On Salt JSfarsh. 26$ 



observed, that the footing should be wider, and the bank 

 itself higher, than for fresh marsh, when first made, on 

 account of the perishable vegetables that are more or 

 less intermixed with the mud, of which the bank is 

 formed. If the marsh be extensive, a main drain should 

 be cut, as deep as the floors of the main flood-gates or 

 sluices; and all the smaller drains should end in the main 

 one, at different points; these need not be so deep, 

 though they must be somewhat deeper than the turf or 

 peat. The dimensions of ditches, usually made merely 

 for draining, are six feet across the top, three feet across 

 the bottom, and three feet deep; less than eight feet 

 across the top will not turn cattle, nor is a depth of three 

 feet sufficient for that purpose in dry seasons ; cattle 

 will walk over a ditch of less capacity. 



I now take leave to detail my experience in the ma- 

 nagement of salt meadow, but by no means recom- 

 mending others to follow the example. About eight 

 years ago, I engaged, in company with J. H. Brinton. 

 esquire, in purchasing, banking, ditching and reclaim- 

 ing a large tract of salt marsh, in Jersey, on Maurice ri- 

 ver, extending down to its mouth, and thence down the 

 Delaware bay, to West creek. We began by banking 

 about twelve hundred acres on the river, at and above the 

 entrance ; our experience has enabled us to perceive 

 many errors in the first operations ; but the benefits of 

 the enterprise were so plainly developed, and the prepa- 

 ration and management so much better understood, that 

 we threw another bank, the year before last, embracing 

 four thousand acres, adjoining the first body ; the two 

 banks, united, extend about twelve miles; and the length 

 of all the ditches, together, is upwards of one hundred 



