322 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
enters into the large river, making a narrow 
ravine, very convenient for an embankment 
at small expense. 
ORIGINAL CONDITION. 
Before the improvements, the tide flowed 
twice a day into the creek, and at all high 
tides, the meadow was flooded. Of course 
only the flags and coarse grasses that love 
salt could flourish. A large part of the 
meadow was annually mowed, though only 
a small part of it was solid enough to admit 
of carting off the hay with a team. The 
creek flowed through, directing itg current 
to every point of the compass, and wasting 
a great deal of land in its windings and 
quagmires. The difficulty of cutting and 
carting the hay, and its poor quality made 
it almost profitless to the owner. He was 
glad to sell it at twenty dollars an acre, and, 
considering that it never paid him the inter¬ 
est on ten, it was probably the best bargain 
he ever made, when he sold it. 
THE EMBANKMENT 
is made in the most thorough manner. It 
consists of double walls some twelve feet 
apart, and filled in with earth. On the in¬ 
side of the embankment runs a row of plank, 
driven deep into the mud, and fastened, so 
that no water can get through, except at the 
culvert. As the embankment was but a few 
rods in length, it was not a very expensive 
job. We think it is always wise to do this 
part of the woik in the most thorough man¬ 
ner, as the whole improvement will be 
worthless unless the seawater is effectually 
shut out. Stone upon the outside, and 
plank upon the inside will make the tank 
safe against water and muskrats, the origi¬ 
nal proprietors of salt marshes. 
CULVERT AND TIDE GATE. 
The culvert is made of heavy plank, run¬ 
ning the whole width of the dam, and about 
six feet wide. It is made peifectly tight, so 
that all the water is compelled to flow through 
it. At each end of the culvert, is a strong 
bulk-head, and at the bottom a tide-gate the 
whole width of the flume. The gates are 
some two feet high, and hung upon strong 
iron hinges. The current of the creek 
pushes them open, and the current of the 
tide shuts them, so that no salt water can 
flow in, or at least not enough to do any 
damage. While the tide is up, of course 
there can be no flo >ving out of fresh water, 
and all that runs in the stream accumulates 
in the ditches. In case of heavy rains, in 
the winter and spring, this will sometimes 
lead to an over flow, but in summer while 
the grass is growing the ditches will hold all 
the back water, and even in case of over¬ 
flow the fresh water, lying upon the mead¬ 
ow an hour or two, would not damage the 
grass. But this will rarely happen, if the 
gates are made large enough. 
DITCHING. 
Our friend has straightened the creek in 
many places, and filled up the old channel. 
Besides this he has put in many side ditches 
and made the whole meadow so solid that 
a cart can be driven all over it. His idea 
was originally to put the whole into cran¬ 
berries, but his unexpected success in rais¬ 
ing hay will perhaps divert him from the 
cranberries. If the meadow remains per¬ 
manently in grass, we think he has already 
more ditches than he needs. A ditch around 
the outside, and a main ditch through the 
middle in ordinary cases, will be enough to 
carry off the water. The small ditches are 
very much in the way of a mowing machine. 
If the object is to bring the meadow under 
the plow, and to raise root crops or grain, 
more ditching will be necessary. The drains 
should be as low as the bottom of the tide 
gate. If deeper than this, the banks will be 
more liable to crumble, and they will be 
kept clean with more difficulty. 
BREAKING UP THE TURF. 
He has not broken up much. A small 
piece of buckwheat looked well for a time, 
but there came a freshet in the large river, 
which of course made back water in the 
creek, and the overflow spoiled the buck¬ 
wheat. 
It will be seen in a communication else- 
whare, from “ Experience,” that he does 
not recommend plowing at all. If two or 
more tons of good English hay can be pro¬ 
cured without it, it is unquestionably better 
to sow grass seed directly upon the sod. 
SOWING GRASS SEED. 
This is done with success upon upland at 
certain seasons of the year, and doubtless 
will succeed upon reclaimed marsh. This 
has not been done upon this meadow, for 
the character of the grass is changing with¬ 
out it. The flags have already vanished 
with the mire, and much of the three corned 
grass, which so abounds in these marshes, 
is giving place to more nutritious grasses. 
