He drained to some extent, but not very largely, thinking that capital sunk in drains, except in particular soils, did not return for many years.
Anxious as he was to keep plenty of game, he killed off the rabbits, and grubbed up many of the small covers at the corners and sides of arable fields which the tenants believed injurious to crops.

He repaired labourers' cottages, and added offices to farmsteads.

In short, he did everything that could be done without too heavy an expenditure.

To kill off the rabbits, to grub the smaller coverts, to drain the marshy spots, to thatch the cottages, put up cattle sheds, and so on, could be effected without burdening the estate with a loan.

But, small as these improvements were in themselves, yet, taken together, they made an appreciable difference.
There was a distinct increase in the revenue of the estate after the first two years.