The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1908-08-13
DRAIN SWAMP LANDS.
Drainage CoDyent!0n to be Held In
New Befne, Sept. 9th and 10th.
ADEQUATE STATE LAWS ARE NECESSARY
tBy Joseph Eyd- Pratt, State Geologist, Chapel
Hill, NJ C)

tBy Joseph Eyd. Pratt, State Geologist, Chape
Hill. N. c.
Although the question of drainage
comes home more forcibly to the peo-
pie of eastern North Carolina than
any other portion of the State on ac-
count Of the very large area OF
swamp lands in that section, it is a
question of Importance to all the
people of the State, inasmuch as ii
means the reclamation not only OF
swamp lands but also of overflow
lands. There are approximately 3d.
750 square miles of swamp lands
in North Carolina besides thousands
of acres of Overflow" lands, many
of which are susceptible to reclama-
tion. if properly drained. In mary
instances, no engineering difficulty
has stood in the way of draining a
particular piece of land, but absence
of adequate laws. There is no gen.
eral drainage law in North Caro-
lima, although several counties and
townships have had laws passed le-
lating to the drainage of areas with
in their borders. Thus, it has hap
pened quite frequently thata scheme
for draining certain areas has had to
| be abandoned because, in order to
carry out successfully the plan of
drainage, it would be necessary to go
beyond the boundary line of the
township or county and in this ad-
jacent territory there was no law
relating to drainage. If these large
areas in the State ere to be SUCCESS
fully drained. it will be necessary to
have some general legislation passed
covering the whole State with GER
tain supplementary laws to govern
certain local conditions. There is no
dou,t but that the Federal Govern
ment IS beginning TO take a most de-
cided interest in the reclamation cf
swamp lands and when Congress
passes laws permitting Federal aid
to states in the re ,lamatior of swamp
lands, it is those States that have
practical drainage laws that will un-
doubtedly be the first to obtain CO.
operative aid from the Federal Gov
ernment.
When we consider the area of
swamp lands in North Carolina, that
it is nearly as great as that Of the
kingdom Of Saxony which has nearly
5000, coo, it will be seen that the
State has the opportunity Of sup
porting population that is larger
than the present population of the
whole State. Although some of the
swamp areas do not contain land that
is very we'll adapted to agricultural
purposes, still there are vast areas
which if drained, would be capable
of growing a vast variety Of pro-
ducts. They would not be far from
railroads SO that the productc OF the
farms could be easily marketed.
A large proportion of the swamp
lands is sufficiently elevated above
the neighborhood water courses to
make drainage feasible, but usually
this is beyond the reach Of the indi-
vidual. 1t is possible to accomplish
this if the laws of the State will per-
NIT different interests joining to-
gether to carry out these large
drainage schemes and to issue bonds
to obtain necessary funds to accom-
plish their ends.
In order to more thoroughly dis
cuss this question of drainage, the
Geological Board at its June meet
! ing authorized the State Geologist
to call meeting to be held in eastern
North Carolina to consider the drain
age problems of the State and to
suggest legislation that would make
the solving of the problems possible
Delegates have been appointed from
nearly all Of the counties in eastern
North Carolina; also prominent en-
gineers throughout the State who
will meet at New Berne September
9th and 10th. These men represent
not only eastern but also central and
western North Carolina where the
drainage problems are somewhat diff
ferent from those IN the eastern
swamp lands, but yet at the same
time are as important to their re-
spectiye sections of the State.
Congressman Small, Thomas and
Goodwin, of the First, Third and Sixth
districts respectively, are heartily in
accord with what is being done in
regard to drainage in the State and
are expected to be in attendance at
the Convention. Mr.. Small has had
MIR. Wright of the. U. S. Bureau OF