The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-02
AGRICULTURE.
OUR ALLUvEAL LANDS.
Diversity of CrOps-The Proper Kinds Of
Fertilizers Notes, etc.
BY r. ARMANT.


total area, and being the most UGtuabLe pro
ducin0 tnnds of the Dortd, would call for
more thorough employment Of their value,
as well as for q more efficient system Of pro-
lection and Improvement, than what now
forms the topics Of our discussions as to
levees and drainage.
THE PROTECTION OF OUR LANDS
Is no less important than their proper Guilt
walton or improvement, and those lands
being most valuable which arc less pro
tected by nature, it is highly important that
an early completion Of our l0vees be realized,
instead Of being promised as heretofore.
Tho weak points in the current discussions
on the various schemes proposed for our
levoee are due TO the improvident haste Of
pOuid-be Judges, whose glaring tncompetency
Is elected by their very assumption to CON
Clude rs to a remedy, its merits and domeTits'
before they have asCertained the soaring evil
itself it's origin and extent.
1t is all very we'll to heap in an article
succession of spicy sentences, CARRIED in iiorid
style and hewG 10 real wit, such, as We admit
we have read at Mr.. Eads levee scheme, or
else TO proclaim the dogmatic truths Of dis
senting authorities, but the practical man
will not be moved by any such demonstratiVo
eloquenCe, unless facts experience and rea-
son are adducod to convince him.
Let us therefore, look at the matter in its
Incipient parts, and as we proceed, those
truths or suggestions which 50 many have
tried in vain to hammer into our intellect, will
naturally and as gently rs f0rCbly Impress
themselves on our comprehension.
What Is the
ACTUAL FORMATION OF ALLUVIAL LANDS
constituting such valuable proportion OF
our arabic lands
Leaving aside the preliminary geological
theories that lead to this point, and assuming
the average readers knowledge Of those
principles Of the earth's formation we will
find our starting point in the domain Of prao-
tice Thus. we know that, Us water, carrying
fragments Of rocks in its course, will facil-
tate their disaggregaton and decomposition;
and that, as it always has a decisive influence
in the formation Of new arabic soil, it like
wise contributes in carrying off previously
formed soils and in carving them towards
the torrents and rivers, where it flows, OW-
ing to this action Of running waters the Cul-
tivatOr on the high lands has to tax all his
Industry in order to prevent the washing Of
his upper soil, which will otherwise be carried
to the nearest streams and fertiIiHe their
banks to the detriment OF his formerly fertile
high land.
From the farthest slopes of the
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
this process Of soil-carryng Is going on incns-
sanity, and will naturally increase "a the
forests Of their slopes are cleared. As long
as there are no barriers withholding the soil
laden waters, their expansion beyond their
H..
and if wo contract the same soil-aden vol
umC within the banks Of the stream,
IT'S BED WILL RISE FORCIBLY,
until our Ievees, for instance are twice rs
high rs the highest of our church stacpleg.
from the Grand levee to New Orleans
On account Of the same natural Causns, the
delta Of our river forms itself at the point
where the fresh water meets the saIt waters
Of greater buOyancy, and when this contact,
arreSting the speed Of the stream. causes it
to settle and form the extensive delta through
cuts Of which 1t seeks an outlet to the sea
Thus the Mississippi. the Rhine, the Nile
the Ganges, the Danube and the Amazon have
found their mouths, and the doItaS or Obgta-
cles which impede their flowing into the sea
We can III this way explain the
GRADUAL ADVANCE OF OUR COAST
and delta lands into the sea, while in history
we meet with still more striking illustrations
of that great work Of nature.
Of the Seas are now several miles in the in
terror OF the TuDiSian mainland and the port
OF Adria, giving its name to q sea, is now $500
yards distant from tho S6AshOrc. which, ac-
cording to recent calculations. advances
yearly at the rate Of about ten yards.
THE SEDIMENTARY MASSES
carried by some streams are really enormous.
The Nile carries 22,00O,O00 cubic feet Of solid
matter over its banks every year.
Our own river, the Mississippi, carries l55
cubic inches Of solid matter in every cubic
yard OF its whole volume. 1t drains 1,22GOOO
square miles If the national domain dis
charges 1,280,o00 cubic feet Of water per sec
ond, or some 2i,OOo0o0 100000 cubic feet per
annum.
Calculating the formation Of the MISSISSIPPI
pt delta us being made at the rate of one
square mile per nnnty-nlne years, it has
taken $4,000 years to form. Unfortunately.
the d"pOSltng OF SodimcntAry matter Is not
confined to the mouths Of rivers nor to such
points only where some obstacle or barrier
arrests their course, but they take place in
ALL THEIR COURSE,
and gradually raise their beds In 1872 a sur
yey OF tn" 20, in Italy, revealed the startling
fact to the Italians that the bed Of that river
was on a level height with the roofs Of the
HOUSES Of FCrrara, which town was 900 years
previously, above the level Of the river and
the beach at the mouths of the Pc has been
likewise at the rate of 1870 or 200
feet a year, into the sea.
If we adhere to the levcc system we shall
have to elevate them, in course of time, to
such a height that it will be untenable to live
beyond such preCariOuS barriers, which may
yield to the least Of those frequent accidents |
causing our CrGVaSScS.
1t would therefore, occur that the deepen |
ing of the channel as it fills up, or to the |
greatest depth possible, would relieve us from |
the perIouS and negative protection Of lcvCe8; |
and whether or not, some methods Of scOur- |
ing should be rpSOrted to every forty OF fifty |
years, the advantages meanwhile derived by |
the riverside settlements would by far com |
Dcnsate them for any sacrifice which they |
would be called upon to make
For those obvious reasons the EadS' scheme |
appears TO offer a more lasting and cconOm-
cal safety to US In Louisiana than any other, !
ana discussions on the relative merits Of the t
various schemes should be first settled On |
hose preliminary facts, explained III the first |
)art Of this article.
DIVERSITY IN OUR CROPS
S a subject on which we have already said q
good deal, and a requirement that our plant
RS will have TO meet or else if Dpuipctp6 !