270 On Salt Marsh. 



and thirty miles : it was easy, at the beginning, to com- 

 pute the cost of the bank and drains, which upon paper 

 appeared trifling, when compared with the expected ad- 

 vantages ; but all such estimates were fallacious ; the 

 undertaking was new, the object very important ; and li- 

 beral ideas, in every stage, produced, in the end, an ex- 

 penditure ten-fold greater than had been anticipated ; we 

 had no guide among the inhabitants, no caution from ad- 

 venturers before us, yet such were the allurements for 

 lavish disbursement, that innumerable small sums, to ac- 

 celerate the work, encourage farmers, or promote early 

 experiments, were not withheld : the old adage, " festi- 

 na lente" never intruded itself among our calculations : 

 my own embarrassment therefore preceded my income, 

 and obliged me to sell part of the estate prematurely ; 

 which I mention to put others on their guard. Our 

 next object was to place experienced husbandmen upon 

 the property, to work it to the best advantage, on our 

 account ; these were procured from Pennsylvania, with 

 horses, wagons, ploughs, and every necessary implement 

 for agriculture. In the course of the first fall we put in 

 about three hundred acres of wheat and rye ; the grain 

 was strewn on the ground, which had never been plough- 

 ed, and the harrow was passed over it frequently ; but such 

 was the tenacity of the salt grass roots on the surface, 

 that very little impression was made, and much of the 

 grain, so exposed, was destroyed by birds ; the remainder 

 took root and had a good appearance for a time, but not 

 more than a twelfth of the grains were covered ; and those 

 which were not, were raised on tender transparent roots, 

 which supported the husk of the seed at about an inch 

 above the ground ; the meadow appeared as if covered 



