NEW EiS GLAND FARMER. 



July -^8. 1S'36. 



From Ibe RepKilory ot'Pattiit Inventions. 



On the Recovery of Land from the Sea. By Mr 

 James Blackburn, Land Surveyor, Loihlury. 

 The art of embanking and draining i?, perhaps, 

 one of the most ancient, for wo find that those na- 

 tions which have been most famous for tlieir works 

 of art, have pracfiscd it to a great extent. The 

 Egyptians appear to have heen the first nation on 

 record that recovered lands from tlie water ; Se- 

 sostris first embanked the cities on the baiiks of 

 the Nile ; and Sebecon, the Ethiopian, employed 

 all persons condemned to death in the same under- 

 taking. The Babylonians were next in this art, 

 for Sir W. Raleigh, in Ids history of the world 

 (giving a reason- why so little is written of Bolus, 

 who succeeded Nirarod, the fir.st Assyrian mon- 

 arch,) says, he spent much of his time in disbur- 

 thaning the low lauds of Babylon, and drying and 

 making firm ground of all those great fens and ' 

 overflown marshes which adjoined to it^ Hcrcdo- j 

 tus, STinakin? of SeiTiirimis, Quien of Babylon., 

 says, '■ she laised laiks throughout the wliole lev- 

 el worthy of observation ; whereas, before slie did 

 so, it was wont to be drowned by water ;" and 

 again.that Mitrocis, another queen of the sai;ie em- 

 pire, raised banks on the verge of tlie river, for 

 bigness and height won('erful to bcliold. 



In Thessaly, a lake near the lulls Pelion, Ossa, 

 Olympus, and Pindus, and which, with the rivers 

 in the neighbourhood, made all Thgssaly a sea, 

 was recovered by cutting a passage, by which it 

 flowed into tlie ocean, and is now a place of great 

 fertility. " Of Acamania this is observable, tliat 

 where Achilois, a river of that country, runs into 

 the sea, it hath already made continent ore half 

 of the islands called Echinades ; and that the fa- 

 ble goes, that Hercules here encountering Achil- 

 ois, who is said to have transformed himself into 

 a bull, because of the roaring noise of the river, 

 broke off one of his horns, and gave it to Oeneus, 

 in pledge of his marriage w ith Deianira his daugh- 

 ter. They who collect truth out of fables, say, 

 that Hercules, who was generally heneficial, for 

 ihc sake of Oeneus, his father-in-law, restrained 

 1 he exorbitant overflowing of the river witli banks 

 und trenches, and drained n great part of the ad- 

 laccnt country; and this was the cornucopia which 

 I he poets made the emblem of plenty." 



Not only, however, did the Grecians practise 

 this art, for we find several instances in which it 

 was done among the Romans. In the year 593, 

 when L. Anicius Gallus and Cornelius (Jethegus 

 ■vere consuls, the senate directed their jittention 

 to the improvement of a great level of v^aste, ly- 

 ing under water in Latium, about 40 mi|es from 

 Home, and engaged a part of the army, then un- 

 employed, in the undt;r taking ; decreeing Jhat one 

 ■'onsul should attend the enemy in Gallia, and the 

 other undertake the recovery of the Pompeian 

 marshes. This immense undertaking was' accom- 

 plished, and twenty-tliree towns were eretted on 

 ihe lands which the sea had covered. But in after 

 limes, when civil discords distracted tlio empire, 

 Ihe embankments were neglected, and the land 

 again inundated ; although tliey were ultimately 

 I wice drained by the emperor Trajan and Theodor- 

 iciis, king of Italy. The fens about Placentia 

 ivore jlrained by Scaurus : and the territory of 

 l^errara is yet secured by banks and works which 

 hinder their inundation, particularly by the help of 

 the Rotto di Ficarollo and Ramo di Polistella 

 The country of Gallia Cisalpina abounds with 



rivers, especially that territory belonging to the 

 Venetians, which, lying flat and towards the sea, 

 became, by tlie flowing of the tides, a fenny marsh; 

 but by the help of trenches and banks in such a 



It is stated by Mr Beatson, in the secono volume 

 of " Communications to the Board of Agriculture," 

 and by Mr Loudon, in liis work on Gardening, 

 that there are yet about thrcf millions of acres 



Sl'ifl 



as were long before experimented in r (or one fifteenth part of the v/holo country) on the 

 Lower E^ypt, some part thereof has been drain- English and Scottish coasts which might be re- 

 ed and made useful for tillage. The drainage covered and added to the kingdom, and wliich 

 and embankments of the Fucine lake was a work j would prove as valuable land as any part already 

 of nreat magnitude, accomplished by the Romans. ; in cultivation. No computation has been made of 

 The emperor Claudius employed 30,000 men, for \ the quantity that may be reclaimed in Ireland, but 

 the space of seven years, upon this work ; and al- , it cannot be less than one million of acres, which, 

 though it was not accomplished by him, yet Adrian, if recovered, would give to that country,' advanta- 

 the successor of Trajan, completed the recoveiy. j ges most apparent. This calculation, however, 



