The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-07-09

about the p~rscticabtHfy ana Haiue y,
the drainage work
lions on millions - tne
cath Of the vest the
drainage Of swamp lands can Dc made
10 contribute similar results for the
East.
Though bills have been introduced in
the last two or three Congresses car
rying large appropriations for the
drainage work they have failed -
passage. and the United States De
partIaeLt ~ Agriculture has At
its disposal for TIE purpose
only about $4,000 a year
an amount barely d~efraying the *
peuses of such work as Is now being
done. There is good reason 10 be
lfsve. however. that the present aP-
preparation will be materially Increas-
rd b. future Congresses, ana
that the system now In process
Of development viii become a
great general movement By which
millions Of acre. Of swamp aacs VIII
be successfully reclaimed Under gov
ernmentai VISION, II not al GOV
ornamental expense. Just no" the
Department al Washington can DO
nothing more than supplement- pFlS-
ate ana state efforts, engineers anu
other drainage experts being sent
Hherever their assistance Is requested.
They make surveys, prepare plans ana
specifications for canals, ana Indicate
where and on what grades the canals
should DO dug, cts, without cost 10
the individual or the community.
Representatives of the department
are now engaged in locating canals IN
HYDE county for the purpose OF re-
claiming about 10000 acres or very
rich swamp land that have been reno
cred unft for cultivation by overflow.
The plan there adopted contemplate
the restoration OF canals that We're Jug
before the civil war, and the digging
Of new canals connecting the ~Scupper-
nong river ana Lake Phelps. The
enterprise il undertaken at the expense
of the community. the United states
Department OF Agriculture rendering
assistance in the matter OF surveys aud
expert auviC>-
There is no reason why other com
munitles in Eastern North Carolina
should not undertake improvements of
this sort-defraying the expense either
by subscription from the lane owners
OF by a bond issue. The soil OF the
SwampS that would thus be brought
under cultivation is p~roverbfally rich
and when drained proves productive
to a very high degree. For such lands
there is demand, and if ven one
half Of the swamp lands in North Car
DINA could be drained. say a million
acres, the addition to the angible
wealth OF the State would probably be
something like 500, 000, 900, since it IS
figured that the crops alone would
be worth $25 600, 600 annually. Even
if these figures be regarded as an
over-estimate. still it cannot be denied
that the fertile swamp lands of east
ern Carolina, turned to account
through drainage, present possibilities
of enormous gam.
With modern machinery and facili-
ties, such as dredges and steam show
els, the redemption of this land can
be accomplished with less effort and
expense than is generally supposed.
For instance, a New Jersey legislative
committee, after investigation, report
ed an estimate Of seventeen cents as
the average cost per acre of draining
swamps in that State with a resultant
Increased value of at least $500 an
acre. The fact that reclaimed swamp
lands have been found highly produce
tive and that the government is en-
couraging and assisting in their recIa-
nation should encourage and hasten
drainage work in this State.
Individual enterprise can do much
and those, who are interested in
swamp land drainage Will find it to
their advantage to take the matter up
with the Bureau Of Irrigation and
Drainage. United States Department of
agriculture at Washington, D.. G. 1t
is to be hoped, however, that the time
is not far distant when the United
States government will take hold of
the work of drainage az it has taken
hold of Irrigation. Only in this way
can the work be undertaken on q
broad plan. While wonderful trans
formations have been wrought by ir-
rigation in the arid lands of the West,
still more wonderful results can be OBJ
tanned and at smaller cost, by drain
age of the wet lands of the South.