ORIGIN OF MARINE-MARSHES /I 



trance and exit of the tidal currents, as for the escape of 

 the land waters. In this manner bays originally of many 

 square miles in extent appear as grassed plains, except for a 

 few hours at high tide, when they have a foot or two of water 

 on their surfaces. Thus the great marine marshes which have 

 grown in the quiet waters land-locked by Plum Island, near 

 Newburyport, Mass., have an area of about sixteen thousand 

 acres, and there are many others in New England which 

 exceed a thousand acres in area. Between New York and 

 Portland, Me., a careful study has shown that there are 

 over three hundred thousand acres of these lands, all of 

 which are reclaimable and will make exceedingly fertile 

 fields. 



In the region south of New York, in New Jersey, Dela- 

 ware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, there are other 

 and far more extensive marshes of the same general nature. 

 It seems probable that ultimately not far from two million 

 acres, or over three thousand square miles, of excellent land 

 will be won from these fringes of the sea to agriculture, and 

 this with a relatively slight expense for the necessary engi- 

 neering work. With more costlv contrivances the area to be 

 won to the best uses of men may be brought to more than 

 three times this amount. There are, in other words, the agri- 

 cultural possibilities of a Holland in these inundated lands 

 awaiting the time when the increased population of this coun- 

 try shall make it necessary to utilize these naturally produc- 

 tive areas. 



The process of subjugating these fields where the tidal 

 rise and fall exceeds four or five feet is simple. The beach 

 which protects the embayment from the sea usually consti- 

 tutes a most effective dyke against the ocean waters. There 



