

Subsidence along the Sea-coast of New Jersey, 343 



^ The marshes about the mouths of the Passaic and Hackensack 

 rivers are filled with the remains of cedar timher- 



The marshes on Staten Island also contain buried timber; and 

 on Long Island at Hempstead, at Babylon, at Islip, and still far- 

 ther eastj the same fact is of constant occurrence- 



I may remark that the remains of trees are not equally abun- 

 dant in all localities, owing partly perhaps to differences of expo- 

 sure, but more to the difference in durability of the various spe- 

 cies of wood. In many places where oak, gum and other decid- 

 uous trees were known to stand formerly, there are no traces of 

 them now ; they have entirely rotted away. On the contrary, 

 the pine and the red and white cedar are almost indestructible. 

 I have seen pine stumps several feet under the marsh, where 

 they have been for an unknown period, which retain the charac- 

 teristic smell and appearance of the wood almost as perfectly as 

 the fresh cut specimens. At several places in southern New 

 Jersey an enormous amount of white cedar timber is found 

 buried in the salt marshes, sound and fit for use, and a consider- 

 able business is carried on in mining this timber and splitting it 

 into shingles for market. In some places it is found so near the 

 surface that fj'agments of the roots and branches arc seen pro- 

 jecting above the marsh, while in other cases, the whole is cov- 

 ered with smooth meadow sods, and there is no indication of 

 what is beneath till it is sounded by thrusting a rod down into 

 the mud. 

 j It«is in deposits where these durable species of wood are found 



that we get the most accurate idea of the depth to which these 

 remains extend. At Dennisville, there is a large tract of marsh 

 underlaid by cedar swamp earth and timber. By probing the 

 Jnarsh with an iron rod the workmen find where the solid tim- 

 ber lies, and then, removing the smface sods and roots, they 

 inanage to work in the mud and water with long one-handled 

 saws, and cut off the logs, which^ as soon as they are loosened, 

 rise and float, and of course are easily managed. The timber is 

 ^ot water-logged at all, but retains its buoyancy, and the removal 

 of that nearest the surface releases that which i? below and it 

 rises, so that a new supply is constantly coming up to the work- 

 man. In this way a single piece of swamp which is below tide 

 Wei has been worked for fifty years past and still gives profita- 



We returns. The timber is found lying in every direction, some 



s-ppearing to have been blown down by the wmd, and some to 

 have died and fallen afi:er it was partially ^decayed. The fallen 

 timber has been covered by the accumulation of muck from the 

 decayed leaves and twigs, and other timber has grown on this, 

 to fall and in its turn give place to still another growth. How 

 long this accumulation has been going on it is impossible to tell. 



I^i". Beesley of Dennisville counted 1080 rings of annual growth 



