518 
On the Advantages and Disadvantuf/es of 
tiling to obtain from 500 to 700 bushels of potatoes per acre ; and 
in fa^■ourable seasons the yield of grain is excessive. A friend 
of the writer, fanning on the edge of TVittlesea Mere, had from 
this cause, and exceedingly good management, in the year 1844, 
a yield of 48 bushels of wheat per acre upon a breadth of 1(50 
acres. 
Iloor land, Bogs, 3'Iusses, and Heaths. — The moors of the 
mountains possess such humidity, are so bleak and cold, and so 
inconvenient to approach, as altogether to unfit them for arable 
culture. Those on the hills at a moderate and approachable 
height might be drained and brought into cultivation, and would 
yield good crops of sjiring corn and green food for cattle. Tl-e 
soil possesses much inherent value. Soils composed for the most 
part of decayed vegetation are the most productive of all when 
propeily cultivated. 
Bogs and Mosses. — These must be thoroughly drained by sur- 
face-drainage til! rendered compact enough for subsoil-drainage, 
which must then be at once ado})ted : superabundant moisture is 
its great bane. If this can be drawn fnmi beneath, the whole 
becomes compressed, and is rendered available for general crop- 
ping, to which it ought undoubtedly to be appropriated, and 
would yield abundant supplies of vegetables in the first crops, and 
would speedilv be brought into a fit state for general cropping. 
Much yet remains to be done in this respect. The bogs, moors, 
and mosses of this country are numerous, some extensive ; but, 
compared with the Sister Island, unimportant. Assuredly the 
most comprehensive and efleclive sleps ought immediately to be 
taken to reclaim the whole. It ought to be taken up nationally, 
as one great means for the employment of surplus labour and 
providing food for the public. 
" The Great Level of the Fens," comprising upwards of 000,000 
acres, four-fifths of which is under arable culture, would average 
from the harvest of 1844 from 40 to 50 bushels of wheat per 
acre, of excellent quality and great weight. What other district 
can equal this ? VVhat was it at the commencement of the pre- 
sent century, only 46 years ago? — a swampy morass, partially 
drained, now^ a dry, healthy, and most fertile plain, probably the 
most productive in the world. 
Heaths and Wastes. — These lands may be with good judgment 
made profitable under culture. The long heath, coarse herbage, 
fern, &c., should be grubbed up, and the surface pared and 
burned as before. These soils, being so thin, require much aid 
by top-dressings of clay, marl, lime, or other material, as judg- 
ment may dictate, according to the local circumstances, and the 
general culture, as already detailed, for such soils. 
