MARSH AND LAKE REGION AT HEAD OF CHIGNECTO BAY. 101 



If a canal were cut through the Ram-pasture neck, a similar curve 

 further down, a much larger piece of marsh would be given to the 

 country. Unfortunately the wharves are situated on the curve, and 

 such a change would necessitate their being moved to another part of 

 the river. So great is the rush of water back over this neck when the 

 tide is flowing in, that several hundreds of dollars have been spent by 

 the government to prevent the neck from wearing out of itself. 



The work that has been done in building up the marsh soil is but 

 small in comparison with what can be done. At the head of the Mis- 

 siguash and La Planche rivers the lake and bog areas are extensive. 

 With proper handling, thousands of acres of marsh can be made. The 

 work is being agitated, but the large immediate outlay required, and 

 the prospect of slow returns, deter capitalists from hastening into 

 what at first sight appears to be a fine investment. 



Since writing the above paragraph a company has been formed for 

 the purpose of draining the areas at the sources of these rivers. They 

 have had a surveyor on the ground for the past year, and at present 

 have dug two miles in a canal intended to tap all the lakes on the 

 marsh. At present a steam dredge is working about five miles above 

 the mouth of the Missiguash. They began to dig three miles from 

 the mouth, and have made a canal fifteen feet deep by thirty wide, 

 decreasing in depth at the rate of two feet per mile as it approaches 

 the lakes. At Round Lake, which is six miles above the mouth of 

 the canal it should be six feet deep. A number of smaller lakes will 

 be drained before Goose Lake at the head of the marsh is reached. 

 In all there are about ten thousand acres at the head of the two rivers. 

 Near the mouths of these rivers there are already valuable marsh 

 areas. Surveys made in connection with the projected ship canal and 

 marine road, have given abundant material in regard to levels, etc., 

 on this bog. From a study of the levels used by the Missiguash 

 Marsh Company the following data have been obtained : Taking a line 

 one hundred feet below the Sax by tide as a basis, the ground surface at 

 the mouth of the Missiguash is ninety-two feet above datum. The 

 bog surface ten miles up the marsh at Round Lake is ninety-five feet 

 above datum. The average spring tide is ninety-six feet above, while 

 the Saxby tide was one hundred feet above. As the bottom of the 

 lakes is scarcely ninety feet above datum, there will be a good fall from a 

 high tide in the river into the lakes ; these should therefore fill with 

 mud and come quickly into grass. The bog begins about six miles 

 from the mouth of the river, and the whole area above that is floating 



