In all work of this character, it is important to regulate the amount of work laid out to be done between the spring tides, to the laboring force employed, so that no unfinished work will remain to be submerged and injured. When the flood comes, it should find everything finished up and protected against its ravages, so that no part of it need be done over again. If the land is crossed by creeks, the dyke should be finished off and sodded, a little back from each bank, and when the time comes for closing the channel, sufficient force should be employed to complete the dam at a single tide, so that the returning flow shall not enter to wash away the material which has been thrown in. If, as is often the case, these creeks are not merely tidal estuaries, but receive brooks or rivers from the upland, provision must be made, as will be hereafter directed, for either diverting the upland flow, or for allowing it to pass out at low water, through valve gates or sluices. When the dam has been made, the water behind it should never be allowed to rise to nearly the level of the full tide, and, as soon as possible, grass and willows should be grown on the bank, to add to its strength by the binding effect of their roots. When the dyke is completed across the front of the whole flat,—from the high land on one side to the high land on the other, the creeks should be closed, one after the other, commencing with the smallest, so that the experience gained in their treatment may enable the force to work more advantageously on those which carry more water. If the flow of water in the creek is considerable, a row of strong stakes, or piles, should be firmly driven into the bottom mud, across the whole width of the channel, at intervals of not more than one or two feet, and _fascines_,—bundles of brush bound together,—should be made ready on the banks, in sufficient quantity to close the spaces between the piles. These will serve to prevent the washing away of the filling during construction. The pile driving, and the preparation of the fascines may be done before the closing of the channel with earth is commenced, and if upland clay or gravel, to be mixed with the local material, can be economically brought to the place by boats or wagons, it will be an advantage. Everything being in readiness, a sufficient force of laborers to finish the dam in six hours should commence the work a little before dead low-water, and, (with the aid of wheelbarrows, if necessary,) throw the earth in rapidly _behind_ the row of stakes and fascines, giving the dam sufficient width to resist the pressure of the water from without, and keeping the work always in advance of the rising of the tide, so that, during the whole operation, none of the filling shall be washed away by water flowing over its top.