The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-28
REDEEM MANY ACRES
WORK OF STATE DRAINAGE CON-
MISSION ADDING DAILY TO
STATES WEALTH
FOUR BIG BITCHES BUILDING
When Completed They VIII Benefit
$4,000 Acres of Land-Eyery
Dollar Invested Yields
Many More.

Contractors are again beginning work
en- the four big bitches in the Red River
valley under the contracts let by the
state drainage commission last year.
Ihese bitches are the Lost River ditch in
POLK and Beltrami counties; Badger and
Skunk ditch in Roseau county; New So
lum ditch N Marshall county, and Good
hope ditch in Norman county. The to-
tai cost of these bitches will be $26,500,
and they will directly benefit about $4,000
acres of swamp land in those counties,
and be of incalculable value to the state.
The Lost river ditch is the most i'm
portant ditch in the state 1t is four
miles long and will benefit 22,000 acres of
swamp lands, and will cost $1,000 Badger
and Skunk ditch will be eight and one
half miles long, will benefit about $500
acres, and wilf~cost $1,000; New Solum
ditch will be four miles long, cost Sc, G00,
and benefit ] 600 acres of land. Goodhopo
ditch will be five miles long, and cost
T,500 When they are completed tf%,
state will begin to reap benefits far be-
yond the amount invested in these
bitches.
The work of the state drainage COM
mission in the Red River valley is of
vast Importance to the future of the
state Aside from the value of convert
ing stagnant marshes into grassy mead
ows and cold water soaked soil into
mellow cultivated fields, and the conse-
quent benefit to health, the vast increase
in the productive acreage of the state
is of the highest economic Importance
The first attempts to lessen the damage
from storm-water in the Red River val
ley were made by the president of the
Great Northern road. Fifteen bitches
were scattered through Kittson Polk
Norman and Clay counties, aggregating
forty-flve miles in length.
for the greater work soon to follow, for
they showed how much good could be ac-
compllshcd by larger bitches, systemat-
lcally built and having a sufficient out
let. In 1886 convention was held at
Crookston to formulate plan of action
for better drainage system. Ten
thousand dollars was raised for an accu-
rate Typographical survey. The survey
was made, and a report submitted
which established the feasibility of the
plan, and defined what bitches We're
needed The report called for 275 miles
of main ditch costing about $3.50, 000 Eff
forts were made in many legislatures to
secure an appropriation for beginning
this work. In 1893 the legislature passed
a bill creating the Red River drainage
commission, and appropriating 100000 to
begin work with. Up to date about $50
miles of ditch have been dug, costing
more than quarter of a million dollars,
Of which the Great Northern road con-
tributed $25, 00O
Engineer w. R. Hoag, of the state
university, from observa tion says that
one of these average bitches at flood
tide passes $4,000 gallons per minute.
at Which rate water falling upon
square mile of surface during an ordin-
airy all day rain will be carried away by
the ditch in less than an hour. The
bitches are the joint property of the
state and of the county, and must be
kept in repair by the county.
Secondary bitches are being built in
many of the counties in the Red River
valley, under an act of the legislature
passed to assist counties in drainage Of
wet and oVerf1owed lands for agricultural
and sanitary purposes Polk county
has expended over $4,000 for this work
bitches Have Proved Value.
The bitches have more than fulfilled all
the expectations of the projectors, and
the movement has proved so practical
and asaappealed to farmers and others
so forcibly that it is assured as a per-
manent feature Of the states work.
They have contributed in a wonderful
degree to increasing the wheat area and
general productiveness of the Red river
valley.
George r. Roberts, former chairman Of
the drainage commission, says:
II have carefully watched these lands
which have come under the drainage
influence of many of these state bitches,
and find. without exception, that they
are rapidly coming into the same fertile
condition as those along the rivers
II have seen whole sections of marsh
land at once upon the completion of the |
ditch diverted into splendid hay land,
the cutting privilege on which for a sin
gle season selling as high as $3.50 per sec ,
ton"
E. D. Childs, of Crookston, saws:
These bitches have reclaimed thousands
of acres of the best meadow lands from
a condition Of utter worthlessness, and |
demonstrated the Dracticability of the
work
George A. Ralph, the present engineer
of the commission, says:
1.-The question as to whether or not it |
has paid the state to eXpend this great |
sum of money in the drainage of the !
Red river valley can be truthfully an
swered by saying that for every dollar !
expended by the state the value of the !
at least S.. 1t has not only increased |
the value and made possible the sale of
swamp lands, but it has also more than |
doubled the assessed valuation of lands
in the vicinity of the bitches. Roseau |
county will become the best stock-rais- I
ing county in the state with proper |
drainage. County Auditor Gunnarson, |
Of Kittson county, declares that the
ditch in that county more than paid for
itself in the crops it saved during one
single storm. -
The comm ission has s25. 600 a wear 70
spend, but it is felt that it should have /
more, as the value of the work merits
a larger fund.