f'l ^Wished uvery Saturday, by THOMAS W. SHEPARl), Rogers' liuilding, Congress Street, Dostmi ; at $2,50 per ami. in advance, or $3,00 at the close of tlir y<;:\. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



iCll 



Vol. I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1823. 



No. .'51. 



I'foN EMBANKMENTS, DIKES, DRAINS, Sic. FOR 

 THE PURPOSE OF RECLAIMING LANDS 

 FROM THE SEA, RIVERS, &c. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



Uaving been requested by some respectable 



correspondents to furnish such information as 



might be at our command, on the abovemen- 



'i'i tioned subjects, we proceed to lay before our 



readers the result of our researches. We would 



ijl premise, however, that we have no knowledge 



%on this topic, derived from experience, and 



"'jthat books are the sources from which we have 



rei deduced nearly all which we shall venture to 



suggest. 



The first object to be considered, before at- 

 tempting to reclaim land, that at low water is 

 left uncovered by the sea, is, whether or not 

 the quality of the surface to be gained, is such 

 as to be capable of profitable cultivation. In 

 many cases, what is exposed at low water, and 

 might easily be banked out, is an accumulation, 

 to a great depth, of barren sand or gravel. But 

 there are other places, where the sea, allow 

 Water, recedes so far, as to leave dry, hrge 

 portions of surface, which is composed of i de- 

 position of line earth washed down from hgher 

 land. 



Embanking, so as to exclude the sea, is <iore 

 or less expensive, according to the natnC of 

 the materials of which the beach is comptsed. 

 If the soil is of a sandy nature, it is generally 

 necessary to face it with stone on the sidenext 

 to the sea; otherwise the waves would loon 

 make breaches in it. It is also necessay toj 

 give it a very considerable slope, and, a' the 

 foundation, to have the stones bedded, an( laid 

 in such a way that they may bind well togdher. 

 The height of the embankment, should, mall 

 cases, be at least two feet more than that of the 

 highest tide. 



When the materials of which the bank is 

 formed are of a clayey or adhesive nature, 

 strong turf may answer the purpose of facing 

 the bank, and these should be well beaten and 

 pinned down as soon as laid. The inside or 

 land side slope should also be faced with turf. 



If turf is to be used in covering the outsiJe 

 slope it must all be laid with the grass upper- 

 most, and well beaten down with a flat sod- 

 beetle, made for that purpose ; and for tha'r 

 better security, it may be proper to drive a 

 small stake of about 18 inches long, or moc, 

 through every sod. The sods for this purpos, 

 should at first be carefully taken up, and tracd 

 by a line, all of the same breadth, and ther 

 edges cut as even as possible, that they my 

 make the closer joints. 



An American writer on this subject, (whse 

 observations may be seen at length in the Aie- 

 rican Farmer, vol. ii, p. 131,) in treating of he 

 difficulties which occur in reclaiming uiETsh 

 lands, says that they arise " chiefly becausi of 

 their exposure on the sea coast to severe gaes 

 of wind, and high spring tides. In a great raa- 

 8ure to the spongy, light nature of the niffsh 

 land, it being in a degree composed of the rots 

 of rushes and marsh grass. Likewise from rant 

 of attention in yearly repairing and raising he 

 banks, which settle and contract very rnuct as 



the roots decay; the mud also, by drying, moul- 

 ders into a fine dust and is blown away bv every 

 high wind. They who succeed best, have a 

 sufficient space between the edge of the river 

 or the creek and the bank, to save it as much 

 as possible from being washed by the spring 

 tides, or undermined by the encroachments of 

 the river or creek. They form the bank by 

 earth taken altogether from within it, and leave 

 no ditch between the bank and the creek or 

 river. They likewise leave a considerable 

 margin between the bank and the ditch formed 

 by digging out the earth, and cover the top of 

 the bank with highland earth to mingle with 

 the mud as it cracks by drying, and to prevent 

 it from being washed and blown away:" Pro- 

 bably the practice of covering the bank with 

 turf, as above recommended, would secure it 

 from being washed, or blown away, as ellectu- 

 ally as any method which could be adoj)ted. 



