32 ON THE RECLAMATION 



ing bank in deep water, is, of course, the enclosure of as large 

 an area as possible. But greater extent of area may prove 

 of little or no advantage if the larger portion of the enclosure 

 is mere " slob " on a low level requiring a long period for its 

 accretion. Above all, such enclosures require banks of great 

 height and strength, which are more liable to be damaged, 

 both in the course of construction and after completion, than a 

 more unpretending, but perhaps in the end far more useful work 

 formed in shallower water. 1 have found, in estimating the cost 

 of banks proposed to be made on a low level, that the agricul- 

 tural gain was not commensurate with the cost and risk attending 

 their construction, while in some cases they would have proved 

 prejudicial to navigation. Generally speaking, indeed, proposals 

 to build banks in deep water including a large extent of " slob " 

 have, in my experience, been found to be fallacious. But even 

 though the reclamation be restricted to marshes that have 

 attained a pretty high level and a fair solidity of surface, there 

 are low "gulleys" or "swashways," as they are variously 

 locally termed, kept open and deep by the flowing and receding 

 tide ; and if these gulleys are large, it is often troublesome to 

 carry the embankments across them, for as the opening comes to 

 be contracted by the gradual formation of the bank, the scour 

 and depth of water are increased. In dealing with such cases, 

 it may be found advisable, instead of closing the gap by extend- 

 ing the bank from either side, to deposit on the bottom fascines 

 loaded with stones, and to bring up the whole surface of the 

 bank across the gulley gradually. 



In making enclosures in front of rapidly rising high land, diffi- 

 culty may be experienced in consequence of land- water from 



