RECLAMATION OF MARSH LANDS. 605 
Even after tho surface drainage, regarded as sufficient to insure thorough reclama- 
tion from a state of swamp, the surface soil when turned by the plow presents that 
rich and friable appearance so highly valued by the farmer. The growth of aquatic 
plants speedily becomes stunted, and a richer vegetation takes their place. Then, 
with embankments securely constructed, and adequate pumping-power or sluice-way 
provided, a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of agriculture will enable 
the farmer to reap a rich reward for his labors. 
An attempt was made about thirty years ago to reclaim the Newark, or more 
properly the Hackensack, meadows by inclosing them with an embankment, and con- 
structing a number of sluice-ways to carry off the water. Owing to the neglect of the 
proprietors, these banks were completely destroyed by the musk-rat, which burrowed 
into and through them, below the level of high water; and the tide, following the 
excavation, soon demolished the embankment. 
The difficulty to be contended with in this work of reclamation was not the pres- 
sure of water, the presence of springs, or exposure to heavy waves in stormy weather, 
or in removing the water from the soil itself. It was simply to prevent the musk-rat 
and other borers from penetrating the embankment, and admitting the tide-water on 
the land. Thick embankments will not resist the boring powers of the musk-rats; 
they have been known to bore through a solid bank in one night for a length of over 
sixty feet. 
Mr. S. B. Driggs, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, invented the “iron dike,” or asystem 
of cast-iron plates inserted in the core of the embankment between the levels of high 
and low water, by which means the bank is made impenetrable to the rats, where 
penetration would result in the destruction of the bank and the failure of the recla- 
mation. The limits of the operations of the musk-rat, dangerous to the bank, lie 
between high and low water levels, as these animals will not work below the level of 
low water for any distance, if at all, and their borings above high water level are 
easily repaired and comparatively harmless. 
The musk-rat begins boring at the lowest point, and penetrates upward in an inclined 
direction, so that when the tide falls the excavation is self-draining. For this pur- 
pose, then, the boring is commenced at about the level of quarter-flood tide, and is 
always dry on tidal river banks during low water. The iron dike plates used in the 
reclamation of the Newark meadows were five feet long, eighteen inches wide, and a 
quarter of an inch thick. The plates were strengthened by ribbings cast on each side, 
and were connected to each other by clips cast on one perpendicular edge of the plate 
which held the plain edge of the next plate, and a continuous line or wall of iron 
plates was thus erected against the rats. 
The embankment erected to exclude the tide waters was constructed over this line 
of iron plating, with an average base of eighteen feet wide, and a height over the 
marsh surface of five feet. The material of which it was built was excavated from 
the main ditch which followed the line of embankment and received all the marsh 
waters through the main internal ditches and lateral drains. A pumping station was 
established at a suitable point, and one of Gericke’s patent turbinate drainage pumps, 
capable of discharging 12,000 gallons of water per minute, was erected, with steam- 
engine and boiler complete. Several sluices of various forms were inserted in the main 
embankment, by which the water on the land was reduced considerably, and to such 
an extent that it was deemed inexpedient to use the pump. The entire area of the 
marsh has been intersected by drains of various sizes, which have been connected with 
the main surrounding drain and with the sluice-ways and pumping station. By these 
drains the inland water is brought directly to the outlets and the land dried thoroughly 
wherever the drains are constructed. 
Corn, potatoes, cabbages, onions, peas, beans, tomatoes, melons, and tobacco have 
been grown on these lands, and the corn evidenced the great richness of the soil by 
the extraordinary growth which it attained. A considerable area of this land is not 
yet fitted for cultivation, and another portion of it is covered with huge cedar stumps, 
the remains of a great forest; but the land is very valuable for farming, grazing, and 
building purposes, and is worth on an average fully $700 to $800 per acre. 
The embankments erected around the meadows varied in form as the peculiar wants 
of the position demanded. As a general rule, the outer slope, or that which received 
the wash of the tidal wave, was much longer than the interior slope, and the width of 
the bank on the top varied from three to five feet. The mouths of all tidal creeks 
were carefully closed, and all connection with the outside water cut off. The com- 
plete exclusion of the river water was essential to success in this case, as in all others, 
and experience shows in & marked manner the value of pumping-power as compared 
with sluices. 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RECLAMATION. 
In effecting the reciamation of a tract of marsh land, three. distinct objects must be 
attained before the work can be considered complete. First, the exclusion of all 
waters having their sources of supply or operating trom the outside of the limits of 