When the sea encroaches on a low shore, it 

 will be proper before attempting to execute 

 any regular embankment, to make a careful 

 survey of the coast, which is injured, in order 

 to ascertain if there be any local circumstances, 

 that can help to raise a natural barrier against 

 the encroachment. In many places the sea is 

 continually stiring up, and driving against the 

 coast, quantities of sand and other materials, 

 which either remain and serve to form hills or 

 flats, or are carried back by the ebbing of the 

 tide which brought them. In general, where 

 the materials are of a solid nature, as shells, 

 plants, or slime, they rest and accumulate, and 

 raise the land above tlie danger of any encroach- 

 ment from the sea. But where the shore con- 

 sists entirely of sand, whatever ([uantities may 

 be pushed forward at each tide, are immediately 

 dispersed by the winds, and the shore remains 

 open and exposed to every high swell of the 

 ?ea. In such case, however, means may be 

 idopted, for collecting and fixing the flying par- 

 teles of sand; and it is certainly proper to pre- 

 ttr so economical an expedient to an expensive 

 rtgular embankment, 



Johnstone's chapter on Embankments, in the 

 Gaieral Report of Agriculture in Scotland, vol. 

 ii,p. tj29, contains an account of a work of this 

 kiid, of which what follows is the substance. 



The sea had for many years made encroach- 

 ments on the estate of the Earl of Ashburnham, 

 at Bembrey, in Scotland. It was the general 

 opinion that a regular embankment must be 

 formed, which would cost some thousand pounds, 

 the Earl having several miles of coast. Mr. 

 Tatlow, who first proposed the mode of em- 

 banking about to be related, observes, " the 

 view that I first took, was upon a very windy 

 day, and the shore, an entire sand, which ex- 

 tended at low water many miles. In riding 

 along I perceived that any piece of wood, or 

 accidental impediment to the course of the sand, 

 raised a hill. It immediately occurred to me. 

 that by making a hedge at the weak and low 

 places, with wings to catch (he sand as the wind 

 blew it in different directions, I should obtain 

 the desired effect. I therefore directed stakes 

 nine feet long to be cut and driven one foot and 

 a half into the simd, at two feet and a half dis- 



; tance from eacli other ; betwixt which I had 



f'ur:^e interwoven, so as to form a regular furze 



j hedge, seven feet and a half high." This mode 



I of embankment, it appears, proved successful 



" Its present appearance," says the inventor 



after a trial of some months, "plainly evinces, 



that, at a trifling expense, I can secure Lord 



Ashburnham's estate from being inundated ; foi 



whenever the first hedge is not high enough tn 



I prevent the sea overflowing, another may be 



j built upon the land formed by that hedge." an* 



so on in succession till it is perfectly safe." 



AVhen the land is only overfloweii during 

 spring tides, there is time in the intervals, 

 either to complete the embankment re(iuired, 

 or to finish it in such a manner, that the flowing 

 of the tide can do it no injury. But if the sea 

 ebbs and flows every tide upon the land which 

 is to be reclaimed, only small pieces of the 

 work can be executed at a time, and the force 

 of the water, at the flowing of each tide, is apt 

 to destroy all that has been previously per- 

 formed. 



\Vhen only a part of the embankment can be 

 executed before the return of flood tide, it is 

 proper that what is done should be done in a 

 complete manner. Tiius, supposing a length 

 of thirty or forty feet can be iinisbed in one 

 tide, it is better to rai.se it to its intended height, 

 and to fiice the slope well with turf, than to 

 commence a greater extent of bank and leave 

 it in an unfinished state, exposed to the violence 

 of the waves. It maybe I'urtber remarked that, 

 in low flooded lands, there are always several 

 hollows, or waler-runs, formed by the regress 

 of the tide ; and where the embankment has to 

 be executed in different portions, it may be 

 proper to build in the first place, across or over 

 the spaces between these water-runs, so that 

 the sea, having its usual channels of evacuation 

 left open, will have the less tendency lo injure 

 the work. The spaces thus left may be filled up 

 during the intervals between the sprin" liiles. 



A writer in the Americiin Tarmcr, vol, ii, p. 

 131, gives a method of securing an onfinished 

 embankment against being demolished by t cur- 

 rent or tide which appears to us to be chtTp^ 

 practicable, and is as follows. " A sufliciency 

 of earth is collected, either by digging in the 

 vicinity or by transporting it from the nearest 

 iiigh ground. A number of poles or stakes are 

 then cut and brought to the bank, and at low 

 water driven into the mud so as to form an an- 

 gular pen in advance from each side of the gap. 

 The poles are left thus driven in until the next 

 low water, that they may adhere to the mud 

 more firmly by suction ; the earth is then thrown 

 into the pen, and is protected by them from the 

 friction of the tide until the nest low water. — 

 Other poles are then driven in advance of these 

 on the same plan, and filled with earth, until the 

 gap is gradually, but certainly closed." 



The elevation and slope of the embankment 

 should depend on the degree of exposure to the 

 winds and tides, and the height to which the 

 greatest tides are accustomed to rise. In every 

 case, the bank should be at least two feet high- 

 er than the water during the greatest spring 

 tides, Ip determining the slope, great care 



