AGRICULTURAL VALUE OP SALT MARSHES. 



To determine the agricultural value of such lands several samples of 

 the salt marsh areas around Oyster Bay, on Long Island, were collected 

 and subjected to laboratory examination. These are very probably 

 representative of much larger areas of salt marsh, and the results of 

 their examination will no doubt prove of interest to owners of salt 

 marshes all along the coast, 



As has been indicated, there are many kinds of salt marshes and tidal 

 flats some merely bare mud flats without vegetation, and others with a 

 heavy growth of grass and with a sod a foot or more thick. In any 

 locality such differences are due to the age of the marsh, and the two 

 cases mentioned can be considered as representing youth and old age in 

 marsh growth. 



Mechanical analyses of tide marsh soils from Neic York. 



Chemical analyses of tide marsh soils from New York. 



The two tables show the results of the laboratory examinations of 

 the Oyster Bay samples. Sample No. 5379 was collected from the 

 tidal mud flat in the west end of Lloyds' Harbor, and represents the 

 soil on which the salt marsh grows, or, in other words, is the salt 

 marsh in youth. At low tide this mud flat is only a foot or 18 

 inches above the level of the water in the harbor, but at high tide it 

 is covered with salt water 4 or 5 feet deep. At the present time 

 the eel-grass has just commenced to grow on the mud, and it is found 

 in large, round hummocks dotting the mud flat. These hummocks 

 will gradually spread until the eel-grass is growing over the entire flat. 

 The growing grass greatly retards the flow of the water as the tide rises 

 and flows and the deposition of the sediment will be hastened. The 

 chemical analyses of this mud show it to be fairly rich in lime, abun- 

 dant in potash and with an adequate supply of phosphoric acid. The 

 7 per cent of organic matter will keep the clay soil in good tilth. The 



