332 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



Fortunately, most of our lowlands and swamps receive only the more gentle 

 washing or the most fertile materials from the uplands, 



" ' Swamp lands contain an unusual amount of organic matter, and for that 

 reason are easy to maintain in proper tilth, light to work, and warm. Prom 

 their low position, water is generally abundant, or easy to obtain for irrigation 

 by pumping or diversion from nearby streams. 



" ' Swamp lands and tide marshes are considered the most valuable of lands 

 in the world's older countries. Their inherent fertility is recognized, and the 

 ease with which they are cultivated and irrigated is greatly appreciated. In 

 England for two hundred years the tide lands have been under reclamation, 

 and to-day over 1,000,000 acres are in a ' matchless state of fertility.' 



" ' In Holland extensive areas have been reclaimed from the sea. The greater 

 part of the country lies at or below the level of the sea, and is reclaimed from 

 a jungle of swamps and savannas. Holland to-day represents one of the most 

 successful attempts at swamp reclamation. Lakes have been drained by diking 

 and pumping, and plans are now on foot to drain the Zuyder Zee, an arm of 

 the ocean. 



" ' In our own country, swamp reclamation has been carried out on a large 

 scale in the Middle Western States. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and 

 Wisconsin have great areas of productive land once swamp but now the most 

 fertile and leliable land in those States. The tide marshes around Puget 

 Sound, in Washington, have been lying untouched until within the last few years, 

 but the recent great influx of Scandinavians has resulted in a movement 

 toward the reclamation of these lands, and excellent farms are being established. 



" ' In California one of the greatest areas of swamp peat land in the world 

 lies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Over 1,500,000 areas of peat from 

 6 to 40 feet thick are ready for reduction in productive capacity, and to-day large 

 areas are being reclaimed. Yields of 500 bushels of potatoes, 6000 pounds of 

 asparagus, 60 bushels of barley and oats have been common, and with proper 

 farming such yields should continue to be common. 



" ' Wherever properly reclaimed swamp lands are found their fertility is 

 recognized ; almost without exception they are more fertile than surrounding 

 uplands. They are frequently used in special crop production, such as in grow- 

 ing celery, asparagus, cranberries, or onions, but in dairying or general farming 

 they are unexcelled as permanent pasture or hay land. The consensus of 

 opinion in districts where swamps have been reclaimed and farmed for many 

 years is that there is no more valuable portion of the farm than the swamp, 

 properly reclaimed.' 



" There is much swamp land in the United States within easy reach of the best 

 markets. New Orleans is surrounded by swamps, but here the problem of rec- 

 lamation is rendered exceedingly difficult owing to the vast area involved and 

 the periodic invasion by the Mississippi Eiver in front, and Lakes Borgne and 

 Pontchartrain in the rear. The city of New York is in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of vast areas of swamps and marshes, and even the partial drainage of this 

 land is being productive of admirable results. The gi-eat value of stable land 

 in the vicinity of New York for manufacturing purposes is uncontested, and even 

 the partial drainage of the breeding places of salt-marsh mosquitoes in portions 

 of New Jersey adjacent to New York has resulted, aside from limiting the mos- 

 quito supply, in the increase in value of the lands to the owners. After the first 

 ditching the crop of salt hay nearly doubles. The operations carried on con- 

 jointly between the city of Brooklyn and the town of Sheepshead Bay, a few 

 years ago, is indicative of the remunerative results to be obtained by simple and 

 beneficial operations. The contents of the ash barrels of the city of Brooklyn 

 were conveyed out into the salt marshes upon specially constructed trolley tracks 



