The East Fen. 



133 



250 mills, and bet^vecn 40 nnd 50 steam-engines (some of them 

 of giganric power), which are exerting their immense force for the 

 benefit of a,2:riciilture : and still further, the impnn-ed value of the 

 land from being Avorth comparatively nothing to its rank now 

 amongst the first class of soils ; the vast outlay of capital in clay- 

 ing and the use of artificial manures, and the consequently enor- 

 mous increase in the products of cultivation, and the augmented 

 supply of food for millions of the people. And now, in conclu- 

 sion, it is greatly to be desired that other fens should be improved, 

 that other wastes should be brought under culture, and other bogs 

 and swamps reclaimed. With such a noble example of the 

 success and profit which have attended the triumph of enterprise, 

 the achievements of skill, and the acquirements of industry, in a 

 work M"hich, — not satisfied with laying dry the fertile beds of 

 lakes, — contemplates and progresses in the undertaking of raising 

 a territory, yet unformed, from the hidden depths of the ocean : — 

 with so magnificent an example as this to animate and encourage ; 

 surely the agriculturists, in the neighbourhood of bogs and fens, 

 will not allow them to remain much longer in their present wild 

 and uncultivated state ? Surely, in this a^e of enlightenment, 

 and especially in this time of necessity, prejudice for old customs 

 and circumstances — which proverbially appertains to the character 

 of a farmer, and notoriously so to that of a fenman — will not be 

 permitted to impede so important an improvement : — surely, the 

 much needed work of draining and inclosing the wastes and 

 morasses of England will not be abandoned because the present 

 class who own or occupy them declare that water is necessary 

 to make such tracts bear produce ; and that if thoroughly drained 

 and dried, the soil will become infertile and useless I Such were 

 the assertions and expostulations of the fenmen in the Great 

 Level, — but despite then' predictions, this region (^^hich was once 

 ''wholly overwhelmed with a deluge of waters, and afterwards 

 came to a similar condition with the present swamps of England) 

 having an area of 680,000 acres, er^ual to that of the •'• Low 

 Countries," has been made into a most fruitful plain, yielding 

 vast stores of produce, enriching thousands of individuals, furnish- 

 ing multitudes of population v>ith food, and adding greatly to the 

 wealth and resources of the empire. This has been accom- 

 plished, and it cannot but follow that ere long all the waste 

 places in the land which are cultivable, will in like manner — m 

 the face of every difficulty — be com.pelled to manifest their capa- 

 bilities of production, and assist in replenishing the storehouses 

 and supplying the necessities of the people ! 



