The ground in our farm is poor, having been let go derelict for 20 years so it grows rushes in abundance - black heavy earth over a clay or daub with quartz in sandstone underneath. All the hand-dug drains have collapsed or are silted up. 14 acres are let to a neighbor in exchange for restoration of the rush fields into grassland and he tops the rushes and keeps horses on the land for 10 months of the year, he is highly experienced with a 7 ton digger and many neighbors have told us that it was a great move to have him helping us.