604 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
The tracts of marsh lying at a distance from the great cities are not less valuable in 
proportion, because, if their value is not so great when reclaimed, their present value 
is very much less, being in many cases as low as $5 per acre, while there would be no 
increase whatever in the expense of reclamation. 
Professor Cook, speaking of the marshes lying along the coast of New Jersey and the 
neighboring States, says: “The value of banked meadows in Salem County, New Jer- 
sey, and along the Cohansey Creck and Maurice River, in Cumberland County, ranges 
from $200 to $500 per acre. Previous to banking, these meadows were comparatively 
worthless.” 
If, therefore, almost worthless marshes can be raised in value to $200 per acre by 
merely banking them against tidal overflow at a very small cost per acre, what may 
not be the increase in value when these lands are properly reclaimed, and drained and 
fitted, at a small increase in the cost, for the highest class of cultivation ? 
Professor Cook also makes the following statement: ‘The meadows on the Wallkill, 
the Pequest, the Paulinskill, and the Passaic are rich lands, and comparatively unpro- 
ductive, though lying in the midst of the finest part of the State. The improvements 
must be made, and the land brought to the degree of productiveness which the best 
interests of the State demand. ~* = * We have between one and two millions 
of acres of land in southern New Jersey which are comparatively unimproved. Private 
enterprise is doing much for its development. Millions of dollars have been invested 
for its improvement within the last fifteen years, and thriving settlements have been 
formed. These pioneers deserve well of the State, and they should be furnished with 
every information and facility for pushing forward their improvements.” 
Considering the high rents paid at present by market gardeners, amounting fre- 
quently to $150 per acre per annum, it is quite certain that every acre of marsh land 
reclaimed within the next twenty years will find willing purchasers or tenants. 
On well-drained land, such as we would wish to see made of our marsh lands, @ 
farmer paying an annual rent of $100 per acre would realize fully treble the profits 
derivable trom the cultivation of upland ground, as he is certain to raise crops such as 
the upland ground, with any quantity of fertilizers, could not produce; and further, the 
question of expense in working such ground is important in supporting our arguments, 
as manures and fertilizers are wholly unnecessary, and a series of heavy crops can be 
raised for thirty years without the soil requiring any stimulant in the shape of manure. 
Farmers complain that the most serious item in the expense of farming is the con- 
stant renewal of the vitality of the soil by manures. In the case of reclaimed marsh 
land this expense is saved, as even the soil itself can be used as manure on upland 
ground with great advantage. The plowing is also attended with more ease. No large 
boulders are met with to interrupt the work or interfere with the proper tillage of the 
soil. 
We have here, then, an investment for the capitalist which will return him enormous 
profits; a rich and productive farm for the agriculturist, that will yield him tenfold 
for his labor; a means of employing the thousands who are daily flocking to our shores 
from Enrope; and last, though not least in importance, a means of providing an 
abundant supply of fresh, cheap food for the people who are compelled to purchase the 
diseased meat and stale and unhealthy vegetables and diluted milk which are to be 
found in our markets. All these advantages lie within our reach, and we should be 
blind, indeed, to our own interests did we not seize them. 
RECLAMATION OF NEWARK (N. J.) MEADOWS. 
The following notes, taken from the engineer’s field-books, of a test survey on the 
Hackensack meadows in the spring of 1867, will give a general idea of the kind of soil 
to be found on the salt marshes along our coasts and tidal river banks, being records 
of a series of experimental borings into the soil, made to ascertain the nature of the 
substrata for a depth of from nine to twelve feet. The boring was taken within fifty 
feet of the water's edge. 
The soil in many parts of these marshes was tested, and, with the exception of some 
difference in the thickness of the various strata, very little difference occurred in the 
several tests. The only marked variation in the character of the soil that occur is where 
large cedar stumps are met, either on the surface or some three feet beneath it. The 
roots of these cedar stumps are invariably sound, while portions exposed to the air 
soon rot away. The closeness of the soil, and the uniform state of moisture and non- 
exposure to the air evidently interrupt their decay. In some places the cedar roots 
showed on the surface, while in many others they were buried deep in the soil. In 
drainage the water is not removed to a greater depth than five feet, so that the surface 
mold and marls are dried while the grass peat bemeath still holds the moisture to 
some extent. Drainage without cultivation will not, of course, develop the good 
qualities of the soil, but the two judiciously combined cannot fail to produce the results 
most beneficial to agricultural wants. 
