Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1890-10-24
A RECLAIMED SWAMP.
How n Valueless and Unsightly Piece Of
Ground Was Made Both Beautiful ant
Profitable.

How valueless and Unsightly Piece OF
Ground Was Made Both Beautiful and
Profitable.
Near my residence, says correspond.
emit of Farm and Home, is about four
acres of nearly level land. upon which
have raised in succession buckwheat,
corn, potatoes, oats and grass, obtain
ing especially large yields of'the latter.
When Twas boy this land was covered
with brush, boys and standing water
the year round. Later on, when ]
bought this swamp, all declared that it
was impossible to get fall enough to
drain It, as springs and water from the
hillsides constantly emptied into it. ]
cut the brush and dug bitches around it
and through the middle. then began
to pillow it after turning over a network
OF roots six feet across and buckwheat
was planted on what land was dry
enough. Some of the boys had to cut
OF and burn, as a yoke of cattle could
not pull them out, the buckwheat help
ing to pay expenses. Each year had
q tussle with the swamp when dry
time came, and put in another crop. My
first bitches were partly of stone put in
loose and were unsatisfactory, as they
stopped the current and gradually filled
up with earth and muck. My outlet
would draw off the surface water, but
was not deep enough to give me suit
able depth at the upper end and any
perceptible fall.
l soon found my fifty dollars in
bitches was good in a dry time, but a
lake formed in winter in freshet, and
l was not satisfied and tried again.
This time began to ditch in the high
way some ten rods below, where there
was enough fall, and cut down six or
seven feet in the highest ground, but to
do this l had to board up the sides to
keep it open long enough to put in my
drain. This was of stone and made by
building a wall on each side about one
foot high with cap stone over it.
put ditch of this kind across one end,
and then the whole length of the west
side as close to the line fence as pos.
sible, as this side was next to a steer
side-hill full of springs. l also cut q
ditch through the middle in the same
way, digging just deep enough to have
the water follow and set back an inch
or two after me nearly all the way
through. In this way as soon as there
was six inches of water in the ditch,
had fall enough for a good current, as
made the lower end of the sluice much
wider than the upper. | also put in {
few cross bitches emptying into this
covering them all over smoothly. Their
1 met another difficulty; a heavy rain
would soon form such volume of water
to flow into this basin, that it could no
filter through the ground and it be
came sheet of water.
The result was it cut holes through
the surface into the ditch, but the pres
sure was so great that earth and waite
went through the ditch as if coming
from squirt gun. To meet this
filled up these holes with small stone tx
the surface, or stoned up miniature
wells with stone cover. Few would
now suspect to see the field that it wa.
once swamp and $500 worth of bitches
lay underneath. After some fifteen O.
twenty years there is not rod o
ground but what moving machine o.
pillow can be run over. | have takel
every thing off the land for twent,
years and seldom put any thing back
and with few exceptions have had goo(
crops. | consider the money we'll in
vested, aside from the fact that sucl
stagnant ponds are unhealthy and un
attractive.
think might have used drain tile
in part at much less cost. as the bottom
was so soft in places that ! could sinl
down by my own weight, and had t.
put boards in the bottom to keep thu
stone from sinking into the soft clay
Across the upper end l filed the ditcl
above the sluice entirely full of stone t.
catch the surface water that came dow
from swamp above and prevent it il
rigating the surface of my field.