The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-02

tAofIIlI tA ! I'IIi a as A~AtFN4--t
Mississippi. And the swamps will have
10 be handled carefully to keep the
cages intact.
Moreover, no State will allow a sis
ter state to drain It's surplus flood
waters into its own territory, and
the rme viii kick against receiv-
ing surplus water from their neigh
h0rs. These are some of the prob
lens which confront the drainage
Dropos. ton, and make it impossible
except through cooperation and Ma
1iOnaT supervision. ! am told by SEN
ator NeWlands that he has treated
Of this matter in bis new bill for
the management Of the waterways Of
the Union.
Drainage by States.
Some Of the States have already
authorized the drainage Of the sWamps
and some have granted concessions
TO that end. In the Yazoo basin a
company had been organized and
Dians made to redeem in the neighbour
hood Of half a million acres. The
geological survey had prepared the
maps which gave the basis Of the
working plans. The mpa was
go capitalized and the organization go
made that the bonds would be Sc
cured by the lands redeemed and all
the farms be subject to the assess
ment for carrying on the work. The
bonds were issued at 6 per cent and
I9it Il h'hd 49, ~ Nam tlSthhs
when for some reason or other the
bill was held up in the Legislature
and the work stopped. There are
other schemes which are going on in
other States, and in Florida a large
amount Of land has been drained by
various companies, and especially by
the Disstous. who have AIKEN the wa
ter from hundreds of thousands Of
acres.
Florida and the Everglades.
And this brings me to the Ever
Eiades. The whole Of Florida is a
great bed of coral. upon the upper
part OF which a dense vegetation has
grown. forming the lands which now
make the winter garden and 1fule
patch Of the eastern United States.
Lower Florida is largely a swamp
and there are SO many swamp lands
scattered over the whole State that
it has more marshes and morasses
than any other part of the Union.
1t has altogether almost o~ne-fourth
Of the swamps Of the whole country,
their area amounting to something
like twenty million acres, or to about
as much as the whole State of South
Caroline. Some of these lands lie
along the coasts and on the rivers.
A part of them contain great lakes
like Okechobee which measure IS
three-quarters of q million acres and
more. n Everglades. which are
almost solid swamp, are at the south.
II ileF nave a rim OF mangrOVe trees
and other vegetation which separate
them from the sea. and It Is said
that il this rim is cut and canals
are made the tract can be drained.
/ am told, however, that there is
some question as to the prospective
value OF the land When it is once re-
deemed. Some of the scientists say
that it lacks mineral matter and that
IL Is altogether humuS. They say it
would not hold the rainfall and would
become as dry as saWdust after be-
ing drained. AS to this, il is claimed
that irrigation could be given by Lake
~Ckechobee; others assert that this soil
ls rich in fertilizing materials. The
Disston drainage scheme was, as l
understand it. just north Of the Ever
gtAdes. 1t resulted in the partial
redemption Of a large tract of land,
but to not as much as was originally
planned
Tie Great Dismal Swamp.
Going north from Florida there are
vast tracts along our South atlantic
States which have been mapped and
which might be redeemed. South
Carolina has Il large area of swamps
and the same is true OF North Caro-
lima and Virginia. On the eastern
border of the latter two States is the
Great Dismal swamp. which alone
contains more than $50, 900 acres. The
swamp begins a little south of Norfolk,