SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



is piled in small cocks, under which are thrust 

 two long poles. These serve like the handles 

 of a Sedan chair for the removal of the hay 

 to the higher land beyond the reach of the 

 tides. 



Hay boats, or canoes as they are inappro- 

 priately called, are also used to harvest the 

 hay. These are long, narrow, flat-bottomed, 

 square-ended scows that work in pairs cov- 

 ered with a broad platform, on which the hay 

 is piled. With great SAveeps, long unwieldy 

 oars, the haymakers slowly urge them along 

 the winding creeks, while the steersman, with 

 a huge oar resting on a supporting oar-lock 

 in the stern, directs their course. In many 

 places the hay is piled in huge stacks, that 

 are elevated above the highest tides on small 

 piles or *^ staddles," as they are called, and 

 the stacks dot the marsh for miles like clus- 

 tered tents. When the marsh is fast bound by 

 winter frost the farmer goes his rounds and 

 carries off the savory, salty ha}^ on sledges, 

 his horses' iron shoes now well sharpened. 

 No need of wooden marsh shoes; all is hard 

 and solid as the rocky ledges. 



Nearly all the farms of this region, even 

 those several miles from the marshes, have 



194 



