The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1910-02-04
1.-THE LAND OF
OPPORTUNITY"
RECLAMATION OF NEGLECTED
LANDS IN EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.
Work That VIII Make Arabic a
Large Tract-EnOrmous
d.

Large Tract-Enormous
Crops Produced.
In Beaufort and Hyde counties,
North Carolina. near Bishops Cross.
known as the "Pantego Drainage Dis
trict." Messrs. John A. and S. W.
Wilkinson, of Belhaven, N. c., own a
large tract of swamp land, since time
immemorial considered worthless,
save for the timber upon it. After
the timber had been cut off and mar
keted, the Wilkinson Bros. conceived
the idea of draining this property and
developing it. Preliminary surveys
developed that this area had an alti-
tude of Is feet above sea level--suffi-
cient for drainage.
@About four years ago the Wilkin-
son Bros. purchased a large steam
dredge and set to work constructing
a canal eight feet deep and 80 feet
wide. After mile of this canal had
been constructed it was found neces-
sary to build a retaining dam six feet
high in order to keep sufficient water
in the canal to float the dredge.
When five miles were done, the total
waterfall in that distance was found
to be II feet.
Thirty miles of these main canals
are now completed one mile apart,
extending from the outlet into the
Pungo River. far back into the in
terror. with lateral bitches intersect-
Ing them When the main canals are
finished, the earth and oyster shells
taken from the excavations are lev
eled and rounded off, and made into
a good shell road, equal to the best
thoroughfares in the country.
, This enormous project in Eastern
North Carolina rivals the Panama Ca
nal, so far as North Carolina is con-
cerned, and the benefit to North Car
DINA will be very great. 1t will be
the means of retaining approximate
ly 1000 square miles of soil more fer.
tile than the valley of the Nile. The
soil is as black as charcoal. of sandy
loan and as fine as powder, ranging
in depth from four to ten feet and
underlaid with natural mari and oys-
ter shells.
AS soon as the drainage work is
completed an army of laborers is put
to work clearing up this veritable
Jungle, equal to that of the Ever
glades of Florida and Darkest Africa.
When the clearing process is finished,
-
intense is the heat that all of the
undecomposed vegetable matter, the
accumulation of years. is destroyed,
save few charred stumps.
Fer two years it is impossible to
plough this newly reclaimed land"
and corn is planted with the use of
hollow gum stake. The first year af-
ter this land was reclaimed. with no
.,a1I Of
bushels per acre was obtained The
same method was employed the Sec
ond year, with even greater yield. SO
rapid is the decay OF the stumps thai
no difficulty is experienced in plough
ing in the third year.
During the year just closed the VII
kinson Bros. produced the enormous
crop of 500 bushels of potatoes upon
one acre OF this new land. The first
crop yielded 200 bushels, and vol
unteer crop. without cultivation,
yielded 300 bushels
Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of
Agriculture, states that for half the
prices of the Northern tier of States,
lands equally fertile and as accessi-
bic to markets can be had in the
South.
In the words of leading journal:
ain turning northward instead of
southwark. the farmers who are
crossing from Wisconsin, Michigan
Minnesota and the Dakotas into Can
ada in large numbers every year are
making a mistake. The South offers
AS good farms as can be carved out
of any part of Canada, or better.
These farms are nearer to the mar
kets, they are in a far better climate
and they have a much more favorable
environment and, as a serious draw
back, the Americans who go to Can
ada are obliged to change their ale
glance, they find all their surround
ings aalien and their children will
grow up as British subjects and not
as citizens of the United States. III
the Southern railways and immigra-
ton societies were as active as the
Canadian in letting the United States
and the world know the attractions
of their locality, they would divert
to the southwark most OF the big
stream of American agriculturists
who are now drifting into Canada.
Some of the best fruit. wheat and
corn lands in the world are in the
South. That region could, if it util-
lied all it's Idle lands for that pur-
pose, produce enough rice to supply
the entire world In timber, coal and
iron ore, several of the Southern
States are particularly rich. More
water power for manufacturing, and
more navigable streams for taking
farm, mine and factory products to
the market, are in the South than in
all the rest of the country combined.
The proximity Of the Gulf Stream
tempers the climate to such an extent
that the Belhaven section of North
Carolina, $50 miles further north, and
within "a hours of the markets OF
New York. Philadelphia, Baltimore
and washington, enjoys the same
mild climate as that of North Geor-
gia. The section of Tidewater Wiz.
ginia and North Carolina traversed
by the Norfolk e. Southern Railway
is especially adapted to the growing
of early vegetables, fruits, corn and
cotton. and as many as three or four
- L. AAI