On the Farminf/ of Iluntinrjdon. 
259 
uftcr great labour and expense had been incurred In the endeavour 
to adapt this newly accjuired tract of land to agricultural pur- 
poses, on the 12th of November, 1852, the waters of the outer 
rivers, increased in volume by the heavy rain, eflected a breach 
in the newly formed banks, and in a few hours " Whittlesea 
Mere was itself again. ' 
Nothing daunted by this untoward event, Mr. Wells took 
immediate steps for repairing the breach, improving and strength- 
ening the banks in defective parts, and again expelling the water 
from its ancient bed. How the work was effected may be best 
stated in Mr. Wells's own words : — 
" It was reckonL'd that 1000 acres were covered again with water to a depth 
of 2 feet 6 inches, and that if the pump could raise 20,000 gallons a minute, 
it would take twenty-three days incessant pumping to clear off that amount. 
This calculation proved correct, and in little more than three weeks the land, 
but certainly not terra iirma, was agaui everywhere visible. 
" The banks having been repaired and fortified, the work of reclamation, 
and jireparing for the cultivation of the soil, was actively resumed. The com- 
pletion of the main dyke, leading from a point in the liigh land, not very far 
from the iwesent Holme Station, 3z miles long, and averaging 30 Let in width, 
was an arduous undertaking, owing to the treacherous natm-e of the bed of the 
Mere, through which, for nearly 2 miles of its length, it passed. Frequent 
slips occurred, and continued to occur long after its first completion. From 
the main dyke a number of smaller dykes branched off, i)assed through the 
silty bed of the Mere, penetrated into the surrounding bog, and tapping it iu 
all directions, brought a never-ending flow of water to be discharged by the 
engine. 
" The effect of this network of drains was quickly visible. The bed of the 
Mere was soon covered with innumerable cracks and fissures, deep and mde, 
so as to make it a matter of no small diCBculty to walk along the surface, while 
in the surrounding bog the principal effect was the speedy consolidation of its 
crTist, which by the end of the first summer afforded, even in those places 
which had been long impassable, as safe and firm a footing for a man, as it 
now does throughout almost its whole extent for a horse." 
Since the memorable breach above recorded no further irrup- 
tion of any serious importance has taken place : the steam pump 
effectually maintains the drainage of from 3500 to 4000 acres of 
fen land. 
After the stagnant water had been removed, and the land 
levelled so as to admit of horse-cultivation, the great obstacle in 
the way of growing corn was the want of consistency in the soil : 
under the influence of the frosts of Avinter and the dry winds of 
March, it became so light that a high wind frequently wafted 
several inches of it away into the nearest ditch, either carrying 
the infant wheat plants away with it, or leaving them to linger 
out a short existence with their tender rootlets exposed to all the 
vicissitudes of climate. To remedy this defect, Mr. Wells de- 
termined to cover the surface of the peat with a coating of clay. 
In ordinary cases the surface-dressing of peat with clay is per- 
