These Fens contain an immense extent of land. The Great Level of the Fens, it is said, contains 600,000 acres. Much of this was formerly covered by the tides, and all of it, as the name indicates, was of a marshy character. The water being excluded by embankments against the sea and rivers, and pumped out by steam engines, and the land under-drained generally with tiles, so that the height of the water is under the control of the proprietors, grave disputes have arisen as to the proper amount of drainage.
An impression has heretofore 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 land is over-drained, should be suspended until the soil has acquired compactness by its own weight, and by the ameliorating effect of culture and the elements.
Mr. Denton, alluding to the opinion of "many intelligent men, that low meadow-land should be treated differently to upland pasture, and upland pasture differently to arable land," says, "My own observations bring me to the conclusion, that it is not possible to lay pasture-land too dry; for I have invariably remarked, during the recent dry Summer and Autumn particularly, that both in lowland meadows, and upland pastures, those lands which have been most thoroughly drained by deep and frequent drains, are those that have preserved the freshest and most profitable herbage."
While, therefore, we have much doubt whether any land, high or low, can be over-drained for general cultivation, it is probable that a less expensive mode of drainage may be sometimes expedient for grass alone.