On Salt Marsh. 261 



and extending a few roots as low as a foot. Here the 

 mud is solid for many feet, down to the sand or gravel, 

 and in many instances as deep as the bottom of the river 

 or bay ; its depth varies, however, according to the su- 

 perficial shape of sand or gravel on which it was origin- 

 ally formed : the salt grass (so called) is esteemed the 

 best fodder for cattle, though not quite so good as the 

 sedge for pasture, where the latter grows dry enough ; 

 nor is the hay so much esteemed for sheep , as is the 

 sedge : it is a hard wiry grass, growing high and very 

 compact ; it may be gathered without much risk from 

 tides, which seldom spread over the high marsh where it 

 abounds. Where this salt grass, and even where the sedge 

 grass prevails, the mud is so solid, at a little distance un- 

 derneath, that water cannot percolate; and having no 

 drains in the natural- state, the water is stagnant, and ge- 

 nerates certain vegetables that dissolve, and form a sub- 

 stance resembling a spunge; whose fibres are strong, 

 compactly intertwined, and whose roots are very tena- 

 cious : this surface is cut into pieces smaller than bricks, 

 and used for firing near New York : it yields heat ra- 

 ther more feeble than tan. 



Having said that there are large tracts of salt marsh 

 which might be improved to great advantage, it is qui * 

 as necessary to add that there are many, which ne- 

 ver should be touched with that view. Where they 

 are exposed to the open ocean, whose capricious vio- 

 lence inundates half a township one day, and casts a 

 sand-bank to prevent the retrocession of water the next, 

 and where the water is so clear that it serves only to 

 nourish sea- weeds, without adding mud to make a sub- 

 stantial soil, no great improvement should be expected. 



