The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-03-29

The zane can be ssid cf the lApds Of n
Red River Valley 10 nisnesots. Tbcse ;,
elpde the nness grain and faru lsnds In u
sorshsest sxcept that thsy are frqeesti
overnovsd. II could b vsrth nilliens G
deliars To the farmers snd settlers VII
would occupy thcse lands 10 small tracts
TO have . perfect systsm cf drainage pro
vided. These extensive ., stemr, however
especially where they are interstate. seer
o b. fsssible for handling only BY the gen
srsi government.
The steenerson bill places the estir'
Management of the work in the hssds o
the Reclamation Service and the plan q
opsratIos follows very closely the irrigs
In work nov being done BY that branc'
~ the Interior Department. osverr msn'
ianss, csd.d Indian lands and private land,
may be included In any drainage prof
but In each case the cost Of the drainas,
impr unsnt 10 TO be borne BY the ospe'
Il the lard and no settler can have drain
| age provided for more than $50 acre., tho
in.uriux the division OF the trac's Int
.mAll farms which must be actually settled
upon and TILED.
| DRAINAGE WORK ALREADY IN PROGRESS
This work the Reclamation ssivicr
quslined to Dc at this very moment, Will
primarily an engineering bureau It has, 4
| Al its great great irrigation projects, T.
teal directly with the farmer. IL must ou'
lac . comprehensivs drainage system TO-
Ach irrigation project, since there 10 o.
nuch danger from too much irrigation a.
70 little, and to do this the Service has IL,
,wn farm and soil experts. Some Of tb,
irrigation projects have distinctively drsiu.
sge features, ~ fact are almost as much
drainage ~ they are irrigation projects. II
the klamath project, 1876, 1000 acres, or more
than half Of the area Of the total project,
"a rich tule land covered by eight or ter
feet Of water, and 10 to be drained and con-
verted Into ever thousand farms. The
epographic branch Of the Geological Sur
vsy, OF which the Reclamation Service 10
also branch, has already run its lines over
m,ny Of the great swamp arsss Of the east
.rn states and a. soon a. the 6teensrson
bill becomes law the Geological Survey On.
einsers will be ready to launch out Into
immediate activity In drainage projects.
WOULD START WITH A MILLION DOLLARS.
The funn provided by the bill would BE-
small ~ compared with the irrigation fund
1t wsuld approximate half q million dol
ars a year and would start of with sbout
sl 10000, the receipts from the sales TO-
he Hsical year 1905 being included--but
IN the other hand the cost Of drainage
you'd not be 90 great - that Of irriga-
lion.
The Importance OF this work OF whole
sale drainage, in order to provide homer
for increased population, 10 scarcely ssconf
IN importance to the irrigation work. i
means that tens Of millions Of acres Of ths
most fertile land imaginable, which has lain
idle for ages, may bs converted from disnsl
and pestilential swamps and useless boes
into highly prosperous homes, to become
the garden spots Of the nation.
The Dutch have reclaimed vast areas ip
Holland from the encroachments Of the
cean. Thousands OF families live and
farm below the sea level, gaining their
security by magnificent feats Of engineer.
ing and persistence. They now comtem
plate the drainage Of the Zuyder Zee, re-
claiming soms ! $50 600 additional acres Of
meadow land. American draissse ip most
cases would be far more simple and less q.
p 'nsive; 1t IL simply question - to
ehei her the nation will see the wisdom oi
setting its hand to this work.
ANOTHER ISLAND EMPIRE.
In Florida the everglades alone -almost
ol d nick beds-would sffsrd an empire
Il tome 7 200, 900 acres; 10 New Jersey auc
Virginia are vast swsmps, among them ih.
famous Dismal Swamp. In Illinois whicf
I. generally regarded a. well-settled AZ
ricul'ursl state, there are 1000 900 acret
fswamp land; IN Michigan there sre near.
" 5000 600 acres. Fertile Iowa hss about
2,00O,0O0 acres Of swamp land. In Mime
.ota there are almost 5000, 900 srces Of rich
.urve, ed swsnp lands and huge areas not
vet surveyed. Arkansas has tremendoui
.wsmp areas which could be drained Ano
a ade hasi,bie, and 10 ali there 10 . swamp
area 10 the eastern half Of the United s .atei
shich 10 equal 10 extent to the great agri.
cultural states Of Isdispa, Illinois, and
lows, with three or four smaller eastern
ststes thrown In.
II the Steeberson bill demonstrates that
the Government can transform swamps in
to fertile farm land and that the settler o. |
owner viii pay back to the Government |
the relatively small cost OF the improve.
msnt, there seems TO be no reassn why
this work Of or alton Of value out Of worth. |
less waaie should not 90 N linden hniteiy
and provide homes for millions more Of |
rnrcls1ton