The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-10-26
How to Make The Waste Acres Prof
table.

In an article published in the
| Worlds Work some months ago
James j. Hill estimated that there
is in the United States nearly 12O,-
600 square miles of marsh and
swamp land which can be drained
and added to the productive area in
| Government estimates. OF the un-
counted smaller tracts Mr.. Hill says:
| I'm the eastern and central parts of
| the country most farms have a few
acres Of low ground which no at
tempt has been made to redeem be-
| cause there is acreage enough with
out them. 1t seems reasonable to
believe that the aggregate Of wet
land available for cultivation by
proper drainage will be far above the
| largest figure yet named. Professor
Shaler says that In Great Britain and
Ireland fully one-fifth Of the most
fertile agricultural lands has been
reclaimed by drainage. and that one
| twentieth of the now tillable land in
Europe was inundated and unfit for
agriculture in the eighth century,"
IT is estimated that the average
cost Of drainage-that is, with sur
face ditches-for these swmap lands
would be less than $40 per acre. and
once drained they would be among
! the most productive Of all our soils.
Most of them are rich in humus and
plant foods which have been largely
drawn. In many cases, from the
higher lands now being cultivated.
The drainage of these large tracts
or swamp land must be done. in
| most cases. by big corporations or
by the establishment of cooperative
drainage districts. In some States.
| notably Florida. the State itself Is
taking an active hand: in others
there has not yet even been made
| any provision for the formation of
| drainage districts by those who
| might wish TO engage in the work.
The reclamation Of these large
| swamps is thus a public problem. but
| the redemption Of the little wet
| patches Of few acres scattered here
and there throughout the fields is
a problem for the individuals who
| own them. Nor is it only the lands
too wet to cultivate at all that need
| drainage. Thousands and thousands
| of acres of land which now produce
poor crops and which are in danger
| of flooding whenever a wet spell or
a hard rain comes could be tile
| drained and made doubly productive,
taking one year with another Prop
er surface and underground drain
age would solve the problem of
washing for numberless fields. In
deed, the disposition Of surplus water
is one of the great fundamental prob
lens which every Southern farmer
has to solve.
We expect this fall and winter to
treat the various phases of this sub
Ject just as our space will permit
We shall have something to say
about drainage laws, about drainage
as health proposition, about the
making Of terraces and surface ditch
es, and so on. The special phase of
the subject we are taking up Just
now, however. is tile drainage. On
| page Mr.. A. l.. French, and on page
o, Professor G. l.. Newman, tell each
a little story showing lust how tile
drainage has paid. Nothing vision
airy or theoretical about either story,
just the simple account of what has
been done and what many another
reader could do with equal profit
Next week we shall begin a nota BILE
series of articles on tile drainage by
Mr.. French. In them Mr.. French will
go right at the practical side of the
poblem-tell just how to do the work,
what 1t Will cost, etc. Then a little
later we shall publish an article tel
ling and showing just how to make
cement drain tile
Right now, then Is a good time for
every reader to look over his waste
acres and wet spots and see If a
little work along this line will not
greatly help to increase his profits
another year.-Progressive Farmer.