BRUE MARSHES, and the SOUTH or PARRET MARSHES ;those rivers passing nearly through their centers.

The ABORIGINAL or DRY LANDS, of the western point of Somersetshire,-not inaptly divide into DISTRICTS:as, the seacoast of West Somersetshire, that occupies its northern margin ;-the Exmoor, Brendon, and Quantoe Hills, which form a line nearly along the middle of this heterogeneous passage of country;-and the Vale of Taunton, a rich and beautiful District, situated to the southward of those hills, and having for its southern confine the Blackdown Heights of Devonshire.

The only REPORT of Somersetshire is that of Mr. BILLINGSLEY, of Ashwick Grove, in that County;-of whose QUALIFICATIONS, as a rural Reporter, I offered some remarks, in the WESTERN DEPARTMENT, and, again, in p. 233, aforegoing.-Mr. B., on many occasions, has evinced a superior strength of mind, with a bias toward rural improvements. But there is very little, in his Report, which shows that he was, at the time of writing it, a well experienced practitioner in agriculture. His silence, nearly, on practical subjects, is therefore a mark of his good sense. As a commissioner of "inclosure," and as an engineer, in matters of drainage, Mr. Billingsley would seem to have had some considerable experience. Hence, on those subjects, he is full of useful intelligence; as will be seen, in his account of the Waterlands of Somersetshire. The number of pages, which relate more particularly to WEST SOMERSETSHIRE, are seventytwo.

IN ABSTRACTING the matter of these pages, I will, first, take into consideration the alluvial lands; and, afterward, what relates to the more western part of the County; viewing the whole of the latter as one aggregate district.

THE WATERLANDS OF

THE WEST OF ENGLAND*.

THE NORTH OR BRUE MARSHES.
હે

GENERAL

ENERAL DESCRIPTION.-P. 166. "Brent Marsh

is that portion of land comprehended between Mendip

hills

*For ample information, concerning the Waterlands of the eastern part of England, see the EASTERN DEPARTMENT.

hills and Polden-hill on the north and south, Bridgwaterbay on the west, and extending to Wells and Glastonbury on the East.

"This marsh may also be divided into two parts, separated by a tract of elevated land, on which stand the parishes of Allerton, Mark, Blackford, Wedmore, &c. Through the Northern level runs the river Axe, emptying itself into the Bristol Channel at Uphill; and through the Southern the river Brue, emptying itself into Bridgwaterbay near Burnham.

This country has been heretofore much neglected, being destitute of gentlemen's houses, probably on account of the stagnant waters, and unwholesome air; but of late many efforts have been made to improve the soil, by draining and inclosing, under a variety of acts of parliament. The benefit resulting therefrom has been astonishing. The rbynes and ditches necessarily cut to divide the property, together with the deepening of the general outlets, discharge so much of the superfluous water, that many thousand acres, which heretofore were overflown for months together, and of course of little or no value, are become fine grazing and dairy lands; to the great emolument of the individual possessors, as well as the benefit of the community. The quantities thus inclosed in Brent-Marsh, within twenty years past, under authority of parliament, are as follows:

Acres,

Wedmore and Mear 4,400 together with 1,100 acres of Sturf-bog as yet unimproved.

Compton-Bishop

Glastonbury

Westhay, &c.

Mark

Huntspill

300

"Of these seventeen thousand four hundred acres, six parts out of seven are cleared of stagnant water, and ren

dered

dered highly productive: on the turf-bog but little improvement has hitherto taken place. There remain about three thousand acres to be inclosed, which (the turf-bogs excepted) will complete the division of all the moors within the Brent-Marsh district. It is not to be understood, that the local drains, under such a variety of acts, and at such different times, can have the most perfect influence on the country; particularly when it is considered, that the river Axe has no barrier to the tide, which flows several miles, and choaks the lower part of it with slime, to such a degree, that many thousand acres adjoining the upper parts of the river are, in consequence thereof, very much injured. Were a barrier, with proper sluices, erected near the Bristol Channel, some of the most considerable windings of the river shortened, and the shallow parts deepened, not only the moors, but the old inciosures, would be benefited thereby, to the amount of at least five thousand pounds per annum.

"The river Brue drains a much more considerable part of Brent-Marsh than the Axe, and has a barrier to the tide (which rises there no less than twenty feet in height) with sluices therein, at Highbridge; but its foundation, and the apron and cills of the sluices, are at such a height above low water mark, that the drain is very imperfect, and the lowest lands, which lie some miles up the river, are frequently incommoded by the land floods.

"On the confines of the Brue are two heath or turf bogs: one on the north side containing about three thousand, and the other on the south containing about six thousand

acres.

"On these bogs scarce any pasturage at present grows.They are a composition of porous substances, floating on water, and imbibing it like a spunge. They are observed to rise with much wet, and sink in dry weather. The principal use to which they are appropriated is that of fuel to the surrounding parishes."

