The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1911-02-11
CASH IN bitches
IS WELL INVESTED
DRAINAGE is THE MOST PROFIT,
ABLE INVESTMENT KNOWN
TO FARMERS.
1000 PER CENT REALIZED
Southeast Missouri Leading in Mod
ern Methods of Utilizing the I'm
measurable Fertile Flooded
Lands of This State.

That money sunk into very unlove.
ly and very muddy bitches is money
well spent has been thoroughly
proven by the progressive farmers of
Missouri. Figures gathered by the
Missouri Waterway Commission in its
recently completed study of drainage
conditions show that optimistic Mis-.
sourians have put the vast sum of
$4,000, 900 into drainage bitches, and
this money has been returned to them
with profits Aladdin-like in their pro
portions.
Ten years ago there we're 3,75O,OOO
acres of land in this state which were
totally under water or useless be-
cause Of excessive moisture. South
east Missouri, rendered low by the
New Madrid earthquakes of 1S11-12,
was more extensively cursed with this
excess Of natures greatest gift than
any other part of the state.
Rivers in that territory were small
and crooked and had but a slight fall,
hence they were inadequate to carry
on the continuously heavy rainfall of
that region. The land continually re.
sembled an overflowed street with the
rainfall gaining steadily on the insult
ftcient sewers; therefore 1t was but
natural that Southeast Missourians
became the pioneers in drainage
work. By deepening and Strengthening
their streams the fow-off gradually
gained on the rainfall until there was
no excess, and consequently no
swamp lands.
Pemiscot, the southern-most county
Of this state, leads in the drainage
work. This progressive county has
added to its assessable wealth and
tillable area 230,S9S acres Of land.
This work cost about $3S0,OOO, or
about $3.50 per acre, and has in
creased the value of the reclaimed
area from practically nothing to from
$500 to $4,000 per acre. The total
increased value is placed conserva.
lively at $4,000, 900, or a return of
more than 1000 per cent on the ORIG.
inaI investment
Dunklin county farmers have
spurned the tabled omen and have
constructed thirteen drainage dis
tricts, totallng 100 miles in length and
draining $50, 900 acres, at a total cost
of $623, 900. Cotton, wheat, corn and
alfalfa have replaced mosquitoes and
miasmatic dampness as the usual
crops from these acres.
Mississippi county has snatched
from the embrace of the swamps 2OO.-
600 acres, and has restored them to
eager farmers, who have given good
account of their stewardship.
One hundred thousand acres in
Stoddard county, $4,000 in Butler and
$4,000 in Scott county have been, by
engineering ingenuity, added to the
wealth Of the state, at a cost not ex-
ceeding $500 per acre. These figures
do not include the Little River drain
age dlstrict-the largest in the world
which is now in course of con-
structlon, and which includes 500, 900
acres of land lying in the counties
Of Cape Girardeau, Scott, Stoddard,
Pemiscot, Mississippi, Dunklin and
New Madrid.
This vast area-larger than many
boosted European principalities-is to
be reclaim | at a cost of $4,000, 900,
or $500 per acre. The increased val.
uation Of the land will not be less
than $25, 900, 900, and the increase in
the annual crop output not less than
Sl2, 1000, 900. This is a cash return in
land values of 625 per cent, and an
annual return from the investment of
300 per cent. The cost is higher per
acre than in other drainage districts.
because the problems met are more
complicated and the work when com
pleted will be more thorough. How.
ever, the work Of educating people in
these counties to the benefits of drain.
age has been well done, and the bur.
den of $500 per acre is gladly shout
dered by the land owners
In other counties drainage at a
dearer rate has been accomplished.
In Holt county $4,000 acres have
been drained, at a cost of 1852 per
acre; while the farmers of Marion
county paid $3.50 per acre to drain
10000 acres.
st. Louis county, having the most
valuable land in the state, because
of its proximity to a large city and
consequent availability for truck gar
dening, paid $2S,799 for draining 736
acres of land. This was at the rate
of $500 per acre, and no one has yet
been heard to complain Of this price.
for the producing value of the district
was increased 1890, 900, or more than
100 per cent per annum.
Other counties in the state have
hardened to the call of the world
for more producing land, and have in.
vested their money in ditch construc.
tons, and 1t has netted them uniform
ly handsome returns. Atchlson coun.
ty has reclaimed S,S4O acres; Howard.
$500; Lincoln, 4,S00; Ray, 1900. and