Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-12-04
WON FROM OCEAN.
Land Worth 100000 Reclaimed on
Ivnn Salt Marshes

Lana worth @fO,CuO,OVu reclaimed on
Lynn Salt Marshes.
To the Lynn marshes is now to go
the credit of an altogether extraordi-
nary achievement of agriculture, the
triumphant outcome of a series of ex,
periments waged all during the past
summer, which means more almost.
for the Atlantic seacoast's develop
ment than any other happening or
undertaking of recent years. q
Nor does this work OF farming, half
engineering, half project of ehemis-
try, concern the Lynn marshes alone
, 1t is of practical moment 10 the entire
; Atlantic seacoast, and because of it
hundreds of thousands of dollars. u
not, indeed, as is more likely, millions.
VIII be very quickly added to the
wealth of the country.
a scientist informally attached to
the department of agriculture has
taken a salt marsh near Boston and
turned it into a very fruitful meadow,
as If by magic. This was achieved on
land which could have barely brought
a few dollars an acre, and which is
now worth we'll up into the thousands,
and at cost of about $50 an acre.
What is most interesting about this
mans work is that he has done it all
without aid of fertilizer and without
carrying on it top soil. Having Shut
the salt water off, having drained the
meadows by piping of tile and turned
the canal already constructed into eff
fective operation, he had merely plwed
up, narrowed and macerated his tough
grass soil until it became quite another
thing, a possibility of commercial vege-
tation then, thereafter treating it with
scientifically compounded chemicals
III own broadcast.
theoretically, all this has been
known to be possible. Wonders have
been accomplished in reclaiming land
in Holland and in the fen country of
England But in America the work has
awaited, somehow, the coming of a
master hand.
The United States government has
long had the project in view, and as
late as 1901 sent an expert to report
on the possibility of some such scheme
to reclaim this land. In August, 1901.
this expert, Thomas U. II. Means, is
| sued highly interesting report over
his own name. Some of the things Mr..
Means said in his now famous report
are Of great importance. He said:
1T is generally conceded that one acre
of reclaimed salt marsh land is worth
four or five acres of upland"
| Says Professor n. +. Shaler of Har-
ward on the subject: The great ad.
| vantage of the northern marsh acres
is found in the fact that they are gen
orally near the large centers of popu-
lation of the country, where they will
have high value as market garden
soils or fields for the raising of hay.
When brought into their best state
such acres will, measured by the price
set upon other lands in the neighbor-
hood, have value of not less than
5000 an acre. AS the reclaimable area
between New York and Portland. Me-,
probably exceeds 100000 acres, the
money value in their best state will
amount to at least $40,000,000. The
cost of retaining and reducing these
lands to cultivation need not exceed
one-fifth of this sum. In European
countries salt marshes are regarded as
the most fertile OF lands. Large areas
I'm Holland, Denmark, Germany and
Belgium have been cultivated for many
years. In England the fens to the ex-
tent of probably more than 100000
acres have been diked and detached,
and are now IN state Of matchless
fertility New York Journal.