The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-15


nesota the face of nature mas
been entirely changed through the
drainage operations of the state gov
eminent is no eXaggeration OF the 1ar-
reaching effects of that work vast
tracts of hitherto waste swamp ana
marsh land have been Transformed
into meadows or reclaimed to agrlcul-
turaI purposes, and valuable farms
that bv reason of their low, fiat topog-
raphy were liable to inundation and
consequent destruction of their crops
in times of heavy rainfall, are now
secure against damage from that
cause.
Many thousands of acres have been
rescued from uselessness, and the ben
eft to the rich farming districts of
Northern Minnesota from thhe drain
age canals and bitches which have
been constructed is too vast and too
widespread to be even estimated.
The primary motive of all leg1sla-
ton in the interest of drainage, and
appropriation of state funds for that
purpose, has been the reclamation of
the immense tracts of swamp land
ceded to the state by the federal gov
eminent, but in the execution of the
work has been observed due consider
alton for the general welfare.
Beyond the good resulting from the
states operations in its own behalf
those sections in which canals have
been built lave profited by the exam
pie and the opportunity afforded them,
by extensive construction of county
and township and even private bitches
to connect with the waterways laid
out by the state. Thus the work has
been extended into complete systems
In most localities.
Drainage Began in Red River Valley.
Drainage in Minnesota began in the
Red river valley. There the need
was most urgent and the reward-in
the value of the land to be reclaimed
was greatest. The very elements
which had contributed to the phenom-
email fertility of that famous agricul-
tural section had, in some places, pro-
duced conditions that made the land
useless by reason of excessive moist
ure. OF this Prof. w. R. Hoag, who
was for some years chief engineer of
the state drainage board, has said in
one OIL MS reports.
Nowhere within the boundaries of
the state of Minnesota do we find such
marked peculiarities as we obtain in
the strip of land Is to 20 miles wide
and 225 miles long, bordering on the
Red River of the North.
This tract of land, once the bottom
of large inland sea, is remarkable for
its richness of soil and is capable of
the highest and most profitable culti-
walton. It's extreme fairness, however,
and consequent absence of the natural
means of radiance of storm-water
threatens through frequent inunda-
lions, to discourage farming altogether
or to render it extremely hazardous
over favorable areas. Occasional Sc
we're summer rains drown crops al
ready well stated. These storms,
however, occur only at intervals of
about five years and are not the most
serious obstacle to successful farming
in the valley
1.-THE hardness with which the water
from the winter SHOWS and early
spring rains drain off of this extremely
fiat country, thus delaying the time
of seeding by week or ten days, is
the great evil which attends this flat
ness of country, and to help which the
state has wisely spent about a quarter
of million dollars in a comprehen-
sive system of bitches for the valley.''
Reviewing the history of drainage
operations in this state Prof Hoag
says in this same report:
J. J. Hill Builds First bitches.
'The first attempt to correct this
evil resulting from heavy rains and
slow drainage appears to have been
made in 1879 by President James J.
Hill, of the Great Northern railroad.
He built about forty-five miles of
bitches Which were from two to four
feet deep and from four to six feet
wide. They were from half a mile to
three miles long and were scattered
through Kittson, Polk, Norman and
Clay counties.
Without doubt much good was
done by these small pioneer bitches,
not the least of which was the object
lesson they furnished to the farmers
OF what service even small drains could
be. From the working of these they
could easily see Of what benefit larger
bitches would be if they were of ade-
quate size and were to begin somewhat
to the east of the Great Northern
track and extend to a sufficient olt-
let"
The first concerted movement on the
part of the people of this state in the
interest of drainage was inaugurated
in 1886, when, in the month of July of
that year, convention was held at
Crookston to formulate plan of con-
certed action. AS a result of this con-
vention, Marshall, Polk, Norman, Clay
and Wilkin counties Joined in a plan
for active work
1t was found that typographical
survey of the section contemplated in
the plan of operations would cost $780,
600, and the counties named raised one
half of that sum by subscription. The