On  tltc  Farming  of  Somerset. 
G99 
Lincolnshire.  But  the  course  of  improvement  is  marked  out  by 
nature  in  another  way.  Some  of  the  most  valuable  land  in  the 
Marsh  consists  of  the  primeval  peat,  covered  with  a thin  stratum 
of  alluvial  deposit.  In  any  plan  for  the  drainage  of  these  moors 
provision  should  therefore  be  made  for  bringing  this  deposit  on 
the  more  recent  peat-beds,  regard  being  had  to  the  peculiarity  of 
the  levels  and  the  quality  of  the  different  waters. 
The  general  surface  of  the  Marsh  and  of  the  inland  moors  is 
below  the  level  of  high  spring-tides.  The  level  of  the  land  falls 
as  you  recede  from  the  sea,  and  from  the  banks  of  the  rivers. 
The  reason  is  obvious  ; the  tidal  rivers  and  the  sea  in  Bridgewater 
Bav  are  heavily  charged  with  mud  ; whenever  an  overflow  takes 
place,  the  first  result  is,  that  as  the  stream  slackens,  a deposit  is 
made,  and  the  further  the  still  water  is  from  the  moving  stream 
the  less  mud  it  contains.  As  a consequence  of  the  difference  of 
levels,  the  interests  of  the  owners  of  the  land  near  the  outfall  and 
near  the  hills  are  placed  in  direct  opposition ; when  the  waters 
from  the  uplands  come  down  upon  the  moors  remote  from  the 
sea,  the  lands  at  the  outfall  feel  no  inconvenience;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  when  the  water  stands  at  about  a foot  or  two  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  inland  fields,  the  water  at  the  outlet  of 
the  main  drains  is  many  feet  below  the  surface,  and  therefore  the 
ditches,  on  which  their  stock  depend  for  water  to  drink  in  sum- 
mer, are  in  danger  of  being  dry. 
The  natural  drains  of  the  district  are  three  : — The  Axe,  which 
has  a short  course  at  the  foot  of  the  Mendip  Hills,  rising  in  the 
new  red  sandstone,  and  passing  through  very  good  land. 
The  Brue,  which  rises  in  a cold  clay,  but  receives  the  wash  of 
a great  deal  of  valuable  land,  and  passes  through  the  Turf  Moor, 
leaving  a valuable  deposit  wherever  it  rests. 
The  Parr et  unites  at  Langport  the  water  of  three  considerable 
streams  : the  Yeo  and  the  Parret,  which  bring  down  a valuable 
silt  * from  the  rich  land  about  Sherborne,  Yeovil,  and  South 
Petherton;  and  the  lie,  which,  although  charged  with  valuable 
matter  from  the  land  near  Ilminster,  is  deteriorated  by  the  waters 
which  pass  over  the  cold  clay  near  Blackdown. 
Below  Langport  the  Parret  receives  the  Tone,  whose  red 
waters  during  floods  bring  down  the  soil  of  the  Vale  of  Taunton. 
The  Carey  used  to  soak  through  King’s  Sedgemoor  into  the 
Parret  a little  below  its  junction  with  the  Tone,  but  is  now  car- 
ried out  into  the  estuary  at  Dunball ; its  waters,  passing  over 
the  cold  clay  under  Somerton,  are  of  little  value. 
At  what  period  the  sea-banks  were  made,  or  the  rivers  con- 
fined to  their  present  channels,  lies  beyond  the  records  of  history  ; 
* An  analysis  of  the  deposits  of  the  rivers  Brue  and  Parret  will  be  found  under  the 
head  Manures,  p.  741. 
