On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
701 
Like  other  ancient  institutions  the  Court  of  Sewers  is  said  (by 
those  who  feel  no  inconvenience  from  it)  to  work  well,  and 
always  ends  with  a good  dinner. 
Bv  an  Act  of  last  Session  (12  & 13  Viet.  c.  50),  introduced 
by  Mr.  Moody,  one  of  the  members  for  West  Somerset,  some 
useful  provisions  have  been  enacted  tending  to  give  something 
like  order  and  legality  to  the  execution  of  sewers  law.  But  the 
general  powers  of  the  Commissioners  are  still  deficient  in  one 
important  particular,  without  which  little  advance  can  be  made 
towards  a general  improvement  of  the  levels,  namely,  a power  of 
regulating  irrigation  as  well  as  drainage. 
Present  State  of  the  Levels. — The  account  of  the  state  of  the 
different  levels  involves  too  much  detail  for  insertion  in  this 
Journal.*  It  may  suffice  here  to  say  that  although  considerable 
improvements  have  taken  place,  there  are  still,  in  one  portion 
only  of  the  central  basin,  viz.,  that  drained  by  the  Parret,  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  moor  or  fen  lands  capable  of  the  highest  order 
of  arable  cultivation,  which  are  liable  to  the  risk  of  having  the 
whole  of  their  crops  destroyed  by  one  high  flood  in  July.  A 
large  portion  of  the  grass-land  is  of  the  coarsest  description,  and 
cannot  be  improved  without  an  alteration  in  the  general  manage- 
ment of  the  water,  and  the  expenditure  of  time  and  money  required 
to  keep  up  the  present  ineffectual  system  are  very  considerable. 
The  occupiers  are  so  anxious  for  a sufficient  supply  of  water 
for  their  stock  in  summer,  that  plans  of  deepening  outfalls  are 
looked  upon  with  mistrust : on  the  other  hand,  it  often  happens 
that  some  farmer  who  has  a few  shillings’  worth  of  grass  left  on 
his  land  at  the  fall  of  the  year,  is  opposed  to  letting  in  the  thick 
water,  which  is  of  great  importance  as  a natural  manure. 
In  time  of  Hoods  a sort  of  feudal  war  is  carried  on  between 
the  occupiers  of  adjacent  lands,  those  of  the  higher  wishing  to 
relieve  themselves  at  the  expense  of  their  neighbours  below.  A 
wall  or  dyke  was  shown  to  me  on  which  thirty  or  forty  men  have 
been  obliged  to  mount  patrol  all  night,  for  fear  it  should  be  cut 
through. 
Much  of  the  evil  of  the  present  state  of  things  is  owing  to  the 
neglect  of  the  owners  of  land,  who  will  not  go  to  the  expense  of 
putting  proper  dams  or  clyses  to  their  own  ditches,  by  which 
they  might  provide  against  times  of  drought,  and  keep  the  water 
in  their  own  ground  at  a sufficient  level.  Unfortunately  in  some 
cases  the  property  is  so  much  subdivided  as  to  make  it  difficult 
to  apply  this  remedy. 
* I regret  that  I am  obliged  here  to  omit  many  particulars  furnished  to  me  by  < i i f- 
i'erent  friends,  and  especially  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Peniston,  one  of  the  engineers  employed  on 
the  Bristol  and  Exeter  Railway,  who  is  in  possession  of  much  important  knowledge 
on  the  subject. 
vol.  xr.  2 z 
