Improvement  of  Land  bg  Warping 
97 
no  rent  whatever,  in  the  course  of  four  years  produced  abundant 
crops  and  readily  let  for  35s.  per  acre. 
In  carrying  out  the  above  magnificent  operations,  however,  Mr. 
Creyke  required  the  assistance  of  considerable  capital,  as  the 
outlay  greatly  exceeded  17,000/. — viz.  for  the  sluice  and  its  ap- 
pendages, 5500/. ; for  the  main  drain  and  embankments,  7350/. ; 
and  4(582/.  more  for  land,  &c. ; besides  this  a very  considerable 
expense  was  annually  incurred  in  repairing  the  main  drain,  more 
particularly  that  part  of  it  near  the  sluice,  and  a loss  of  more 
than  1000/.  was  also  experienced  in  the  first  year  in  consequence 
of  an  accident  which  occurred  to  the  embankments. 
According  to  Mr.  Creyke,  the  great  superiority  of  his  process 
over  those  ordinarily  followed — 
“ consists  in  creating  a fine,  deep, rich  soil,  more  effectually,  upon  a larger 
scale  and  in  a shorter  time  than  has  hitherto  been  practised.  According 
to  the  usual  practice,  the  tides  are  only  admitted  during  the  months  of 
August,  September,  and  October;  in  mine  they  are  admitted  all  the  year 
round.  The  sluice  was  not  more  than  5 feet  wide  ; mine  has  two  openings 
of  16  feet  wide.  The  main  drain  was  only  T2  feet  wide;  mine  is  90  feet 
wide.  Not  more  than  14  acres  are  embanked  in  one  piece ; I have  en- 
closed 500  acres  in  one  compartment.  Formerly  not  more  than  1^  foot  of 
deposit  was  obtained ; I have  got  from  3 to  5 feet  upon  the  increased 
quantity  of  land.  No  levels  used  to  be  taken  for  the  formation  of  the 
banks  ; the  whole  of  my  embankments  have  been  laid  out  by  the  spirit- 
level.  Scarcely  any  inlets  used  to  be  made  for  the  purpose  of  spreading 
the  tide-water  quicker  and  more  equally  over  the  surface  of  the  land, 
within  the  embankment,  as  well  as  for  a more  speedy  return  of  it  upon  the 
ebb  ; in  all  my  practice  innumerable  inlets  are  formed  for  this  purpose.” 
In  some  cases  parties  have  found  it  advisable  to  keep  the  water 
upon  the  land  for  twenty-four  hours  before  it  is  allowed  to  return 
to  the  river,  instead  of  permitting  it  to  flow  off  at  the  receding  of 
the  tide,  as  is  generally  done.  By  so  doing,  it  is  said,  they  not 
only  obtain  an  increased  quantity  of  warp,  but  it  is  also  much 
better  in  quality  than  that  obtained  by  the  usual  method. 
Experience  has  shown  that  the  part  of  the  field  most  distant 
from  the  warping-drain  receives  better  warp,  and  is  longer  in 
attaining  the  desired  elevation,  than  that  part  which  is  situated 
nearest  the  end  of  the  drain.  This  is  evidently  occasioned  by 
the  heavier  sandy  portion  of  the  mud  settling  first  from  the  water, 
leaving  the  lighter  earthy  and  organic  particles  still  in  suspension, 
which  are  thus  carried  on  to  the  further  part  of  the  land. 
There  have  been  instances,  it  has  been  already  said,  where 
from  one  to  two  years  only  have  been  required  for  the  completion 
of  warping  a piece  of  land  well ; but  these  are  the  exceptions 
rather  than  the  rule:  three  years’  tides  are  generally  required, 
and  in  some  cases  even  four  years’  tides  are  wanted.  These  dif- 
ferences, however,  are  of  course  in  a great  measure  occasioned  by 
the  peculiar  situation  of  the  land.  Thus,  lands  remote  from  the 
vol.  xr.  h 
