374 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



INDUCEMENTS FOR RECLAIMING. 



WMle the country adjacent to these tide lands was sparsel}^ settled 

 and there was plenty of high land for cultivation, there was neither 

 incentive nor necessity for reclaiming them, but during the last decade 

 these conditions have radically changed. The eastern portion of the 

 United States has become densel}^ populated. Numerous towns and 

 cities have grown up along the coast, creating a great demand for the 

 products of the farm and garden. To make room for this rapidly 

 increasing population and provide a suitable place possessing proper 

 sanitary conditions for residences, and to satisfy the demands for 

 fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, it is necessary to reclaim some 

 of these marsh lands. 



Within the last ten years the scientists of the country have proved 

 conclusively that certain species of the mosquito are the most com- 

 mon, if not the only, means of disseminating the germs of malaria 

 and introducing them into the human system. In places where the 

 mosquito has been exterminated malarial diseases haA^e greatly 

 decreased or entirely disappeared. It is a well-established fact that 

 the tide marshes are a serious menace to the health of the people in 

 their vicinity and a great hindrance to the settlement and develop- 

 ment of the country in that locality. They breed mosquitoes by the 

 million, which destroy the comfort and enjoymeiit of the people and 

 greatly annoy the domestic animals. 



These waste places, rich in fertility and having an ample supply of 

 moisture for plant growth, only need draining to enable heat and air to 

 penetrate the ground to make them ideal locations for truck garden- 

 ing on a large scale. Many of these are so situated as to offer econ- 

 omy in transportation which furnishes another important reason 

 for their early reclamation. Either by rail or boat products can be 

 landed cheaply and quickly in the market places of large cities or 

 thriving towns at very little cost. This adds greatly to the com- 

 mercial value of the land and allows for a much more liberal expendi- 

 ture for its reclamation than could be borne if there had to be added 

 to the cost of production the cost of a long-distance haul to market. 



The desire to reclaim these marshes is evidenced by the many 

 attempts that have been made to do so. That some skill and knowl- 

 edge in this work are required is also shown by the numerous failures. 

 (PI. XII.) Works to keep out the sea on one side and prevent rains 

 and storm water on the other from flooding or injuring crops, must 

 be wisely planned and carefully executed. Nothing is so insidious 

 in its attacks as water; and the dikes and drains which form a part 

 of reclamation work on tide marshes have to contend with burrowing 

 animals, with a foundation at fu-st extremely unstable, and must 



