New Iberia enterprise and independent observer., 1910-04-02
DRAINAGE soHBMEaWoULD
MAKE SOUTH LAND OF
~ PROMISE"
In Louisiana Alone Could Re.
claim 100000 Acres at a
Trifling Cost"

Governor Jared !. Sd@erS. q
louisiana, who has been urgic
national help togard dra ming III
swamp lands 81 the z ississipp
Valley made the following rt
marks:
Il think OF costs the Govern
ment about $50 an sre to irrl
gate arid places in the West X
that they may produce. Yet Il
my State of Louisiana alone ther
are 100000 acres that nigh
be made arabic by Ssalnage at al
expense of $40 an ac-c. This lan'
/ is now to be had at 80 or So al
an acre. With drainage it hE
been demonstrated that it w0ult
be worth $50 an acre. In New
Orleans he other day B. F. Yoa
kun, the railway president. de
clared that it oNould soon brin.
800
Glow much land might be re
claimed in the whole Mississippi
Valley, from Caro-. H.. to New
Orleans. La. has not been estimat
ed. oWhat | advocate now is +;
Typographical survey by the Ma
| tional Government which woulC
inform us of that. give us maps
analysis of soil, plans for ditch
es, etc.
Migratlons of people have
hitherto been to the West. West
oward Ho' has been the cry for
ages. People drifted West be-
tween the ice line of the north
and the fever line of the south
Now that space has been filled
they have settled it as far as the
Pacific Ocean. Beyond the Pa
cific Coast there's no change for
migration. is thereY TIL e~aes of
the Orient have occupied. ever
over-occupied, everything. Then
whatY Why, | tell you The next
great migratory movement of the
Caucasian race is to be south
ward, toward the tropics.
No Fever Barrier Now.
"The ice barrier still exists at
the North, but the fever line South
has been abolished by science.
Look at me- am DGgood speci-
men of the enaemic' Southern9t
am | not9"
Governor Sanders ~ as husky
as they grow them in any part of
the country.
yet" heSaid "I've lived in
the swamp rig ons of Louisiana.
We have no diptheria in my State,
nor typhoid. And fever has been
eliminated. SO | say that the land
of promise for these days is the
Southland. and the drainage of
the Mississippi Valley will pre-
sent an opportunity IN the back
to the land movement scarcely
yet equalled.
For years We have had drain
age districts there. paid for by
the people whose land was benc-
fitted. I've seen land bought for
twenty-five cents an acre jump
in price to fifty as soon as drain
ed. In one parish land that was
thirty rose to fifty just on the pas
sage Of vote TO drain it. This
is the reason. We have no cold
weather.!
You can grow crop every
month on this rich soil relieved of
its excess water. Last year 10000
Americans immigrated to Canada.
They took with them 1000 apiece.
There's 100000, 900 that went
away from the country of ours
to be spent elsewhere. And in
Canada they have only six months
crop season. while in the South the
season is continuous.
"Why | have green vegetables
from my farm the year round, all
sorts. AT Christmas | picked
Strawberries for dinner. Think
of what is bound to come in
land like that. From my parish
we send ten carloads Of straw
berries a day to the markets Of
Chicago, st. Louis and New York
ten carloads. Is it fanciful to
say that down there are the fruit
fullest market garden possibii-
ties on the continent9 You are
agitated about the cost of living.
Well. down there a farmer is dis
if an acre does not
yield, gross $500 to 5000
0hio-Indiana Comparison.
The famous black soil of In
diana and Ohio cannot equal in
productivity the valley hands that
have been drained. My argu-
ment for national aid in the re-
,!amaton is based on two things !: |
"The nation has adopted the
policy of irrigating desert and
lrid lands, why shouldn' it re-
'laim rich wastes by ditching
away wateri
"Then the condition is not due
o local causes. The waters of the
Mississippi came to us from the
lorth. We have spent hundreds
# millions in dykes and levees to
'ur selves against the overflows.
Ne have paid our share toward
Watering Arizona and other
'tates; it seems reasonable that
he country should aid us in dry
ng off our lands-alluvial lands
hat have been washed down to
sc from about everywhere be-
ween the Rockies and the Alle-
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