On Reclaiming Bog Land. 
183 
If there is anj-thing in this statement that makes it worth while 
to make further inquiries, I shall have much pleasure in doing 
so ; for, as a practical farmer and a near relation of the proprietor, 
I have taken much interest in the improvements during the last 
few years. 
West Hay Moor is an extensive tract of bog land, situate in 
the parish of Meare, in the county of Somerset, allotted and 
awarded about fifty-five years since to sundry tenements, under 
the authority of an act of parliament. A large proportion of this 
bog has remained up to this time uncultivated, and of little or no 
value except for peat fuel, which is dug in large quantities. 
In the year 1811 it was determined by an owner of 300 acres 
of this land, the late Samuel Gallon, Esq., of Duddeston, near 
Birmingham, to bring it into use by draining and top-dressing 
with earth, consisting of the deposit left on the banks of the river 
Brue after heavy rains, which is a very rich soil. 
To set about this, it was necessary, after draining the land, to dig 
a canal about sixteen feet wide, and build boats, to boat the soil 
from the river Brue to the spot (the nearest distance about a 
mile) ; and, as the Brue is at a lower level, it was necessary also to 
build a lock at a point of the canal to raise the boats. This has 
all been done ; and belts of plantation made to protect the land from 
the west wind, the moor being open to the sea breeze, as it is below 
the level of the sea at high-water mark at spring tides, although 
several miles inland. 
A plan is sent at the end to refer to, and sections to show the 
effect of the drains on the level of the land. And the following 
table gives an account of the way in which the land has been 
drained — how the peat bog has become compressed as soon as the 
water drained itself off. 
The land, after being formed into convenient sized fields, was 
then made into bends or ridges of about 13 yards wide (see 
sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The expense appears very small, consi- 
dering the work done ; but it must be remembered that the peat 
cuts very easy — that the work is done in the winter, when labour 
is cheap — and that in this parish low wages are given to the poor 
labourer at that time of the year. 
