Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-06-07
SALT MARSHES
WORTH MILLIONS.
Worcester County Has Vast Stretch of It,
People Hope to Realize Some of Its
Wealth.

The salt and other marshes along the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and
along the Sinepuxent Bay, in Worces.
ter County. are worth millions of dol
lars. The Agricultural Department
places this value upon what appears to
be now worthless land. basing its esti
mate upon the availability of the marsh
es for irrigation. One-third of the money
it is stated. spent on these marshes now
spent on some of the arid deserts of the
far west, would produce far greater
profitable results.
But years must go before the marshes
of Maryland will be assessed on the tax
books for millions of dollars. They
must be reclaimed. That will be ex-
pensive They must be dyked i'll most
instances. That will be expensive. Still.
the Agricultural Department, which is
one of the most progressive of the gov
ernment departments, has taken for in.
vestigation the reclamation of marshes.
That is something for the marshes.
The department has sent experts to
the Northern marshes. Perhaps they
will come to- Maryland later on. They
say that there is lying waste and un-
claimed between New York city and
Portland. Me-, land worth $4,000. 900.
1t is salt marsh, covered in whole or i'll
part with water at high tide; but the
whole of it can be reclaimed and fitted
for cultivation at cost less than one
fifth of its value And with the drain
ing and cultivation of this great area of
property, now useless, will vanish the
great pest of the low-lying territory
around 1.-THE mosquito.
THE PRESIDENT INTERESTED.
beginning III the work of draining
and reclaiming the salt marshes was
made "a few months ago on the Sound
shore of Long Island, between Sands
Point and Cold Spring Harbor. The
task is being undertaken by the wealthy
residents of the district. of whom Pres
dent Roosevelt Is Que. Its completion
will not only give them new. valuable
land, but will greatly enhance the value
of their own property and make life ON
it plcasanter by banishing the mosqui
toes.
Everywhere in Europe salt marshes
are regarded as the most fertile of lands.
In the East of England the Fens, to the
extent of more than million acres.
have been dyked and ditched and are
now IN state of matchlcss fertility, and
large areas in Holland, Denmark, Bel
GUM and Northern Germany have been
cultivated for many years. Here, close
at hand in New Jersey, there are at
least million acres easily reclainIable
and now waste. Between this city and
Portland this report puts the total re-
claimable area of salt marsh at 'exceed-
ing 200, 900 acres.
But" says the report. There is
great advantage in the fact that all OF
it is near the large centers of population.
where every acre will have high value
as market garden soil or fields for the
raising of hay. When brought into
their best state such areas will, meas
ured by the price put upon other lands
in the same neighborhood. have value
of not less than 500 an acre. And the
cost of reclaiming is less than one-fifth
of this"
The Oyster Bay experiment is so far
the first practical attempt on any serious
scale at reclaiming salt marshes in this
country A few half hearted trials have
been made and abandoned. but, accord
ing to Mr.. Means, there are welles
tablished methods of reclamation IN
Europe, and if these are used anywhere
success is certain. There has never
been Il known case of failure to effect
complete reclamation when all precau-
tions were taken, and it is generally
that one acre of reclaimed
salt marsh is worth four or five acres of
upland.
COSTLY UNDERTAKING.
The trouble hitherto has been. the