62 On reclaiming Marsh Land. 



those posts is continued until these two rows are com- 

 pleted. After that, a sini^Ie row of long slim logs, (I have 

 used many from fifty to seventy feet in length) are to be 

 bolted to the inside of these posts, so near low water 

 mark as that the work can be performed. And here I 

 would observe, that all pieces of large timber used in the 

 construction of the dam, and uhich cross the current, 

 or run parallel with the dam, are called ties. All pieces 

 of timber that cross the dam and rest on the posts, are 

 called caps. AH pieces of large timber driven into the 

 mud, and connected by caps, are called posts. All small 

 timber that a man can handle, such as poles, boards or 

 plank, which are forced down by the weight of men into 

 the mud to secure it from slipping, are called pilings. 

 The long ties being bolted to the posts, prevent them 

 rocking about by the rapidity of the current ; and they 

 are also the main support to the tops of the pilings which 

 rest against them, and confine the mud to its proper place. 

 Another set of posts, much shorter and lighter than the for- 

 mer, are driven midway in the space between the large 

 posts, and pressed hard against and inside of the long 

 ties. Opposite to these, and farthest from the long posts, 

 other short and light posts are driven down and capped, 

 on a range vvith the surface of the marsh. These out- 

 side posts are secured by a single row of long ties bolted 

 to them ; a second row of long ties are then put on the 

 inside oi the large or middle rows of posts, and directly 

 6wtT the in-ends of the caps of the outer posts, forming for 

 these two middle rows of posts two complete rows of 

 long ties, which are bolted to the large posts, and the in- 

 rows of small posts are bolted to these long ties. Thus 

 there will be three distinct apportions or spaces for the 

 mud, and four separate rows of pilings to secure it within, 

 so as to receive the body of the dam to its proper height 

 in the middle apportion or space between the high posts, 



