SEA..COAST SWAMP DEPOSITS 



327 



''On the central parts of the New England shore, as abont 

 Boston, the mud-flat occupies at most two or three feet in the alti- 

 tude above mean low tide and the annual addition to its mass 

 in a year is very small/' perhaps not so much as the tenth of an 

 inch in a year. ''On the other hand, in the Basin of Minas, 

 one of the principal inlets leading from the Bay of Fundy, the 

 contribution of sediment is so great that vast areas have been 

 easily reclaimed from the sea by building a rude enclosure 

 around an area of the higher parts of the mud-flat, so that the 

 speed of the sediment-laden waters is checked and they are 

 made to lay down their burdens. In a few years, often in a 

 few months, this enclosed area is raised to near the level of 

 high tides. It is then only necessary to erect a barrier suffi- 

 cient to exclude the tide, with gates for the rain water, in order 

 to have the land completely reclaimed from the sea. In this 

 simple way there has been an area of many thousand acres of 

 excellent arable land created along these shores."^ 



Chemical Analyses of Sea Coast Swamp Deposits 



Constituents 



Silica, insoluble .... 

 Silica, soluble .... 

 Oxide of iron and alumina 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Potash 



Soda 



Phosphoric acid .... 

 Sulphuric acid .... 

 Organic matter .... 



Water 



Oxide of manganese . . 

 Sulphide of iron . . . 

 Common salt 



54.42 % 



72.70 % 



. • . • 



1.92 



16.45 



6.69 



1.18 



1.39 



0.07 



0.05 



1.18 



1.82 



0.79 



0.35 



0.25 



0.13 



1.46 



0.33 



• • . » 



10.35 



20.92") 

 0.64/ 



3.65 



1.09 



0.11 



1.C3 



1.71 



99.98 % 



II 



100.10% 



^ As the total reclaimable area between New York and Portland (Maine) 

 probably exceeds 200,000 acres, their money value in their best state will 

 amount to at least $40,000,000. The cost of reclaiming these areas and 

 reducing them to cultivation should not exceed the fifth part of that sum. 

 It may be noted that from the chemical composition of these soils, they are 

 practically inexhaustible, and that from their position they are often well 



