The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-06-15

quarters OF a mile per day; the saw
grass is fifteen feet high, and the only
way to get through II Is to take
boards and push them In and spread
them apart and tramp the grass down,
and continue In this way. This heavy
belt OF saw grass, while II is general
all over the glades, is heavier near
the center than II is toward the mar.
gin. So far as examined, this whoA'
marsh lies on a bed Of white mari
from two 70 three feet deep, a kind
OF conglOmerate OF the consistency of
putty facing the underlying rock. An
analysis of this white mari was made
by Prof. Harvey Wiley, Chief Chemist
Of the United States Department Of
Agriculture. and he reported that in
It's crude form II had great value as
a fertilizer as a top dressing.
The muck over this entire area Is
well decompOsed, and taking It as a
whole, quite solid. There are many
little sinuous sloughs all through It,
sometimes clear water and sometimes
loblOlly or soft bog, but their area
is very limited compared TO the whole
area. This land would shrink very
little from drainage, probably not
more than 20 per cent OF the depth
OF the muck deposit, and as a rule all
land that grows saw grass is de.
cidedly' the best Of all the marsh land
that we have. At st. Cloud, near
Kissimmee, the best sugar cane was
grown on the land that possessed the
most saw grass. over a field OF an
acre OF only 400 acres, an average
yield OF "a tons To the acre was pro.
duced. Its saccharine qualities were
20 high that over 5000 pounds OF sd
gar we're produced per acre. which
left for the land considerably over
800 per acre as the value OF the
years crop.
For the reclamation Of this part OF
the Everglades az has been above de-
Scribed, my opinion as an engineer Is
that levee must be built near Nico-
demus Slough, South of Fisheating
Creek, from the pine woods on the
West side nearest the lake extending
East to the lake; thence following
the lake margin around It's South end
and up the other side TO near CLANCY
Bay, and thence East to the pine
woods. This levee would probably be
about eighty miles long. It's con.
stTuctiOn would necessitate the re-
moval of muck in the path Of the
L. hn
with sand This excavation should he
about twenty feet In width, and the
levee should extend from three To four
feet above the surface OF the marsh
or swamp through which It is run.
This forms a levee Of about Ave to six
feet above the surface Of water Of
Lake OkeechObee, the sand being held
to this height by a buttress OF muck
being placed between this levee and
the waters Of tho lake for the purpose
Of a retainer. The waves will not
wash this muck, but they would the
sand, as the waves are seldom II ever
five feet high and this buttress Of
muck will prevent any breach being
made In the levee proper. This levee
is to hold the waters OF Lake Okec. |
chobee from seeping through and over
flowing the region that is TO be
drained.
This region, comprising the main
arabic lands OF the Everglades, as
above outlined, extends South To a
line drawn from the North line Of
Township 40 on the West TO the North |
line Of Township 81 on the East and
West to the edges Of the Everglades,
as shown on the ordinary maps Of
Florida and Is the region herein re.
ferred to by me.
The drainage proper would consist
Of a network Of canals running North |
and South and East and West I'm such |
and OF such capacity as To
take care Of the water that
would come on 10 this drained area
in the shape Of rain, because no other
water would come 10 II. The waters
Of Lake Okeechobee would be taken
out also In a series Of canals empty.
Ing into these drainage and irrigation
canals, in which the water would be
held at any depth required. All these
canals would tap the lake, and at the
mouth OF each canal would be a food
gate. would have these canals on
range lines AiX miles aDart and eX.