THE BAY OF FUNDY TIDES AND MARSHES. 255 



stone grits " of an earlier formation. In this region the marshes 

 situated well up toward the head of the tide, where the red soil 

 of the uplands has been mingled with the gray tidal mud, are 

 good, while those lower down are of inferior quality and less 

 enduring. Efforts are being made to renew and improve these 

 inferior tracts by admitting the tide upon them. 



In general, however, the necessity for periodic inundations by 

 the muddy waters of the bay in order to maintain the productive- 

 ness of the marshes, as implied in the passage from Evangeline — 



" Dikes that the hand of the farmer had raised with labor incessant, 

 Shut out the turbulent tides ; but at stated seasons the flood-gates 

 Opened and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadows " — 



not only does not exist, but, on the contrary, some two or three 

 years are required for the grass roots to recover from the injury 

 done them by the salt water, when, as occasionally happens, an 

 accident to the protecting dikes admits the -unwelcome flood. 



The exceedingly fine texture of the soil, and its consequent 

 compactness and retentiveness of moisture, render it for the most 

 part quite unsuitable for the production of root crops, and at the 

 same time adapt it admirably for the growth of hay and of 

 cereals, especially oats, barley, and wheat. As a rule, however, 

 the succession of grass crops is interrupted only at intervals of 

 from five to ten or more years by a single crop of grain. The re- 

 productive power of the grass roots declines perceptibly with 

 long-continued cropping, so that a renewal of the stock by re- 

 seeding is occasionally necessary. For this purpose the marsh is 

 plowed in the autumn or spring and new seed sown ; but to avoid 

 the loss of a season, since grass does not mature for harvesting 

 the first year, grain is also sown and a large yield usually ob- 

 tained. This plowing and reseeding at intervals often of many 

 years is the only cultivation the soil receives or requires. There 

 is no reason to suppose that abundant harvests of grain might not 

 be obtained annually for an indefinite period, but, as this would 

 involve annual tilling, the hay crop is more profitable. 



Along the river estuaries the encroachment of the land upon 

 the sea is in continual progress, so that there are always consider- 

 able areas of unreclaimed salt marsh, the lower portions of which 

 are flooded every day, while the higher portions are covered only 

 by the highest tides. The reclamation of such new marsh is 

 effected by building around its seaward margin a wall or dike of 

 mud to prevent all tidal overflow. After two or three years the 

 salt will have sufficiently disappeared to permit the growth of a 

 crop of wheat, and in a year or two more the best quality of Eng- 

 lish grass will grow. 



At the head of Cumberland Basin an interesting experiment in 



