CHAPTER III. 



THE RECLAMATION AND PROTECTION OF TIDAL LANDS 

 SITUATED ON ESTUARIES. 



Object of tidal reclamations. Interest taken in the subject at present. Dee 

 reclamations. Land-making schemes and navigation not always compatible. 



"Warping." Amount of matter held in suspension in different estuaries. 



Land made by tidal deposits a slow process. Level at which vegetation 

 appears. Interests of agriculture and navigation are often identical. 

 " Warping" may be hastened by very slight works. Time at which marsh- 

 land is fit for inclosure. Agricultural treatment of reclaimed land. Condi- 

 tions which are necessary to profitable reclamation. 



WHAT has hitherto been said refers solely to regulating or 

 controlling the flow of rivers. The next branch of the subject, 

 embracing the reclamation of lands on the shores of estuaries, 

 introduces a different feature ; and although much that has 

 already been said regarding currents and embankments will 

 be found to apply to reclamations in estuaries, yet the lands we 

 are about to consider in one respect at least differ from those 

 already noticed, inasmuch as, being within sea mark, they are 

 subject to all the influences consequent on the constant flow 

 and ebb of the tides. 



The object of such works is to reclaim those low lying sand- 

 banks, mudbanks, and marshes to be found in all estuaries and 

 outfalls of rivers which are left dry on the receding of the 



