No. 4.] INUNDATED LANDS. 379 



It is interesting to note the fact that, while in the culti- 

 vated districts of northern Europe the attention of soil tillers 

 has been for centuries directed to the reclamation of these 

 swamp soils, their improvement has received but little 

 attention from our agriculturists. This is true not only of 

 New England but of the most of the other parts of North 

 America. I have estimated that witliin the United States 

 and east of the Cordilleras we have an aggregate area of not 

 less than one hundred and five thousand square miles of 

 reclaimable inundated lands, and the total for the whole 

 United States may perhaps amount to as much as one hundred 

 and forty thousand miles ; while the whole area of such soils 

 made infertile by excessive humidity which have as yet been 

 won to agriculture, probably do not amount to as much as 

 one-tenth of this total. 



The reason for the relative neglect of the excessively 

 watered lands in this country is doubtless to be found in the 

 fact that hitherto frontier land might be had almost for the 

 asking, and consequently it was not economical to undertake 

 the considerable outlay which is always necessary in order 

 to subjugate these excessively humid fields of the marine 

 marshes and fresh- water swamps. Now that our frontier lands 

 which are fit for tillage are all in the hands of private owners 

 or of the Indian tribes, our people in their future increase 

 will be compelled to make use of these reserves contained 

 in the inundated lands, or betake themselves to the soils of 

 inferior quality. Fortunately we have complete evidence 

 that these soils in our morasses and beneath the waters of 

 our shallow drainable lakes afibrd fields of admirable fertility. 

 The experience of Europe before adverted to is upon this 

 point conclusive. The best lands of Great Britain, northern 

 Germany and Holland, and much of those of the excellent 

 quality in southern Europe, were a thousand years ago 

 in exactly the same state as the undrained territories of this 

 country. We may therefore feel sure that in the immediate 

 future our people will find great profit from the improve- 

 ment of our own over- watered soils. 



Limiting ourselves to the inundated lands of Massachu- 

 setts, and taking first those which are above the level of high 

 tide, let us note something of the conditions which they pre- 



