Several groups of English speaking settlers were brought to Nova Scotia and placed on or close to the fertile lands vacated by the Acadians when they were forcibly removed in 1755. These settlers arrived with an extensive knowledge of wetland agriculture and quickly made the transition to dykland agriculture by adopting Acadian dyking practices. To understand why this transition was possible a study area that includes Western Europe and a region of the Atlantic Coast that extends from St. Lawrence River south to the northern edge of New Jersey must be considered. The Atlantic Coastal region will be considered now.