Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-02-16
AMERICAN HOLLAND.
DlKEs IN THE STATE OF WASHING
TON, TO PROTECT THE LAND.
The Horses Wear Mud Shoes When Plow.
Ing and the Soil Is tremendously Rleh'-
Tide Gates AIonp the Sea Shore.

Tide Gates Along the Sea Shore.
In this great western country, where
there is so much wild land, where mil.
lions of acres Of soil have never rel'
the touch of the ploughman's share
or the keen edge Of the woodman's ak
it does not seem that it would be nee
essary to reclaim land from the sea
to obtain acres for civilization. But
that has been done, and In Skagit
County, almost in the very northwest.
ern corner Of the state, can be founo
scores of the finest ranches In the
world, lying behind dikes built to keer
out the sea and tho overflows OF the
Skagit river, the largest stream that
empties into the sound.
This is the veritable Holland OF
Washington. In Skagit county are
situated the famots Swinomish flats,
the Beaver marsh, the Olympic marsh
and the samish fats, all surrounded by
dikes ranging In height from 2 to 10
feet. There are tide gates along the
sea shore which act automatically, and
which drain the land so perfectly that
crops are raised on land below the sea
level with safety. And such crops!
For ages the big river has been.
bringing down the hills the richest
sediment, and there is really no bottom
to the soil. If farmer In the East
plows a little too deep he turns up
clay or rocks; If the Beaver marsh
rancher holds his plow handle too high
he simply digs up moro Of the rich
loan that raises every year without
fail such crops that the old ranchers
CT other sections cannot believe the
stories. One hundred and twenty-five
bushels Of oats to the acre, a ton and
half of hops or five tons Of hay, are
common yields while all sorts Of root
crops give equally large results.
In order to plow his land, which, OF
course, is solf and spongy, the ranch
ers often put "tuley" shoes on their
horses, the shoes consisting Of wide,
wooden blocks, to prevent the animals
from sinking into the loan.
There are at present eight diking
districts in the county, and nearly
every ranch of any size Is in one or
another of these districts. Fully 100
miles of dikes are in use in the county
and many Of them are used also as
roads. Very picturesque are these en-
bankments, in many places, as they
wind around through the trees. When
the Skaglt is having freshet the .peo-
pie turn out to watch their dikes, and
by repairing them, save their lands
from inundation. Sometimes very
high tide will go over dixie and cover
number of ranches with salt water.
If the water does not stand too long,
this does no particular damage.
AS there is nothing but sand and
black loam to construct the dikes Of,
no permanent work has ever been done
and cannot be until the river Is so i'm
proved that 1t has reasonably straight
channel to the sea. Five or six forks
or mouths discharge the water into
the sound, and the delta thus formed is
excellent farming land. II the water
should be confined to one channel thou
sands Of acres of land would be re-
claimed, and the danger Of overflow
reduced to minimum. BY this Inn
proYement magnificent navigable riv-
er, teeming with. fish and flowing
through wealth of timber and miner
al land, would be opened up and would
provide employment for countless
numbers Of people.
If any resident Of Washington has
never seen the verdant folds Of the
Skagit fats, let him go up and take q
look at them. 1t will pay him If he
wants to know all about the resources
of his state. If he cannot afford to
take that trip, and wants to see some
of the products Of those diked fields,
let him go down among the commits
sion houses in Seattle and look at the
hay and oats which are brought from
that favored region in steamboat loads.
The only failure Of "rop ever known
there Is when the dikes break and the
growing grains are ruined with water
Seattle P,st-Intelligencer.