Drainage of Whittlesea 3[crc. 
145 
jini)()it;int to ascertain tlie exact measure to be applied with a 
view to a permanent Improvement.* 
In the ordinary <rauhin<j In the Fens — costing, as has been 
said, from 4/. to 5/., according- to tlie depth of the pits — a top- 
dressing of not more than Inch, or, at most, 2i Inches, is laid 
on. This becomes, in the various stages of cultivation, first in- 
corporated with, and finally lost, as it were, in the peat soil ; so 
that at the end of seven or eight yeai-s the process has to be 
repeated. 
In the case of the operations by rail, it was obviously essential 
that the work should be a permanent one — done for once and all, 
and it was decided to try a covering of 6 inches of soil for 
arable, and 4 inches for pasture-land. At G Inches deep there 
jnav seem some danger of the soil, under an ordinary system of 
cultivation, being, as In the case of the thin coatings of gault, 
mixed up witli and finally lost In the bog beneath ; but it has 
been thought that, rather than go to the expense of a deeper 
covering, it was wortli while to encounter this remote risk. Care 
must be urged upon all who may occupy the warped land not to 
disturb by too deep a cultivation the peaty subsoil beneath. 
Scarifiers, grubbers, and many Implements other than tlie plough, 
may beneficiallv be employed ; and even if the plough l)e em- 
ploved, and uniformly at the shallow depth which a coating of (! 
inches of soil allows, there would, at any rate, be none of the 
disadvantages of a hard and impervious pan. It Is hoped that 4 
inches of the alluvial deposit from the bed of the Mere, or of the 
underlying gault, will be sufficient to secure a good permanent 
pasture. As, however, supposing the rate at which the works are 
now proceeding to be maintained, it will be some years before 
the whole district is reclaimed, there will be an opportunity of 
noting whether a correct judgment in these matters was orlginalK 
arrived at, and modifications may very possibly have to be made, 
as well with respect to the thickness of the coating of soil as to 
other details. 
One very important process in the reclamation of the peat-bog 
must not be forgotten, without which, indeed, experience has 
shown that half the value of the warping would be lost. The 
stagnant water must be drawn off, as far as possible, from the 
* Since the above was written, an analysis made by Professor Voelcker of the 
blue gault or clay-marl underlying the alluvial bed of the Mere has been made, 
and gives such highly satisfactory results, that it seems doubtful whether it may not 
be expedient, for the sake of covering the area of the bog more rapidly, and thereby 
obtaining a more speedy remuneration, to diminish considerably the depth of the 
coating, even at the sacrifice of the permanence of the operation. A coating of 
4 inches for arable, and of 3 for grass land, will now probably be adopted; auil :i 
great authority recommends even a slighter and consei|ucntly more rapid covering 
of the surface than this, as a matter not onlv of present but ultimate economy. — 
V^^ Wells. 
VOL. XXI. 
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