The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1903-05-29
Rich Swamp Land
To Be Reclaimed
High Price Of Cotton Causes Government
Bureau Of Soils to In spect wastes
in Mississippi.

places attention has been forciblv
directed to the possibilities of ex-
tending the cultivation of this
staple crop, the demand for which
fully keeps peace with the increas
ing supply.
1t is not generally known IL at
Mississippi, that great State whose
prosperity is so dependent upon
the cotton crop, has within it's
borders nearly 200, 900 acreas of
virgin land which, it is scientif
cally predicted, equals, if it does
not exceed, in cotton-producing
possibilities the richest of the
far famed "Delta' lands of the
State.
The Bureau of Soils of the De-
partment of Agriculture has taken
up this subject in earnest and
Milton Whitney, the chief of the
bureau, hopes that some day this
area, now waste land, will be re-
deemed and hundreds Of thou
sands of bales of c,tton produced
upon its fertile acres yearly. The
land lies IN the "Delta" referred
to, which is in reality an area w..
ing between the Mississippi aud
Yazoo rivers, extending from
Memphis on the north to Vicks-
burg at the south and forming
about half of the "Yazoo area"
In speaking of the productive
ness of this area Mississippians
are inclined to refer with pardon
able pride-as John Sharp Will
llalns on the floor Of the House of
Representatives did recently-to
the fact that the Yazoo Delta land
produces two bales of cotton to
the acre. But they fail to men
ton the corollary, that the land
which produces two bales of cot
ton to the acre ..axnprises hnt II
per cent of the Delta area and
that from one and a third to one
and two-t thirds bales is considered
an excellent yield except where
improved methods Of cultivation
are employed.
1t is here, in the heart Of the
Delta that there are 1S4, $50
acres of land which the plow
has never touched, waiting for
capital to drain aud transform iu-
to what Mr.. Whitney believes
will equal the finest cotton land
in the world.
Discussing this subject, Mr..
Whitney said that the investiga-
tions conducted by the Bureau Of
Soils led him to the belief that
IN many instances the inhabitants
of the Delta region were not Sc
curing the benefits from their
lands which they should, and that
if sufficient capital could be enlist
ed to drain the swamp region In
the Delta the enterprise would be
highly profitable.
RICH LANDS UNTOUCHED.
"What is known as the 'Sharkey
Clay Region he said, covers
about IS per cent Of the Delta, or
A per cent of the Yazoo area.
Like the Nile Valley, it is subject
to annual overflow, and the soil
is formed from the richest sedi-
ments deposited by the waters.
"Unfortunately, the floods do
not subside until about the first
Of June, when it is too late for
cotton planting, and the land is
practically abandoned to vigor-
Gus growth Of hardwood tim Der.
"The question of surplus pre-.
cipitation may be solved as in the
Louisiana cane fields, by the ex-
cavation of deep, broad bitches,
with smaller, more frequent lat
erals. which would facilitate the
natural drainage. Even In case
this alone were insufficient, valu
able crops like cotton, cane or rice,
could be further guarded by pump
ing systems, such as are employed
in Holland.
General inundation can only
be guarded against by a general
system of levees, developed along
the minor streams in the manner
of those which shut out the main
flood waters Of the Mississippi
River OF the tide-waters dong the