Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-25
GARDENS MADE OUT OF SWAMP.

1
GARDENS MADE OUT OF SWAMP.
A Canal Fifty Miles Long That ID TO Redeem
Nine Hundred square Miles In Florida.
Sc A DITCH Is SOON TO BE DUG ACROSS
"A southern Florida for drainage purposes
that viii rival in magnitude the mightiest
works of antiquity in the same line 1t viii be
nfty miles in length, connecting Lake Okee-
| cnooee with the Atlantic ocean, and the coo, 900
acres redeemed by il from what is now swamp
VIII produce more sugar than is now
grown on the whole island Of Cuba. The cost
OF the canal will be $4,000, 600. 1t will be 500
feet wide and IL feet Deep in order that it may
be able to 'arry of all the superhuous water
even during the floods of the rainy season."
Thus spoke DR.. Wiley, who has just returned
from an expedition TO Florida, whittier he was
sent by the Department Of Agriculture, to q
STAR reporter.
The changes that are being made by artif-
cial means in the region l visited are simply
marvellous" he added "a vast extent Of
nltherto useless territory covering thousands
OF square miles ofalmost impossible swamp is be-
ing rapidly transformed into a fruitful garden
ana by the simplest process of draining. Much
OF tnls territory covers the highest land of the
peninsula, seventy feet above the level Of the
sea. while all of it is elevated considerably
ABOVE tide water, SO that it only needs q few
oltches to carry of the floods and change it 70
dry land. Furthermore, this land is the rich
est and most productive in the world a vegeta-
Ole mold of great depth representing the de-
posts or centuries of .decayed semi-t tropical
CROWNS. The whole country along the chain
OF lakes from kissimmee south to Okeechobee
and the Everglades has soil Of soft muck that
VIII yield from two TO three tons per acre Of
sugar-sugar, mind you, and not sugar cane.
HOW THE WORK WAS CARRIED ON.
THE Philadelphia syndicate in charge of this
enterprise made its bargain originally with
the state Of Florida on a basis of equal shares,
every other section of land redeemed to become
It's own property. but the syndicate has bought
out the states half interest. paying 81 .0O0, 900
Tor the 200 600 acres representing Floridas
snare In the swamp territory to be drained.
work was begun in the neighborhood of kissim-
NEE by digging ditch between Lake Tohope-
kaliga and East Lake Tohopekaliga. The latter
as nsxs connected In liks manner with Lake
cypress. further south; Lake Cypress was
joined by canal to Lake Kissimmee, still more
10 the south, and finally another ditch was e1-
caVated from Lake kissimmee to the Kissim-
NEE river, which flows on southwark to Lake
Okeechobee. By these simple MEANS you see,
the whole lake region about kissimmee was
drained into Lake Okeechobee, and the lakes
themselves were lowered from six to eight feet.
1000 acres of swamp being incidentally
changed into farming land unsurpassed by any
In the world. Some of it has been sold lately
Tor as much as $500 an acre. Spring vegetables
raised upon it are being shipped north at pres
ent In large quantities.
AS fast as the syndicate gets money by the
sale OF lands redeemed it invests the cash in
the dlgglng OF more canals. Just now ii Is
tacKilhg the smaller lakes south and east of
kissImmee and draining the swamps about
tnem. But only beginning has been made
thus far. Upon the vast and only partly ex-
DlOreu Swamns around TaEa obnl.aa
eye OF Philadelphia enterprise is greedily bent
mat enormous pond, 100 miles WIDE which re-
ceives the whole drainage of central Florida,
Is bordered with endless morasses. The latter
extend to the southwark sixty or seventy miles
and this part is called the Everglades A system
OF bitches Is shortly to be dug on the west side
OF Lake Okeechobee to carry off the SUPER
nuous water into the neighboring Lake Hicpo-
chee, which empties by the Caloosahatchee
river into the Gulf of Mexico At the same
time dixie forty miles in length will be thrown
up along the west shore of Lake Okeeehobee TO
restrain the overflow of the rainy reason In
TINS manner about III, 600 acres will be re-
Claimed to cultivation. But the great scheme
OF the not distant future is that of making the
giant canal from Lake Okeechobee into the At |
iantlc ocean, by which 500 square miles OF the
most admirable farming land imaginable will
be rescued from the water.
SUGAR WILL BE THE MAIN CROP.
"For rice and all sorts Of garden vegetables
this region Of the future will be most product
lively adapted, but sugar will doubtless be its
main crop. Cane can be raised there to such
advantage that, with the aid of improved me-
chanicsl processes, the government bounty
alone will pay the cost of growing it. The Gull
tlvation will be altogether by steam Ditches
will checker-board the land. which will be
broken for planting with the steam pillow. drawn
back and forth across the fertile acres by en-.
glnes on board boats putting slowly along the
canals on both sides of the fields The expense
OF this method is about one-fourth that of mule
power. which III the redeemed country is moi
altogether convenient to use, the animals hay-
ing TO wear steel plates eighteen inches wide on
their feet to keep them from sinking in. tits
comparatively easy to dig canals there, because
the SOIL Is like SO much soft muck and it is |
only necessary to start in a steam dredpe nj
one end OF proposed ditch and go straight |
ahead.
such is the future sugar region of the |
United States. the product of which is destined |
to drive the imported article out of the home
markets. Its latitude is below the frost line.
so that all along the Caloos ahatchee. which /
runs away to the west. you can see the cane
crowned with the tassel. You may travel all |
through the sugar fields of Louisiana and Won
will never see tassel, because the frost comes
and kills the plant before it has had time to be-
come mature. For rice the lands to be re-
claimed about Lake Okeechobee are particu-
larry suitable, owing to the convenience of
overfowing them"
Alleged Attempt to Bride Exposed.
profoundsensation was created in the DEM
ocratic senatorial caucus at Tallahassee Thnrs-