1903] VEGETATION OF THE BAY OF FUNDY MARSHES t75 
Economics of the marshes. 
I. Crops and prices—When reclaimed from the sea the marshes 
are wonderfully fertile, and in this respect they are unsurpassed, 
if they are equaled, by any land in eastern Canada. They are 
not, however, equally good for all crops, but are best for grasses 
and grains, to which consequently they are almost entirely given 
up; root crops will grow upon them, but not toadvantage. They 
form also extremely rich pasturage, and to some extent are used 
for this purpose. The grasses which grow upon the best parts 
are the usual upland English hay grasses, which become very 
tall, very dense, and of very superior quality, luxuriant but not 
rank, producing easily three tons and upwards of the best hay 
to the acre. In less well drained places, coarser grasses grow, 
but these too are of good value. No attempt is made to take 
two crops a year, though some farmers allow their cattle to 
fatten on the rich aftermath. No fertilizers of any sort are 
placed upon the marshes, and the only cultivation consists in an 
occasional plowing, on an average once in ten to fifteen years, 
when a single crop of oats is sown, after which the land is brought 
at once into grass again. 
The fertility of the marshes depends upon two, perhaps upon 
three, features. First there is the presence of the substances and 
conditions necessary for the perfect nourishment of the crop, as 
shown by its luxuriance. Second, the fertility is extremely 
lasting. The best marsh may be cropped with unlimited yield 
for decades together without any return to the soil. There are 
places on the Aulac, which are known absolutely not to have 
been renovated in any way since 1827, and are believed not to 
have been treated in any way for fifty and perhaps a hundred 
and fifty years before that, which are bearing today crops as 
bountiful as ever. There is on this river, at Prospect farm, a 
small triangle, known not to have been even plowed for over 
forty years, which has never ceased to bear a luxuriant crop of 
the best English hay grasses. These are of course among the 
Some of themare in contact, particularly on their northeastern margins with the uplands 
and have there gravelly beaches. This is no doubt correlated with the prevalence of 
Strong southwest winds in the region, which cause a surf on the northeast shores 
unfavorable to the development of bog vegetation. 
