Proce:e:dings q-^ Fi^th Annuai. Mkkting 45 



The next machine to make its appearance was the Eaton Ditch- 

 ing" Machine, which started its operations in 1914. This machine, 

 which operates on the principle of the plow, consists of a gasoline 

 engine driving twO' drums, o-ne in front for moving the power 

 plant, and one in the rear for hauling- the plow. The use of 

 wheels on either the power unit or the plow has been carefully 

 avoided by mounting both on skids which slide on the surface of 

 the meadow. The original machine, through lack of sufificient 

 power, removed the sod in twO' ribbons and with two distinct 

 operations. After hauling the power unit by means of its for- 

 ward drum up to^ the anchor set in the meadow, a plow 500 feet 

 away wasi then drawn to the machine, removing a ribbon of sod 

 10 inches wide and 15 inches deep. The cable was then drawn 

 back by hand and another plow drawn through the ditch, com- 

 pleting it to the desired depth of 30 inches (plate i). 



To eliminate the duplication of labor and waste of time, the 

 power was increased so that both plows could be drawn simul- 

 taneously, while another change combined the two plows intO' 

 one which was adjustable to depth, although the sod was still 

 removed in two ribbons and deposited on both sides of the ditch. 



This machine has been in use about three years and has in- 

 stalled over ten million feet of ditches in New Jersey and New 

 York. Its daily output on the day-labor basis has averaged 3,500 

 feet, with a maximum of 6,500 feet. On the piece-work system 

 its average is 5,200 feet, with a maximum of 8,300 feet. 



It has recently been adapted to fresh- water work in cleaning 

 out or dredging out swamps or ponds. 



There still remains much room for improvements in our me- 

 chanical methods of salt-marsh drainage, and I believe that the 

 caterpillar tractor will be the next step, as it will eliminate the 

 two operations of moving the power unit forward and then 

 pulling the plow to the anchored machine. There are, however, 

 a number of factors to be considered which will, without doubt, 

 necessitate the building of a tractor especially designed for salt- 

 marsh work. At present there are none on the market suited to 

 the needs. Wheels for furnishing the tractive force are quite 

 impractical, as they do not distribute the load sufficiently. The 



