The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1906-12-20
REcLAIMiNa SALT MEADOWS.
Interesting Work New Being Carried
on Near Bridgeport.

now being carried forward near
Bridgeport, the results of which prom
Use to present many features of inter-
est to property owners, particularly
in view of the great activity in the
nearby sections of Long Island, with
their vast low-lying tracts waiting 10
to be made productive. Experiments
have ben made by the Long Island
railroad on barren tracts near Wad-
ding River, L. l., and reclamation
| work Is in progress at various other
| points, but this undertaking in Con-
necticut Is important as showing es-
pecially what can be done in the re-
| claiming Of salt meadow and making
it available for farming and market
gardening.
Between Bridgeport and Stratford,
on the Sound shore, is a tract OF y U
acres crossed by small creeks and
covered with a rank growth OF SAT-
grass. In the past this grass has
been gathered and has found a mar
ket of Indifferent character, being
used for packing and bedding. 1t
brought only So a ton, and on that
basis barely paid for the work OF
gathering it.
About a year ago the work OF re-
claiming an area of ten acres was I'M
dertaken under the direction OF e. j.
Hollister, who was the organizer and
is now the general adviser of the Win
ona Agricultural Institute at Winona,
Lake, Ind, and who has supervised
reclamation projects at many places
in the United States and Canada. One
of his more recent undertakings in
this part of the country resulted in
converting a large tract of lowland
and boys at Locust Valley, l.. l., into
an attractive part of w. D. Guthrie's
estate at that place. Immediately in
charge of the work near Bridgeport
is Frank R. Sammis, representing the
Stratford Land and Improvement COM
pany.
The results of the first seasons eff
forts have been highly encouraging,
so that Mr.. HOLSTER feels justified
in predicting that this practically
worthless tract can be made to yield
annually hay, or tame grass" as he
calls it, worth at least $45 an acre,
with a certain increase of this amount
to 500 an acre after the soil has been
more thoroughly treated and made
suitable for planting other crops
such as sweet corn, celery and aspar-
agus.
The work Of retaining land of this
sort divides itself into two branches
first, the keeping out of tidewater
and later the bringing about of the
necessary changes in the chemical
makeup of the soil so that it will
support various forms of plant life.
The tide is kept out by the con-
struction of dykes, and any remain
ing water carried off in drains. Ow-
ing to the exclusion of the salt water,
the meadow land naturally begins to
'sweeten" itself-a process which is
also fastened by rains, when they do
not have to contend against the food
ing of the tract by tidewater twice
daily.
The meadow is then thoroughly
plowed and the d~octoring of the soil
begun. Lime is introduced to com
plete the work of cou%nteracting the
salt, the necessary quantity of course
varying in different localities. The
d~isintegration of the soil also adds
to it's capacity for retaining water
and absorbing oxygen.
ga salt meadow is a good deal like
a piece of corned beef" said Mr.. Hol-
lister yesterday in discussing his
work, ''and almost the same thing hap
pens to it when the tide is kept ont
as happens to a piece of corned beef
If it is kept out of it's tub of brine.
Decomposition is fastened, and that,
of course, is essential to all forms OF
plant life.
"Such a tract as there is between
Bridgeport and Stratford is a sleeping
giant-the power is there and needs
only intelligent direction to make it
enormously productive. After such
land has been thoroughly prepared
and, as it were, made of a receptive
character, it is comparatively easy to
continue the treatment of it by the
addition of the various chemical Gle
ments in which it is lacking, this
treatment being regulated to a large
extent by the kind of crop desired.
Enormous quantities of hay are
now brought to this city from the
west and find a ready market at SIC
a ton. Even if nothing but grass were
to be raised ON reclaimed lands around
New York large areas could be made
to yield at least three tons of hay tc
the acre. On this basis, the first
years crop would fully pay the cost
of retaining, and would make the flu
ture yield unusually profitable"
AS to what might be done with 9th
er crops, it is only necessary to re
call what was done with the boys
around Kalamazoo, Mich, which were
long regarded as practically valueless
but which are now worth 5000 an acre
and on which celery to the value Of
$500, 900 is raised each year."-NeW
York Times.