sets back in the Hackensack River, it is able to float an occasional
vessel to the unimportant villages at the northern end of the meadows, and
the right of navigation can be interfered with only by governmental
action. If the Hackensack River proper, that part of it which only serves
as an outlet for the drainage of the high land north of the meadows, could
be diverted and carried through the hills to the Passaic; or confined
within straight elevated banks and made to discharge at high water mark at
the line of the Philadelphia Rail-road;--the wash of the highlands, east
and west of the meadows, being also carried off at this level,--the bridge
of the railroad might be replaced by an earth embankment, less than a
quarter of a mile in length, effecting a complete exclusion of the tidal
flow from the whole tract.

This being done, a steam-pump, far less formidable than many which are in
profitable use in Europe for the same purpose, would empty, and keep
empty, the present bed of the river, which would form a capital outlet for
the drainage of the whole area. Twenty thousand acres, of the most fertile
land, would thus be added to the available area of the State, greatly
increasing its wealth, and inducing the settlement of thousands of
industrious inhabitants.

As the circumstances under which upland water reaches lands of the class
under consideration vary with every locality, no specific directions for
the treatment of individual cases can be given within the limits of this
chapter; but the problem will rarely be a difficult one.

*The removal of the rain-fall and water of filtration* is the next point
to be considered.

So far as the drainage of the land, in detail, is concerned, it is only
necessary to say that it may be accomplished, as in the case of any other
level land which, from the slight fall that can be allowed the drains,
requires close attention and great care in the adjustment of the grades.

The main difficulty is in providing an outlet for the drains. This can
only be done by artificial means, as the water must be removed from a
level lower than high-water mark,--sometimes lower than low-water.

If it is only required that the outlet be at a point somewhat above the
level of ordinary low-water, it will be sufficient to provide a sufficient
reservoir, (usually a large open ditch,) to contain the drainage water
that is discharged while the tide stands above the floor of the outlet
sluice-way, and to