SA^D DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



is piled in small cocks, under which are thrust 

 two long poles. These serve like the handles 

 of a Sedan chair for the removal of the hay 

 to the higher land beyond the reach of the 

 tides. 



Hay boats, or canoes as they are inappro- 

 priately called, are also used to harvest the 

 hay. These are long, narrow, flat-bottomed, 

 square-ended scows that work in pairs cov- 

 ered with a broad platform, on which the hay 

 is piled. With great sweeps, long unwieldy 

 oars, the haymakers slowly urge them along 

 the winding creeks, while the steersman, with 

 a huge oar resting on a supporting oar-lock 

 in the stern, directs their course. In many 

 places the hay is piled in huge stacks, that 

 are elevated above the highest tides on small 

 piles or " staddles," as they are called, and 

 the stacks dot the marsh for miles like clus- 

 tered tents. When the marsh is fast bound by 

 winter frost the farmer goes his rounds and 

 carries off the savory, salty hay on sledges, 

 his horses' iron shoes now well sharpened. 

 No need of wooden marsh shoes; all is hard 

 and solid as the rocky ledges. 



Nearly all the farms of this region, even 

 those several miles from the marshes, have 



194 



