AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
ITarm, Gra,rdexi, and Household. 
"AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AMI MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.»- 
orvxge jtiDD & co., ) ESTABLISHED IN 1842, ( $i.so per annum, in advance. 
PUBLISHERS AND PROPRIETORS. >• ," SINGLE NUMBER, IS CENTS 
Office, 245 BROADWAY. ) Published also iu Gemma at $1.50 a Year. ( 4Coplesfor $5; lOfor $12 ; 20ormore, $leach. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in October, 1969, by Orange Jodd k Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New- York. 
VOLUME XXVIII.— No. 11. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER, 1869. 
NEW SERIES— No. 274. 
! 
TOWING SALT 
The salt marshes along the Atlantic coast are 
covered by a vegetation peculiar to such locali- 
ties. In some places the growth consists al- 
most exclusively of Cat-tails {Typha) and coarse, 
reedy grasses, while in others it presents 
the appearance of a fine level meadow. The 
gr&M, -win be found on examination to be very 
harsh ;md wiry, and more or less mixed with 
fine rushes and other grass-like plants, and af- 
fords an abundance of hay, which, though not 
good food for animals, is still of considerable 
value. Those who have farms within a few 
miles of the coast generally own a tract of this 
marsh land, which is bought and sold as a part 
HAY . — DRAWN BY GRANVILLE PERKINS. — Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
of the farm. The mowing is done by hand, 
and the ha}', when dry, is made into cocks, and 
left until it can be removed. When the marsh is 
so located that loaded wagons can go upon 
it after the ground is frozen, the hay is hauled 
off in winter. In other places the salt meadows 
are accessible only by boats, and in this case the 
hay is brought away by water. Our artist, who 
was down in the marshes of Ocean Co., N. J., 
last season, has given us a sketch of this man- 
ner of taking home the hay. Large scows are 
freighted with enormous loads, and these are 
towed by means of sail-boats. The neighbors 
help one another in this matter, and there will 
often be five or six or even a dozen in a line. 
Salt hay, by its elasticity, is particularly adapted 
to the covering of such crops as require winter 
protection, and is largely used as a mulch for 
small fruits and those vegetables that are left in 
the ground over winter. Large quantities are 
used iu packing glass, etc. The chief consump- 
tion is in bedding for horses and cattle, and after 
being used thus, it finds its way to the manure 
heap. Though slow to decay when exposed to 
the weather, it decomposes rapidly in contact 
with fermenting manure, and adds a large 
amount of vegetable matter to the compost, while 
it does not introduce any troublesome weeds. 
