er he 
Bog in Westmoreland County. 365 
posite side of the Isthmus of Chignecto. The change from 
solid meadow to bog and Jake has no doubt been due to the 
formation of natural dykes by the deposit of heavier ma- 
terial in greater quantity on to the banks of the creeks, 
thus enclosing the marsh and preventing the further de- 
position of mud, excepting by unusually high tides. It is 
likely that these dykes were increased in height by the 
action of ice. This was followed by the gradual depression 
of the enclosed area, in which fresh water collected, forming 
bogs and lakes. One of the most enterprising and intelli- 
gent of the farmers now engaged in reclaiming these bogs 
has told me that beneath the bog is to be found a great 
depth of soil exactly like that now being formed by the 
Bay of Fundy tides. The formation of natural dykes can 
be observed along the banks of the canals and rivulets 
which lead the muddy water up into the marshes. The 
reclamation of bog and conversion of it into meadows of 
almost inexhaustible fertility has been going on in the par- 
ishes of Sackville, Westmoreland and Cumberland for nearly 
half a century. Canals are cut from the natural tidal chan- 
nels, so as to lead the salt water into the bogs. The rush 
of the tides, combined with the flow of fresh water at low 
tide, gradually wear the canals into wide streams, from 
which smaller streams can be led in all directions into the 
bog. The bog settles as the fresh water drains off, and then 
every tide brings in its quota of mud, which is deposited in 
layers varying in thickness according to the height of the 
tide and the distance from the main channel. I have seen 
some layers of coarser material on the banks of the canals 
nearly an inch in thickness. Some distance from the canals 
the thickness varied from one-sixteenth to one-fourth of an 
inch. The conversion of bog into tillage land occupies sev- 
eral years, varying according to the situation, the depth of 
water to be replaced by mud, and other circumstances. Jn 
the summer of 1892 I saw, bearing an abundant crop of hay, 
a large tract which in 1867 was a fresh-water lake from ten 
to fifteen feet in depth. As the filling up process goes on, 
the level of the soil rises until at length it is covered only 
28 
