peat soil resting 

 upon blue clay. The Manea and Welney " district is princi- 

 pally moor, with generally good clay under it, and it is very pro- 

 ductive land ; some parts of it have a hard clay and gravel subsoil, 

 but the surface is everywhere good. In Sutton and Mepal" 

 district the surface varies, but is generally black soil upon gault 

 and gravel ; the upper part of the district towards the high lands 

 is mixed with brown clay^ and the quality of the land good, and 

 very productive. March 1st (or " Binnamoor ") district has a 

 considerable quantity of silt land ; the remainder is peat upon 

 blue clay, and very productive land. March 4th district, or ^' West 

 Fen," is black land, with good clay from 2 to 5 feet below the 

 surface, with some silty land made by creeks, which formerly 

 conveyed the tides. The neighbourhood of Whittlesey, towards 

 the north, is high land ; a long strip of strong heavy clay extends 

 into the fens from Bury to Ramsey ; and a ridge of clay and 

 gravel runs from March through Wimblington and Doddington, 

 to Chatteris. On the high lands above Ramsey, the usual rota- 

 tion is — 1st, a dead fallow; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds, sometimes 

 beans; and 4th, wheat. The chief part of the seeds is mown, 

 and the aftermath grazed ; but sometimes the clover stands for 

 seed, which is ripe in September, about 8 bushels per acre being 

 reckoned a fair average produce. There is a great deal of pas- 

 ture land bordering upon the fen, which is most of it mown, so 

 that an immense quantity of hay is there used. About March 

 and Chatteris, both turnips and coleseed are grown on the high 

 lands, — which are some of them a mild clay, and others a strong 

 rich soil, — and after the green crop, generally oats; and wheat, 

 beans or seeds, and wheat again. In the parish of March are 

 5000 acres of this land, on which a considerable extent of under- 

 draining has been done. About Chatteris, Ramsey, &c., this 

 has been widely practised with tiles with great success ; but very 

 little on the fen land, as the general drainage is not yet perfect. 



Throughout most of the lowland, the clay is found at a depth 

 of from 2 to 5 feet, though in some places it is ploughed up, and 

 in others it is 8 or 9 feet beneath the surface ; beds of gravel 

 (near the highlands), or sometimes a stratum of turf being found 



H 2 