SOILS.-P. 173. "The soil of these moors may be comprehended under four divisions:

"1st. Strong, dry, and fertile clay, of a considerable depth. "zdly. Red earth, of various depths, from one foot to six feet, covering the black moory earth of the heath.

"3dly. Black moory earth on the surface, with a substratum of clay at various depths. "4thly, and lastly. The turf-bog.

"The first of these descriptions of land may be con

sidered

*Ten thousand sheep have been rotted in one year in the parish of Mark, before the inclosing and draining took place.

sidered as of the best quality, being highly productive, and particularly so in a wet summer. If shut up early in the spring, it will produce from two to three tons of hay per acre. Its value may be estimated from two to three pounds per acre, and it is for the most part devoted to grazing.

"It is no less remarkable than true, that this land will fat sheep nearly as well in the winter as the summer, if not stocked more than one to an acre."

P. 177. "Some of this clay land, when tilled, has been known to produce ten or twelve successive crops of wheat, without an intervening fallow or fallow crop. I was shown a field in the parish of Mark, which had growing in it the nineteenth crop of wheat; and I verily think the produce was not less than fifty Winchester bushels per acre. No manure had been put on it during the whole time, save the contents arising from the cleansing of the ditches. The stubble was mown every year, and carried off; two ploughings only were given it, after which the wheat was sown in the months of November or December, under furrow, in eight-furrow ridges, after the rate of two bushels and half per acre, chopping the clods, and smoothing the surface of the ridge with a spade.

"The average produce per year, for the whole eighteen years, was estimated to exceed thirty-five bushels per acre.'

P. 178. "The second description of soil found in this district, namely, a strong red earth over a pure clay, possesses" also many good qualities; it is neither subject to injury from an excess of wet weather, nor does it burn in a drought.

"This soil, formed by a deposit washed from the hills, may be considered as a fine vegetable mould, and, if tilled, is capable of bearing a variety of crops in the highest perfection. Its value is about forty-five shillings per acre, and its produce of hay about two tons.

"Black moory earth is the third sort of soil found in this level, and on it extraordinary improvements have been effected, by covering the surface with a thick coat either of clay or red earth.

"In its natural state it is in a great measure unpro. ductive, yielding scarcely any herbage, save carnation grass, rushes, and other aquatic productions."

P. 180. "The last species of soil is the Turf Bog.

"The surface of this soil is of a light, spungy, tough texture, full of the fibrous roots of plants, and withal so matted together, that a spade or knife must be made very keen to penetrate it. Immediately under the turf, or sward, is found the vein of black moory earth, so unlike in its nature to the peat which lies underneath, that when cut with it, and dried, it will fall off and separate from it.

"This mould is of good quality, and will bear both natural and artificial grass in great abundance. It is also an excellent manure for clay or any other heavy land. This black moory stratum is from one to two feet in thickness, and underneath is found the peat, which is from three to fifteen feet in depth.

"Under the peat is a bed either of clay or sand; the peat is full of flaggy leaves and hollow stalks of rushes. These vegetable matters are accompanied with a substance like pitch, of a bituminous nature, which lies between the stalks of the rushes and the leafy remains, and constitutes the inflammable part thereof. It is used as the common fuel of the country, and makes a clean and pleasant fire, particularly well adapted to the purposes of the dairy. An acre of land will furnish an immense quantity, insomuch, that in the parish of Catcott it has been sold, for a term of twentyone years, as high as thirty pounds."

MANURE.-P. 177. "The only manure ever put on these lands, is the contents of the drains and ditches; and this, with judicious management in the method of grazing, is sufficient to keep them in unabating fertility."

FENCES.-P. 175. "The division of property, on these lands, is effected by ditches eight feet wide at the top, three feet and half wide at the bottom, and five feet deep."

IMPROVEMENTS.-P. 169. " As it is an object of the first importance to the country to have the bogs perfectly drained and consolidated, I shall endeavour to suggest a plan whereby this desirable effect may, in my opinion, be attained.

"The cause of the inundation and drowning of this level arises from the outfalls being choaked up either by the collection of sea-mud in the river, or by the elevated land lying between it and the, Bristol Channel. Of course,

nothing more is necessary than a removal of those obstructions to the outfalls, which will open a free passage and quick current to the land water; this being effected, the turf-bogs, which are now five or six feet higher than the adjacent land, would subside, and the porous earth become consolidated, and fit for all the purposes of vegetation."

Mr. B. has inserted "a PLAN for the more effectually draining the turf bogs and flooded lands, near the rivers Brue and Axe, in the county of Somerset ;"-with a diagram to show the inequalities of surface: thus furnishing a scientific guide to their drainage. The map and levels by "William White, Surveyor, Sand, near Wells, 1794."

Same page." By the levels thus delineated, (the accu-, racy of which, I think, may be depended on) it appears, that the spring-tides are nearly on a level with the surface

of