Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-07

operations in the ka4hAkee bottoms
When he bought the first swamplands ten
years ago Mr.. clifford shipped in two great
dredges from the east. put them up in the
great morass and started them to work.
They have dug their way lsut through 12S
miles of riverways. feeding from all parts
Of the farm into a grea uI Hide ditch. that
acts as a main lead and empties into the
Iroquois river instead ofthe Kankakee.
These large bitches are twenty. thirty and
even forty feet across an1ne top. and If
teen. twenty, thirty andhehirty-five feet
across at the bottom. Into these leads he
drains by smaller bitches. ten to twelve
feet across. and into these feed still
smaller bitches, and into them are smaller
ones yet. that reach OUT IN parallel lines
about eighty or ninety. rods apart, and
leaving fields between theml Tile drains
are used in these fields. The cost has been
enormous. Mr.. Clifford figures the cost Of
the outlet ditching at about So an acre,
without, however. making allowance for
interest on investments covering a time in
which no returns are received. This does
not include the cost OF the small lateral,
open or tile bitches which are necessary to
conduct the waters to the present 12o miles
Of outlet bitches. The soil that is taken
out of the bitches Is pushed back over the
lands. The crops might be f1oated down
the big bitches on barges at seasons OF the
year. When Mr. Clifford began his opera
lions the people laughed at him and said
that the swamps were lower than the iro-
quois run and that he was digging dltches
to let the river onto his lands.
Largest Garden in the World.
The lands that were considered the most
worthless, under his system have become
the most valuable. Those sections that
were covered by water are found to be
nothing but muck--the blacklist soil one
ever saw composed entirely Of decayed
that great care has to be taken not to
let 1t catch fire. 1t Is thirty, and in some
places fifty. feet deep. and would even
raise door-knobs If planted. When his plan
Of drainage Is completed he will have
over 10000 acres of these muck lands, and
it is Gifford's dream to convert this great
acreage into the greatest vegetable farm
In all the world. With that in view he Is
building his railroad and is pushing 1t
through to Chicago. He intends to de-
liver his vegetables in Chicago on his own
cars. With such a garden, and with his
own railroad into one of the greatest veg
etable markets of the world. Mr. Clifford
or his heirs can lay claim to richer gold
mine that Cripple Creek ever produced.
This is not the first time that Mr.. Gift
ford has dealt in swamp retaining. 1t
was Clifford who brought thousands of
acres of far-famed rich Champaign county
Illinois. to the surface of the old swamps
and made it a garden spot. He did the
same thing in Ford and in other Illinois
counties.
He said to the Press: when L was a
very small boy-about fifty years agoI
| noticed the superior value OF low lands
and my Investigations led me to see that
low lands might be drained and when
drained would be worth enough more than
the high lands to leave good balance be-
yond the cost of drainage. Yet on the
| market these low lands still UNFRAMED
could be bought at much lower price than
lands higher levels. and this theory
1 have acted ever since
Poor Boy Now Millionaire.
Mr. Clifford started ont aS a moor how
He served four years in the army and
then entered the practice of law. but he
saw In railroad building, which he followed
for a time. and in swampreclaiming greater
future possibilities. and has made several
fortunes. u
At the low estimate of $50 an acre, his
Jasper county farm is worth s1o0o.O00.
Many hundred acres are now held at over
800 and would not be parted with for
that price. The time Is coming. Mr.. Gif-
ford Is satisfied. when every acre will be
worth 800. No part of Mr.. Gifrords farm
IL for sale