17 



Dr. Headlee — Mr. Chairman, it seems to me that the real 

 objection to the use of dikes and tide-gates is the resultant 

 meadow shrinkage. It has been apparently demonstrated that 

 the enclosing of the meadow and keeping off of the water will 

 result in shrinkage. In some parts of the State that is not a 

 consideration, but in the marshes as a whole it is a serious one. 

 I would like to know how Mr. Brooks proposes to meet that 

 objection. 



The President — Any more discussion ? 



Mr. Gies — One other objection that might be brought up 

 against the use of the dikes, as found in our work in both Essex 

 and Union last summer, was the matter of breeding in the upper 

 ends of ditches where the water was stagnant. We found in 

 the two middle weeks of August that the upper ends of the 

 ditches were breeding. 



The same condition of breeding in the ditches may occur in 

 any meadow which is diked in, provided that you will not be 

 able to open the gates at regular intervals during each month so 

 as to keep up the fish supply inside the dike and to flush out the 

 ditches with swiftly moving water. 



But if any procedure can be worked out for keeping the gates 

 open part of the month — and it seems to me it is rather a simple 

 matter, unless you have high tides piling up the water outside 

 of the dike for long periods with danger of flooding the meadow 

 if the gates are open' — there should be little danger of breeding 

 inside a diked meadow. In those exceptional times, when high 

 tides and storms occurred simultaneously with the period of 

 inactivity of the fish, it will be necessary to oil the ditches inside 

 the diked area to prevent the issue of the mosquitoes. 



The President — Any further discussion? If not, I will ask 

 Mr. Brooks to close the discussion of his paper. 



Mr. Brooks — In reply to Dr. Headlee's question, I doubt the 

 statement that there has been great shrinkage. I believe that a 

 meadow completely dried for agricultural purposes will shrink 

 to some extent, as has been shown in South Jersey, but a meadow 



2 MO 



