332 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 
Fortunately, most of our lowlands and swamps receive only the more gentle 
washing or the most fertile materials from the uplands. 
“* Swamp lands contain an unusual amount of organic matter, and for that 
reason are easy to maintain in proper tilth, light to work, and warm. From 
their low position, water is generally abundant, or easy to obtain for irrigation 
by pumping or diversion from nearby streams. 
“« Swamp lands and tide marshes are considered the most valuable of lands 
in the world’s older countries. Their inherent fertility is recognized, and the 
ease with which they are cultivated and irrigated is greatly appreciated. In 
England for two hundred years the tide lands have been under reclamation, 
and to-day over 1,000,000 acres are in a ‘ matchless state of fertility.’ 
“Tn Holland extensive areas have been reclaimed from the sea. The greater 
part of the country lies at or below the level of the sea, and is reclaimed from 
a jungle of swamps and savannas. Holland to-day represents one of the most 
successful attempts at swamp reclamation. Lakes have been drained by diking 
and pumping, and plans are now on foot to drain the Zuyder Zee, an arm of 
the ocean. 
“¢ Tn our own country, swamp reclamation has been carried out on a large 
scale in the Middle Western States. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and 
Wisconsin have great areas of productive land once swamp but now the most 
fertile and reliable land in those States. The tide marshes around Puget 
Sound, in Washington, have been lying untouched until within the last few years, 
but the recent great influx of Scandinavians has resulted in a movement 
toward the reclamation of these lands, and excellent farms are being established. 
“Yn California one of the greatest areas of swamp peat land in the world 
lies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Over 1,500,000 areas of peat from 
6 to 40 feet thick are ready for reduction in productive capacity, and to-day large 
areas are being reclaimed. Yields of 500 bushels of potatoes, 6000 pounds of 
asparagus, 60 bushels of barley and oats have been common, and with proper 
farming such yields should continue to be common. 
“¢ Wherever properly reclaimed swamp lands are found their fertility is 
recognized ; almost without exception they are more fertile than surrounding 
uplands. They are frequently used in special crop production, such as in grow- 
ing celery, asparagus, cranberries, or onions, but in dairying or general farming 
they are unexcelled as permanent pasture or hay land. The consensus of 
opinion in districts where swamps have been reclaimed and farmed for many 
years is that there is no more valuable portion of the farm than the swamp, 
properly reclaimed.’ 
“ There is much swamp land in the United States within easy reach of the best 
markets. New Orleans is surrounded by swamps, but here the problem of rec- 
lamation is rendered exceedingly difficult owing to the vast area involved and 
the periodic invasion by the Mississippi River in front, and Lakes Borgne and 
Pontchartrain in the rear. The city of New York is in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of vast areas of swamps and marshes, and even the partial drainage of this 
land is being productive of admirable results. The great value of stable land 
in the vicinity of New York for manufacturing purposes is uncontested, and even 
the partial drainage of the breeding places of salt-marsh mosquitoes in portions 
of New Jersey adjacent to New York has resulted, aside from limiting the mos- 
quito supply, in the increase in value of the lands to the owners. After the first 
ditching the crop of salt hay nearly doubles. The operations carried on con- 
jointly between the city of Brooklyn and the town of Sheepshead Bay, a few 
years ago, is indicative of the remunerative results to be obtained by simple and 
beneficial operations. The contents of the ash barrels of the city of Brooklyn 
were conveyed out into the salt marshes upon specially constructed trolley tracks 
