228 N. J. Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 348 



work because the information passes most readly from the counties 

 in which work is going on, to counties adjacent. 



The counties lying back of this coastal zone will be still more 

 slow to take up the work because that great persuader, the salt- 

 marsh mosquito, is not present. 



What Remains To Be Done 



Having set forth what has been accomplished, let us consider what 

 remains to be done. 



Basing the calculations on the table of the estimated degree of 

 completion of salt-marsh drainage in each county, drainage enough 

 to cover about 13,374 acres, not to mention dikes, tide-gates and 

 pumps, is needed in the counties of Hudson, Union, Middlesex 

 and Monmouth. To this must be added about 12,000 acres in 

 Ocean, nearly 10,000 in Burlington, about 20,000 in Atlantic, about 

 45,000 in Cape May, 52,661 in Cumberland and 31,370 in Salem, 

 making a total of 184,815 acres. Of these 184,815 acres about 

 35,000 either are now or have been at some time under dike for ag- 

 ricultural purposes but the sea has reclaimed so large a proportion 

 of it that it should be considered as territory to be drained. Of this 

 total area, probably about 20 per cent will not need drainage, leav- 

 ing about 150,000 acres that must be drained, costing under present 

 conditions about $750,000. 



At the present rate of 10,000 acres opened with 300 feet to the 

 acre, 15 years will be required to complete the initial drainage of the 

 salt-marsh. 



Naturally the problem of maintenance follows the establishment 

 of salt-marsh drainage systems. At the end of 19 19 about 18,000,- 

 000 linear feet of ditching 10 inches wide and 30 inches deep, or its 

 equivalent, had been cut on the salt marshes of the state, all of which, 

 with the exception of a small amount in Cumberland County, has 

 been for the last few years maintained by the county mosquito com- 

 mission. When the initial drainage will have been completed it is 

 estimated roughly that there will be 70,000,000 linear feet of 10 by 

 30-inch ditching, or its equivalent, on the salt marshes. Of this total 

 we may say that, because of short length and strong tidal outlets, 

 20 per cent will never require attention other than blockage removal 

 and the clearing of overgrowing sides. The remaining 80 per cent 

 will have to be cleared every third year, or 18,662,000 linear feet 

 each year. Experience has shown that the average cost for such 



