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banks of dark, rich soil, eaten away by the devouring' 

 water. The waste of so much fertile land along the banks 

 of all our large streams is an enormous loss to agriculture. 

 The erosian by some of our larger rivers is so extensive 

 that in some portions of their course they have changed 

 their entire bed in a single season, leaving stranded inland 

 towns that were built upon their banks, thus utterly de- 

 stroying their commerce and all enterprises founded on it. 

 This eating away and devouring the rich soil which it has 

 itself deposited in the course of the ages, is strikingly 

 illustrated by our own Connecticut, in what is known as 

 the great " ox-bow " in the vicinity of Northampton. What 

 the possibility of this means as regards the comfort and 

 happiness of the inhabitants of such districts, may be 

 learned by talking with the farmers of old Hadley, who will 

 point out to you a bend at the centre of the town, against 

 which, during the spring freshets, the river impinges with 

 such force, that in spite of all the precautions taken, as 

 evinced by an extensive series of piles driven near the bank 

 and the masses of brush and stone used as a defensive 

 backing, and the arrangement by which all the inhabitants, 

 with their teams and tools came hurrying to the point of 

 danger at the warning tone of the alarm bell at any hour 

 of the day or night, it is still the firm belief of the inhabi- 

 tants of that old puritan town, that it is merely a matter of 

 time when the mighty river shall break through all bar- 

 riers, and cut its way directly across the centre, bearing 

 along the Academy and other buildings which are regarded 

 as fated, on its angry waters. Our Merrimac does not 

 carry so mighty a stream within its banks, nevertheless all 

 along its course, can be seen the effects of the wasting 

 action of its waters, ancient or recent, caused either by the 

 impinging of floating logs or ice against its banks, or by the 

 sucking friction of the water of high freshets. How to pre- 

 vent the denuding of its shores and check the erosive action 

 of the running water, is the problem which the brave enter- 

 prise of Mr. Ordway has attempted to solve. It was one 

 out of the beaten track such as required a man of some 

 originality of mind to conceive. 



