re prevailed, that these lands would be too
dry if the water were pumped out, so as to reduce the water-table more
than a foot or two below the surface, but this idea is now controverted.

In July 1857, in company with three of the best farmers in Lincolnshire,
the writer visited the Fens, and carefully examined the crops and
drainage. We passed a day with one of the proprietors, who gave us some
information upon the point in question. He stated, that in general, the
occupants of this land entertain the opinion, that the crops would be
ruined by draining to the depth of four feet. So strongly was he
impressed with the belief that a deeper drainage was desirable, that he
had enclosed his own estate with separate embankments, and put up a
steam-engine, and pumped out the water to the depth of four feet, while
from the land all around him, it is pumped out only a foot and a half
below the surface, though in Summer it may sometimes fall somewhat
lower.

The crops on this land were astonishing. Our friends estimated that the
wheat then growing and nearly ripe, would yield fifty-six bushels to the
acre. Although this was considered a very dry season, the crops on the
land of our host were fully equal to the best upon the Fens.

The soil upon that part of the Fens is now a fine black loam of twelve
or eighteen inches depth, resting upon clay. Upon other portions, the
soil is of various depth and character, resting sometimes upon gravel.

Attention is called to these facts here, to show that the common
impression that these lands will not bear deep drainage, is controverted
among the occupants themselves, and may prove to be one of those errors
which becomes traditional, we hardly know how.

Most peat meadows, in New England, when first relieved of stagnant
water, are very light and spongy. The soil is filled with acids which
require to be neutralized by an application of lime, or what is cheaper
and equally effectual, by exposure to the atmosphere. These soils, when
the water is suddenly drawn out of them, retain their bulk for a time,
and are too porous and unsubstantial for cultivation. A season or two
will cure this evil, in many cases. The soil will become more compact,
and will often settle down many inches. It is necessary to bear this in
mind in adjusting the drains, because a four-foot drain, when laid, may,
by the mere subsidence of the land, become a three-foot drain.

A hasty judgment, in any case, that the lan