Bradford County telegraph. (Starke, Fla.) 1888-current, 1910-08-19
MORE ABOUT DRAINAGE.
|pf0Xlmate Outline OF The Way II
Should Be Done.

Vuuotu W DOu1s
when the Telegraph, short tine ago.
coached the matttr of creating a drain
5se district of the territory drained by
aligstor creek, little attention was Civ
n the subject, as it was Thought too
ard and too costly to bring it about.
b,onel Peek's article, in later issue,
citing forth the means by which it
ould be accomplished sndeshowing that
swas easy enough to create drainage
istrict, caused all those farmers suffer
az. from lack of drainage facility to
! blink ever thematter, bpt they still fear
that the expsnses viii b unwarrantably
eeavy. Thsiutention (of what follows
to reassure them-oF this point and to
tive an outline of hoY-th work of pro-
yidihg outlets for thsir bitches is likely
|,s Be DONE, Inviewtof the fact that the
sSeet potato and thu sugar cane crop
lviA be cut off considerably on all low
yspg lands, that much necessary work
WAot be done and the loads have wash
j SASay in places FROM lack of proper
Ptsinage. 1t is hoped ttst ALI copcerned,
Rr reading this artfkls. will come to-
her and take stepsfer starting the
sfk.
This section of Bradford county con-
Pts of low, terraced hills ana ridges be-
Feen which are defined wateAceurses
connected cypress ponds, which re-
i've and to some extent carry off TIE
n-of from the higher land. But cys
fess ponds are to be found on all levels
ID il ie'S6pstomary for farmer to run
3 ditfh % she nearest pond below him.
thsf farmefskwill ditch to the same
bnd until IL slops over after heavy rams
smaging the1ands below it. The far
ers there mist ditch to get rid If this
bod water apd run their bitches to 8
pnd or water course lower than their
nds. ThiH causes "sotbing" and
5ashing of-khe land on a lower level,
ID the farhers there are likely to be
DC defenceless, as the branch that their
md draips into is already OVERLOOKING,
I'D tbeereek that the branch empties
ito isin the same fix, as, from the pro-
durS just described, many times as
ucR water has been emptied into
than nature intended for it to carry
f
The only recourse, then, is to make
he receiving water courses more capa-
ious and more swift flowing. This can
be done By strengthening and widening
chem. The beginning must be made at
-Rowell lake with depth of 3'feet and q
width of 40 feet through the almost fat
Hand that extends half q mile from the
hke. Then the width is gradually de.
R creased until it is 30 feet at the railroad
trestle and feet deep. The width i
again decreased until it becomes 20 feet
Just above the mouth of the Miner ditch
FROM there on the width continues q
feet and the depth feet until after the
mouth of the north branch is reached
4 near L. d. Wallis land in section %.
From now on the deep and capaciou'
\ Fitzgerald ditch takes the place of thu
creek for over q quarter mile and viii
reed only little deepening until tin
ereek is met with again. A depth of
feet will be ample, but width of i
= teet necessary, both for carrying ava,
the water and for the prevention o
asms forming by floating trash.
The other branches of the Alligato
lre to be treated the same way, maxim
hem 10 feet wide and feet deep.
. The axis of the Alligator and it
branches is of long, straight reaches an
& he slope is uniform. Costly surveys ar
HEREBY avoided. The ruling idea to b
!. carried out is to make every reach in th
B 6anals straight and as long as possible
md the bends as few and as fiat as pos
kble. In canalizing the branches the
4 dan often, if so desired, be made to TO
low land lines, and secondary canals, o
II HISS width aud depth, may be ru
y, from them as far as desirable.
A straight ditch of uniform width an
81 iepth will carry away at least twice
kmuch water as crooked water cours'
| full of sholes and holes, though OF Il
same average cross section.
III BY the use of stump puIers' plo~
4 lynamite, scrapers, cables and pulley
the excavations will not be any very TO
| midable tasks. Some immense sla'
4 nne stumps are found. but by judi
nent in stalking out for the canals ILL
nav often be located so that they vi
ave q patch of big stumps on one SID
A topographic map OF township
re p, is under preparation, WINK
show the lowest lands, the wat
rises aud the slopes. II will be rea'
EN- needed aud will greatly facil'ta
Vffull understanding of the subject al
he maturing of drainage plans.
IA. H: + L,