1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



679 



and difficulty have been increased, in consequence i 

 of the scarcity of mud, both within and outside of 

 the bank, and of the great pressure of mud forcing 

 the foundation into the ditches. Another very se- 

 rious evil was, that these ditches afforded an easy 

 and safe passage for the muskrals and fidiers to 

 enter at all parts of the bank, and thus admit the 

 water, so as frequently to break it. 



Tide Bank. 



In the present improved rhethod of reclaiming 

 v,'ild marsh from the tide, the first thing to be done 

 is, to stake out the site for the intended bank, at 

 such a suitable distance from the margin of the 

 river or creek (as the case may be,) as to allow a 

 sufficient space for a guard against the swells of 

 the water in stormy weather, and for the prepara- 

 tion of mud to make and keep in repair, at a dis- 

 tance not near than four rods from said bank. 

 Should the marsh be composed of a mat of sedges 

 or reed-roots, (as a preparation for the intended 

 bank,) the laborers should remove one spit deep 

 of the roofs, and lay them aside to be packed on 

 the bank when nearly finished. 



The trenches fr-om whence the mud is to be 

 taken, are to be served in the same manner, be- 

 cause such hard sods can never be sufficiently 

 packed, but that they will admit the water. The 

 surface being now removed, they will proceed to 

 cut and wheel the good mud into the bed design- 

 ed for the bank. To do this properly, it will be 

 necessary that the laborers should be apportioned 

 to the different parts of the intended bank in sep- 

 arate gangs, as the work will then be carried on to 

 the best advantage, not only to themselves, but 

 their employer?. A gang is composed of five 

 hands, two to cut and load the wheelbarrows with 

 mud, two to wheel it to the bank, and one to be 

 there stationary as a packer. The business of a 

 packer is to lay out the bank, pack every sod of 

 mud that is delivered lo him by the wheelers, and 

 attend strictly to the carrying up the bank, in its 

 true proportion and proper height; he is also to 

 assist in making the gangways to run the wheel- 

 barrows on. As to the size of the bank, the owner 

 must be governed entirely by circumstances ; if 

 his marsh issituated upon a water subject to fresh- 

 ets, which swell the tides beyond their ordinary 

 level, or, is of a spongy or miry bottom or, if ly- 

 ing on a losing shore, or subject to be beaten on 

 by particular stormy winds, which raise the tides ; 

 m any of these cases he must build and fortify his 

 bank accordingly ; but if free -from those liabili- 

 ties, and his marsh high and of a firm blue mud 

 stratum, in that case, I should suppose a bank of 

 twelve feet base by six feet in height, would be 

 sufficient : but I would observe, that I have never 

 seen a bank too large. Let the bank be of what 

 size the owner may choose, I have always consid- 

 ered that the base should be double the width to 

 the height, and as to the sides or slope, they should 

 be at or about an angle of fifty degrees, and the 

 breadth at the top of the bank about one sixth of 

 the base. To wheel mud on a miry marsh, it is 

 necessary the men should have boards to lay upon 

 the mud, but in wheeling their barrows to the top 

 of the bank (which would be an elevation of six 

 feet,) they must have plank of not less than thirty 

 feet long, though the longer they are the better, 

 provided the men can handle ihem, and they 



should be not less than four inches thick. To sup- 

 port the plank in the middle, they should have 

 several light posts with holes morticed in them, 

 through which a rail or pole is temporarily insert- 

 ed, so as to bear it with the weight of mud passing 

 over, and also to prevent it from swagging ; these 

 posts will be removed, and the wheeling or gang- 

 plank, as it is called, must be removed several 

 times before the laborers complete a single rod. 



Sluice. 



The bank being finished, a suitable place must 

 be selected for laying a sluice, which should be 

 several rods distant from the creek or river, into 

 which it is to discharge the water fi-om the marsh. 

 In the preparation tor the intended bed of the 

 sluice, the water course sliould be begun from the 

 margin of the river or creek, and its depth contin- 

 ued at about the ordinary low-water mark, until 

 the bed of the sluice is cleared, when the digging 

 should be suspended until the sluice is bedded and 

 finished. The mud on each side of the intended 

 bed should be removed a reasonable distance, 

 lest, when piling for the sluice, any sudden jar 

 might cause the sides to cave in, and thus fill up 

 the bed. After the bed is dug, four stakes, having 

 lines fastened to them, are to be drawn taught, 

 and stuck into the mud exactly on the bottom, 

 where the sluice is to be laid, but within the breadth 

 of the sluice by about two inches; for example, 

 should the sluice be four feet wide, then set down 

 those stakes at the distance of three feet nine or 

 ten inches apart. In the mean time some person 

 should be in readiness with the pilings. These 

 pilings are made from inch boards (no matter of 

 what wood, for in the mud they never rot,) savved 

 off, to the length of about three feet, and are to be 

 sharpened ; this is done by a person cutting and 

 sloping away both sides of one end of the board 

 alike, and by cutting off three or fijur inches of 

 one of the corners, at an angle of about forty de- 

 grees. These pilings being set by the lines, are 

 driven down to a level with the bottom by a maul 

 or tip, beginning at one end, and so proceeding 

 on, until both sides are completed, and by crossing 

 the bed in several places and immediately under 

 the in and out end of the sluice, always remem- 

 bering that the piling be put down with that edge 

 having the point cut off' furthest from the board 

 last driven ; so that in forcing it down, by the time 

 it will be brought to a level with the one prece- 

 ding, it will be drawn perfectly tight against it. 

 Should the sluice be made of two or three funnels 

 or divisions, you must drive as many rows of 

 pilings as there are divisions of plank. If the 

 mud is good where the sluice is laid, by piling in 

 this manner, it can never settle, and no muskrat or 

 mink, can ever undermine it. The piling length- 

 ways and across being completed, and the lines 

 removed, four poles eight or ten feet long, are to 

 be set down by the four corners of the pilings as 

 marks to direct the workmen to the exact place 

 into which they are to float the sluice, and excite 

 their attention to those parts as it settles on the 

 ebbing of the tide. When the sluice shall have 

 grounded on the pilings, one of the workmen is 

 to examine if it has rightly bedded, and if so, 

 they will then proceed and cover it up with the 

 best mud, care being now taken that a trusty pack- 

 er be stationed there, to pack every spit of mud as 