In the Belgic provinces, or Flanders, recoveries 'must of course be in some degree speculative, as 

 of most extensive tracts of fen and marsh land j no survey has ever taken place; but that the read- 

 have been efiected ; for we find that Csesar's ton- | er may judge how large is the quantity that may 

 quests were opposed by them; and alearned writ- ) be recovered, it should be stated, that every par- 

 er, Uridius, affirms, that where now is situated the { tide of land, whether fen, marsh, or waste, from 

 territory of Furnes were mighty fens extending ; which the very lowest ebbtides recede, may be 

 to the main ocean. Dungdale says, " Much could embanked, drained, and put into cultivation. It 

 I say, from the authority of authentic historian3,to has been objected by some, that a considerable 

 manifest how full of marshes, lakes and fens, this portion of the land so presented, would not be 

 country anciently was, though now there is little worth recovering ; this, however, is a mistake ; 

 appearance of it; for, by the industry of the in- Mr Loudon (than whom no man is more capable 

 habitants, they are so banked and drained, that of giving an opinion on this subject) says, that '-no 

 the fertility of it hath made it one of the richest kind of land whatever can be gained from the sea 

 and most populous countries in the world." i ' which is not valuable, because it ran be flooded at 

 Holland," says Bertius, "is the gift of the all times by the sea, and frequently by fresh water, 

 ocean and of the river Rhine." And Nanniua in- By flooding, the most barren land, with only an 

 forms us, that Hol'and is the gift of the North inch or two of soil, will hoar excellant pasture, 

 wind and of the river Rhine, and was in the, be- and much land, that is often reckoneii barren and 

 ginning no more a higher place than ord(na- i useless, is partly composed of broken shells, which 

 ry, over which the tides did usually flow ; but contain considerable portions of calcareous earth, 

 that, by some extraordinary agitation of the sea, | admirably adapted for productiveness." Indeed 

 sand heaps Vv'ere raised, around which the inhabi- 1 the value of land recoverable from the sea, is not 

 tants of the adjacent shores made banks, to keep .sufficiently understood. The staple soil is well 

 them from their original state • the Ratavinna, a , known to bu vo.iablc in ita €[uality nnd prdiliice, 

 nation of Germany, were the first to make any I but the recovered land most frequently consists of 

 efficient embankment of that country. The Danes soil from threa to four feet in depth, containing 

 "nd the Normans, on their invasion, preserved fine vegetable matter, the remains of sea-weed, 

 them in the state the Butavians had left them, and marine animals, and other substances deposited 

 the Saxons contributed to the same work. : by the tide, saturated with salt, and so extremely 



Great quantities of laud have heen reclaimed on fertile, that in many instances it has been cropped 

 the banks of the Loire, in France ; and it is well for twenty years incessantly, without manuring. 



known that Friesland, Zeeland, and Holstein, ia j ■ — 



part owe their existence to the embankments of I RYE BREAD. 



their shores. Did we need seek for farther proofs ' " Eyen those (says Mr Jacob, in his recent re- 

 ef these undertakings having been accomplished in port oh the state of agriculture on the continent) 

 other countries, we "know that "the Celestial Em- who aan afford whcaten bread, eat commonly that 

 pire" gave to China two of her fairest provinces by ■ of ryd from choice. At the tables of the first fam- 

 the same spirit of honourable enterprise. , Hies, both in Germany and Poland, though wheat- 



The governments of the nations that have prac- en brdad was always to be seen,I remarked that the 

 tised this art, have alw'ays considered the acquisi- , nativejs scarcely ever tasted it ; and I have met 

 tion of additional territory to be of great national many Englishmen, who after a long residence in 

 importance ; but it cannot for a moment be doubt- tho^x' countries,have given the preference to bread 

 ed but that to us, whose insular situation deprives ofryi^. From the time I left the Netherlands, 

 us of neighbouring unoccupied provinces, to which thiuugh Saxony, Prussia, Poland, Austria, Bavaria, 

 our teemtng popufation may emigrate, the acquisi- \ anil Wurtemburg, till I entered France, I never 

 tion of portions of land adjoining our shores, is of ! sav, ^ther in the baker's shops, in the hotels, or 

 far greater moment ; yet, obviously true as is this ' pri'aje houses, a loaf of wheaton bread. In every 

 assertion, it is alike extraordinary and unaccounta- ', large', town, small rolls made of wheaten flour 

 hie, that fine tracts of land, presented twice every i covldjbe purchased, and they were to be seen at 

 day to the observation of the public, should be lost i thf tables at which the foreigners were seated. — 

 to all those purposes for which they are so admi- j Wiiett is only used by the natives in making what 

 rably adapted. Commons have been enclosed at ou- English bakers would call fancy bread, or in 

 such an expense that the land, in many cases, is I pastry and confectionary. If there be no foreign 



Kit 



not worth the cost, and the industrious cottagers 

 have thereby often been deprived of one mean of 

 comfort and support ; but here is land rich in its 

 quality, capable of producing the finest crops, lost 

 to the country for the want of that e-xertion which 

 has been so liberally extended to other undertak- 

 ings, which, in comparison to this, are insignifi- 

 cant indeed. 



demand for wheat, the difficulty of selling is very 

 great." 



Important Decision The Circuit Court of the 



LTni'od States, now sitting in Philadelphia, Judge 

 Washington presiding, has decided, that the Bank 

 of tae U. S. is holden to pay the half notes of its 

 Bank, where the other has not been paid. 



