698 
On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
been  described  in  our  billy  district,  has  some  heavy  red  land  on 
which  he  adopts  a different  course: — 1.  Beans;  2.  Wheat; 
3.  Vetches;  4.  Barley;  and  5.  Grass.  The  peculiarity  in  this 
course  is  the  barley  after  vetches.  Before  this  plan  was  adopted 
the  land  was  unfit  for  barley.  It  has,  since  the  change,  not  only 
grown  good  crops,  but  grain  of  superior  quality.  Each  crop  is 
grown  only  once  in  five  years,  and  the  manure  being  put  on  the 
clover  layer  before  beans,  there  is  little  chance  of  injury  from 
pouching  the  ground. 
Well  managed  farms  are  to  be  found  here  and  there  upon  the 
red  soil  in  the  vales  from  Bridgewater  and  Taunton  to  Minehead, 
especially  about  Williton  and  Bishop’s  Lydeard,  Nether  Stowey 
and  Cannington,  and  also  near  Wellington,  to  the  westward  of 
Taunton.  The  management  of  these  farms  approximates,  except 
on  heavy  land,  to  the  four-course  system.  But  the  general  average 
of  farming,  even  in  this  district,  cannot  be  stated  to  be  high,  nor 
is  the  produce  of  the  soil,  taken  over  its  whole  extent,  nearly  what 
it  might  be. 
The  General  Drainage  of  the  Bridgewater  and  other  Levels,  and 
the  improvement  yet  required  in  the  outfalls. 
The  Bridgewater  Level  (understanding  by  that  term  the  portion 
of  the  Somerset  basin  which  lies  between  the  Mendip  Hdls  and 
Quantock  Hills)  may  be  described,  in  a general  way,  as  an  ir- 
regular parallelogram,  averaging  about  16  miles  in  length  from 
the  sea  to  the  south-east,  and  about  14  miles  in  breadth  between 
the  two  hill  ranges  ; containing  therefore  above  200  square  miles. 
It  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  Polden  Hill.  The  division  which 
lies  between  Polden  Hill  and  the  Mendips  is  commonly  called 
the  Marsh ; or,  more  strictly  speaking,  consists  of  two  portions, 
the  Turbary  Moor,  between  Polden  Hill  and  Wedmore,  and 
South  Marsh,  including  all  the  grassland  to  the  south-west  of  the 
Mendips.  The  other  division  of  this  district,  lying  to  the  south- 
west of  Polden  Hill,  includes  King's  Sedgemoor  and  a number  of 
smaller  moors,  which  are  to  a great  extent  under  arable  cultivation, 
and  also  some  of  the  richest  grazing  lands  in  the  county. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  whole  district  was  at  one  time 
an  arm  of  the  sea.  It  is  supposed  by  geologists  that  at  some 
depth  below  the  surface  there  is  a basin  of  lias  upon  which  rests 
a primeval  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter,  subsequently  covered 
with  an  alluvial  deposit.  This  again  is  covered  in  parts  by  a more 
recent  growth  of  vegetable  matter,  which  has  never  been  perma- 
nently under  water,  and  therefore,  when  left  in  its  natural  state, 
is  still  a peat  or  turf  moor. 
Some  of  these  peat-bogs  are  of  immense  depth ; the  clay  con- 
sequently cannot  be  brought  to  the  surface,  as  in  the  fens  of 
