ives in 1885, was born here; here lived Richard Weeks, the antiquary;
and here to-day is the home of Mr. Mitten, most learned of Sussex
botanists.

To Hurst belongs one of the little Sussex squires to whose diligence as
a diarist we are indebted for much entertaining knowledge of the past.
Little Park, now the property of the Hannington family, where Thomas
Marchant, the diarist in question, lived, and kept his journal between
1714 and 1728, is to the north of the main street, lying low. The
original document I have not seen, but from passages printed by the
Sussex Archaeological Society I borrow a few extracts for the light they
throw on old customs and social life.

[Sidenote: FISH-BREEDING]

"October 8th, 1714. Paid 4_s._ at Lewes for 1/4 lb., of tea; 5_d._
for a quire of paper; and 6_d._ for two mousetraps.

"October 29th, 1714. Went to North Barnes near Homewood Gate to see
the pond fisht. I bought all the fish of a foot long and upwards at
50_s._ per C. I am to give Mrs. Dabson 200 store fish, over and
above the aforesaid bargain; but she is to send to me for them.

"October 30th, 1714. We fetched 244 Carps in three Dung Carts from
a stew of Parson Citizen at Street; being brought thither last
night out of the above pond.

"October 31st, 1714 (Sunday). I could not go to Church, being
forced to stay at home to look after, and let down fresh water to,
the fish; they being--as I supposed--sick, because they lay on the
surface of the pond and were easily taken out. But towards night
they sunk."

The Little Park ponds still exist, but the practice of breeding fish has
passed. In Arthur Young's _General View of the Agriculture of the County
of Sussex_, 1808, quoted elsewhere in this book, is a chapter on fish,
wherein he writes: "A Mr. Fenn of London, has long rented, and is the
sole monopolizer of, all the fish that are sold in Sussex. Carp is the
chief stock; but tench and perch, eels and pike are raised. A stream
should always flow through the pond; and a marley soil is the best. Mr.
Milward has drawn carp from his marl-pits 25lb. a brace, and two inches
of fat upon them, but then he feeds with pease. When the waters are
drawn off and re-stocked, it is done with stores of a year old, which
remain four years: the carp will then be 12 or 13 inches long, and if
the water is good, 14 or 15. The usual season for drawing the water is
either A