A kind of blue-top is coming in, in great 
abundance. It may be that the seed 
has been brought down from the upland 
meadows above, through which the stream 
runs, and was distributed over the marsh 
when it was over flowed. It will be safe 
for all experimenters to sow clover, herds 
grass, and red top. If they run a light 
horse harrow over it much of the seed will 
catch, and do well. 
RESULTS. 
Though no seed has been sown upon this 
meadow, the result has been highly satis¬ 
factory. He has cut about two tons to the 
acre upon this meadow, and the quality of 
the hay is excellent. It is eaten with great 
relish by all kinds of neat stock, and judging 
from the looks of the cattle, it is not defi¬ 
cient in nutriment. Our friend thinks it 
worth twelve dollars a ton. 
His account with the marsh stands about 
thus: 
Cost of 30 acres at $20 per acre....$ 600 
Improvements. 900 
Making the capital invested. 1500 
His crop of hay for this season is about 
sixty tons, which at 12 dollars, is worth the 
snug little sum of.$720 
Deduct $3 per ton for harvesting. 180 
It leaves.$540 
as his annual interest upon a capital of 
$1,500. This is over thirty per cent interest. 
We see no good reason why it should not 
continue to be as productive for many years 
to come. 
Now we wish to hold this up as a worthy 
example for those farmers to imitate, who 
are investing their capital in bank stock or 
in manufactures that pay only six or seven 
per cent. A farmer needs capital quite as 
much as any other business man, and he 
can only invest in other enterprises profita¬ 
bly, when he has all the capital that he needs 
to get maximum products from his fields. 
As a general rule, a competent business 
man will take better care of his capital than 
another can for him. A farmer who means 
to live, and accumulate, will be much more 
likely to do it in his business, than to invest 
his earnings elsewhere. What immense 
sums are every year lost to this calling, be¬ 
cause farmers will speculate in bonds and 
stocks. Let the farmer stick to his plow, 
and hope to thrive only by it. If he has a 
swamp that needs draining, let him drain it. 
If he has a salt marsh that lies conveniently 
for diking, let him use his capital in building 
dikes and flood gates. If the work is thor¬ 
oughly done, the money will be certain to 
come back again with a better interest, and 
with more security for the capital than any 
bank can give. 
Our friend is a large farmer, and takes a 
lively interest in neat stock, horses, pigs, 
and poultry, He drains and subsoils, cleans 
out the rocks, and builds heavy walls, but 
no part of his operations gives so entire 
satisfaction as the reclaimed salt marsh. 
This is his pet achievement, and all his 
neighbors consider it a triumph. “ Inquirer” 
may safely go ahead with his undertaking, 
and if he attempts plowing, let it be only on 
a small scale. Grass is the great crop for 
reclaimed marshes.—E d. 
RECLAIMING SALT MARSHES. 
ANSWERS TO ENQUIRIES IN OCTOBER NUMBER. 
[The following answers are from a highly 
intelligent, practical man, who has had not a 
little experience with salt marshes. He has 
taken considerable interest in the subject and 
twenty years ago, when on the committee 
for revising the Statutes of Massachusetts, 
he was careful to introduce into the chapter 
on reclaiming swamps, a section on 'Salt 
Marshes. This law is still in force, though 
seldom enforced. By it, when swamps or 
marsh lands are owned in common, the ma¬ 
jority can compel the minority to join in the 
work of reclamation, or submit to be taxed 
for the purpose by the county commission¬ 
ers. As “ Experience ” has a number of 
acres recovered from the inroads of the sea, 
we trust he will give a minute description of 
its former condition, exact method of con¬ 
structing dams, gates, &c. A “ word pic¬ 
ture ” of his plan would be interesting.— Ed. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
I give an off-hand answer to Inquirer. I 
only wonder there are not more enquirers on 
this subject. My name is not essential to 
the article and you will please leave that 
out, as I do not seek notoriety. 
“ The Embankment .”—If your marsh is ex¬ 
posed to the sea, build a wall on the outside, 
and bank it within—(mine is wide enough 
