62 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



be redeemed from the sea. The Rev. Dr. Buckland and myself 

 were conveyed, by the politeness of the superintendent of these 

 works, in a boat, three miles down this artificial river, and sym 

 pathized in warm admiration of the ingenuity and success of 

 this noble enterprise. The result of this great work is not 

 merely to deepen the river, to render it navigable, and to redeem 

 a large extent of land from the sea, but the channel furnishes a 

 natural drainage for the very extensive fen lands above on the 

 river, and in the vicinity into which their waters will naturally 

 be poured. 



XCVII. WORK IN IRELAND. 



In Ireland, on the River Foyle, below Londonderry, where it 

 widens into a lake, a great work is going on in redeeming a 

 large extent of land from the sea. At the recession of the tide, 

 an extensive surface is left exposed. The plan is simply to 

 enclose the land by a strong stone wall, or embankment, which 

 will effectually exclude the sea. The work is as yet in embryo, 

 though a large extent of wall is visible. I was told it would 

 include full 2500 acres ; but the source of my information was 

 more casual than authentic. After it is once securely enclosed 

 and brought into cultivation, it appeared to me there would be 

 no difficulty in irrigating at least a considerable portion of it, by 

 water from the neighboring hills. I do not know that this is a 

 part of the plan. 



The example is one of bold enterprise, and is undertaken by 

 one of the city companies in London, who have large funds at 

 their disposal. I refer to it, hoping to induce my readers to 

 reflect for a moment upon the essential difference, in the invest 

 ment of capital, between that which is accumulative and pro 

 ductive, and that which is unproductive and deteriorating. If a 

 man spends one hundred thousand dollars in the erection and 

 adornment of a house far beyond his needs, the capital in 

 vested makes no return ; the house is liable to continued wear 

 and decay : and a large expenditure is required, not only to live 

 in keeping with the establishment, but to keep up the establish- 



