DRAINAGE OF DUTCH MARSHES. 333 



begin to grow. Ordinary fresh meadow grasses, and white 

 clover in particular, do not make their appearance until the 

 surface-level of the marshes reaches from three to four feet 

 above the ordinary high tide. Whe:i this stage is attained, 

 dikes from sixteen to twenty feet high are usually raised, 

 and the soil is utilized either for pasture, or, after ploughing, 

 for the production of various kinds of farm-crops, — adhering 

 in the latter case to a well-tested system of rotation. Sea- 

 marshes, which are still liable to a periodical overflow by the 

 sea, are, as a general rule, left to the cultivation of grasses. 



In treating of the cultivation of lands which by human 

 effort have been reclaimed from the control of the ocean, it 

 would scarcely be excusable to pass over one of the greatest 

 triumphs in that direction ; namely, the draining of the Harlem 

 Sea, and the successful cultivation of its former basin. The 

 Harlem Sea, until the middle of the sixteenth century, con- 

 sisted of four small inland lakes, which, in consequence of 

 subsequent extensive breaks in the dikes, rose rapidly to an 

 area of from 30,000 to 40,000 acres. The continual access 

 of sea-water had increased its surface to 45,000 acres and its 

 depth to 15 feet, when the government of Holland began its 

 operations for the drying out of this large area. The work 

 began in 1840, and was finished in 1852 to such an extent, 

 that the sale of the reclaimed sea-bottom lands could take 

 place during the following year. This result was accom- 

 plished by means of a simple plan, which, in its main fea- 

 tures, had been suggested as early as 1643. The sea was 

 surrounded by a broad ring-wall, in some instances from 

 fifteen to sixteen feet high. Upon the upper surface of this 

 wall was built a large ditch to receive the water of the sea, 

 by means of numerous powerful pumps worked by a few 

 (four) steam-engines of from 450 to 500 horse-power each. 

 The water had to be raised about fourteen feet on an aver- 

 age. The first cost per acre, without any improvements, — 

 as roads, drains, etc., — amounted to $42. About one-eigh- 

 teenth of the entire area of the former sea has been turned 

 to account for roads and ditches. The government has 

 realized two-thirds of its expenses, which amounted to about 

 $4,500,000, by the sale of the lands; taxation secures a 

 satisfactory interest on the remaining sum. The market 



