144 
Report on Liccr-Rot. 
which the water is not freely drawn off, or land subject to 
springs which run down the hill-side and spread, making a 
quick growth of grass." JNIr. Hartridge has grazing land upon 
which he lost no sheep, while graziers immediately upon his 
right and left lost a great many, entirely owing to the " lay " or 
position of his land, by which natural drainage was caused. 
il/r. (7cor/7e iVt'ije, Sissinghurst, Staplehurst, writes: "Happily 
the losses in this immediate neighbourhood have not been very 
great, but it is most difficult to account for them. There are, 
however, certain lands which in uncertain years are subject to 
the scourge, and on these there have been heavy losses. I may 
instance Finch-Cox at Goudhurst, where Mr. VVickham has lost 
half his flock of ewes ; and River-Hall, at Biddenden, where 
Mr. Boxall has lost a great many sheep. With regard to the 
benefit derived from under-draining uplands, a farm at Boughton 
Malherbe, occupied by Mr. J. Cheeseman, and another at Wood- 
church, occupied by Mr. Large, both of which were notorious 
for rotting sheep, have been almost, if not entirely, cured by 
under-draining. I have heard of an instance of a horse having 
died from flukes at Mr. Buckland's, Biddenden ; and of a good 
many cases in which flukes have been found in the livers of 
fat beasts, but they do not seem to affect beasts so rapidly as 
sheep." 
The same gentleman is a large grazier in Romney Marsh, 
and further reports : " There were very heavy losses in the 
lowest part of Wallend Marsh, a district of Romney Marsh. 
This comprises about 1000 acres, of which I hold about 100 
acres. Every sheep has disappeared. It is curious that this 
land, although only flooded by the rain falling on it, and not 
being able to get away from its low situation, yet, in occasional 
very wet seasons, suffers from rot as much as the land flooded 
by the overflow of the rivers heavily charged with silt. Although 
it has been found that draining the upland pastures in some 
instances proves a remedy, yet under-draining these low lands 
has had no good effect." 
Mr. Charles Whitehead reports that upon the greater part of 
the Romney Marsh proper there has not been any great loss from 
liver-rot among the sheep which have been wintered there. 
Among the lambs, which are sent away to various parts of the 
county about August, to return in April to the Marsh, there have 
been great losses from fluke-disease, contracted, no doubt, in 
other places. Romney Marsh owes its immunity from rot to 
its having been drained. Upon a small portion liable to be 
flooded the losses have been very excessive, but this has been 
only upon about 2000 acres out of 50,000 acres. 
Mr. Walker, of New Romney, writes : " I am not aware that 
