On  Dry  Warping  at  Hatfield  Chase. 
181 
rass  of  any  value.  By  the  public  and  private  enclosure  drains  it 
became  however  gradually  firm  land,  and  the  existence  of  an  old 
river-course — that  of  the  tidal  river  Thorne,  or  Idle,  whose  waters 
“200  years  ago  had  taken  a new  channel — was  remembered,  and 
Mr.  Hatfield  Gossip,  of  Hatfield  Hall,  who  owned  a considerable 
part  of  the  moor,  conjectured  that  this  old  course  would  contain 
an  immense  mine  of  the  mellowed  and  rich  alluvium,  deposited 
by  the  tides  from  the  Trent  and  Humber.  He  conceived  the 
idea  of  covering  the  whole  moor  with  this  alluvium  : and  to  this 
idea,  and  to  his  determined  perseverance  and  skill  in  carrying  it 
out,  we  are  indebted  for  the  practical  exposition  of  the  advantages 
of  dry-warping. 
The  process  pursued  by  him  is  as  follows : — A railroad  is  car- 
ried from  the  pit  (or  excavation  into  the  alluvial  deposit)  over  the 
moor  to  the  part  to  be  improved.  Here  branch  railroads, 
formed  in  the  separate  pieces  of  framework,  are  laid  down  right 
and  left  from  the  main  line.  A stationary  engine  draws  up  from 
the  pit  the  loaded  waggons,  which  are  then  taken  by  a locomotive 
engine  along  the  main  line,  and  passed  by  the  branches  to  the 
spot ; here  the  waggons  are  tilted  over,  and  the  soil  spread  to  a 
depth  of  6 or  8 inches.  When  the  moor,  for  7 to  10  yards  on 
each  side  of  the  branch,  is  covered,  the  rail  is  removed  by  a ma- 
chine traversing  the  rails,  and  which  takes  up  the  separate  pieces 
and  deposits  them  in  a fresh  line  with  the  greatest  expedition  and 
facility,  and  thus,  as  Mr.  Pusey  remarks,  “you  see  a sheet  of  firm 
and  fruitful  soil  steadily  spreading  over  the  hopeless  quagmire 
but  the  latter  expression  is  hardly  applicable,  for  no  quagmire 
would  admit  of  the  passage  over  it  of  heavy  locomotives,  and  the 
long  and  complete  drainage  of  the  moor  has  solidified  the  whole 
sufficiently  to  bear  any  load.  Were  it  otherwise,  a system  of  light 
waggons  and  rails  and  W elsh  ponies  may  be  brought  into  opera- 
tion, and  indeed  in  most  cases  this  will  be  more  economical,  and 
under  greater  control.  The  moor  is  thus  covered  at  the  rate  of 
8 or  10  acres  a day  with  a clean  and  friable  soil,  absolutely  ready 
for  seed  day  by  day,  as  fast  as  it  is  levelled  ; for  the  fine  alluvium 
does  not  require  any  previous  exposure  to  the  atmosphere.  The 
rapidity  with  which  the  barren  waste  is  converted  into  rich  land, 
actually  cropped,  is  a remarkable  and  most  interesting  feature  in 
the  operation. 
The  advantages  of  a well-drained  substratum  of  peat  have  been 
long  appreciated  for  grass-crops.  Here  the  fresh  coating  of  rich 
soil  produces  a slow  decomposition  of  the  old  vegetable  covering 
of  the  peat,  as  well,  perhaps,  as  of  the  peat  itself ; and  the  roots 
of  the  grass  or  other  crop,  striking  deep  into  these,  always  find 
moisture  and  nutriment.  The  effect  is,  that  most  astonishing  crops 
of  clover,  turnips,  and  particularly  beans,  have  been  grown  on  the 
