Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21
DRAINING THE BIG SWAMPS
1T WOULD ADD $4,000, 900 ACRES
TO OUR FARMING LANDS.
Waste Places in the West That Are
Being Transformed-Impr
ments Projected in South.

From the World Today.
To farm 100000 acres of swamp may
seem an impossible feat, but to Uncle Sam
almost all things are possible.
The waste places of the west are being
rapidly transformed into prosperous homes
through the building of great government
irrigation works to provide water for
parched soil Why then should not the fed
eral government remove the excess of
water from swamp areas and make them
likewise fruitful?
One hundred and fifty million acres Is
the approximate area of the waste lands in
the United States which possible of
reclamation and Of being brought into a
state of extraordinary fertility and pro-
ductiveness.
They afford about equal opportunity for
the two classes of Improvement, irrigation
and drainage If anything drainage should
be the more popular and the more benefi-
cent for the reasons, first, that the swamp
areas are generally in the midst of a more
or less populOus territory. with transporta-
ton facilities already developed, and, sec
ondly. that the engineering problems in
volve,d are comparatively simple and the
cost of reclamation is much lower than by
irrigation.
Cost of Drainage.
The average cost of irrigation reclama-
ton thus far undertaken by the govern
ment amounts to about $50 an acre The
cost of drainage reclamation will not ex-
coed, according to official estimates for
most of the projects, S. or Sc an acre.
Such reclaimed lands will compare favor
ably with the best cultivated lands In the
east and should eventually reach a value
ranging from $50 to son an acre, based
upon the present value of lands which
have already been drained and farmed.
Estimating on but 500 as basis and as
Stunning that 60,00O,OO0 are reclaimed. We
$4,000. 100000 for our present worthless
swamps and at a cost of construction of
one-twentieth of this amount
Divided into fOrty-acre farms, the unit
proposed in a drainage bill reported favor
ably in the last Congress, this would give
the United States an increased farm popu-
lation of from seven to eight millions
With an average of but S25 per acre an
nually. which is a fair estimate for rich
bottom land rough crops. to say nothing Of
the growing fruits and vegetables, we would
have 81 .JOO. 100000 increase over our pres
ent annual farm production. We should
add territory to our productive farm do
main greater than the combined states of
Indiana and Illinois.
Florida's Swamp Area.
Florida leads in swamp area with IS, 500, :
600 acres. Louisiana comes next with
1900. 900 acres. Arkansas has $4,000, Mis-
sissppi like area. Michigan nearly $780,
600, Minnesota about 100000, Wisconsin
2 500. 900. Maine, New Hampshire and Geor-
gia each 2.5o0.o0O. South Carolina 1.75O. 600
New York over 100000. Virginia and Ala
bama over 1000 900 each. and so on down.
There are thirty-n states which have
swamp areas which may be figured in the
tens of thousands of acres Here then, We
have almost every section of the eastern
halt nf no ted Stgf wi
acres of swamps and therefore naturally
favorable to government assistance to
drainage because of the benefit to itself
And now what. If anything, has been &C
complished looking toward national drain
age policy? In the first session of the last
Congress several local drainage bills were
introduced. followed by Representative
Steenersons (Minnasota general bill, mod