26'4 On Salt Marsh. 



low water mark, a few high tides will fill up the mouth 

 of such drain, and the next storm tide, probably, replace 

 the sand as high as ever : there is no chance, in such a 

 place, of making good meadow, without machinery to 

 raise the back water so high as to be sent over the natu- 

 ral mound. 



It was just now observed, that where creeks, from the 

 fast land, pass through the meadow, there is advan- 

 tage in having this natural mound. It is a protection to 

 the artificial one, which must nevertheless be thrown 

 from the solid mud inside of it ; and it should be raised 

 as occasion requires, by putting a slab or brush fence 

 in every low place that storm tides may have broken, 

 or the winds blown away. The fence would catch 

 the loose sand blown from the beach, when dry, at low 

 water ; as well as that which the waves might otherwise 

 throw into the meadow, beyond the regular line of 

 the natural mound. Too much reliance on the natural 

 mound must be avoided, lest the artificial one be ne- 

 glected. A bank of sand, alone, will never be safe ; for 

 the rooting of a hog, or the track of an ox, may let the 

 bay water through, and thus begin a breach that will en- 

 large must faster than if the bank were of mud. Other 

 inquiries must occur to a prudent man, such as, what is 

 the quantity of marsh to be enclosed, with reference to 

 the profits in comparison with the expenditure ? the pro- 

 bable amount of interest on capital, till the land be culti- 

 vated or brought into fresh grass ? the population of the 

 neighbourhood, in relation to the demand for hay or 

 grain, and the price of labour ? the distance from mar- 

 ket ? the facility of procuring fresh water for cattle ? the 

 laws of the state, which should impose a bank tax, pro- 

 rata, for repairs ? &c. &c. 



