Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1911-08-24

PROCEDURE FOLLOWED in Es.
TABLIsHING COUNTY DITCH Ac-
coRDlNG TO LAW IN MIMI.


CoRDlNG TO LAW IN MIMI.
One of the greatest. il not actually
the greatest of the problems which
must be solvd in the development
and settlement Of Northern Minneso-
ia, is the drainage of the five million
acres of swamp lands that are dis
tributed over the entire northern half
of the state. When these lands be-
come thoroughly, drained, so that the
soil is relieved of its burden of water
and enabled to produce crops. that
soil makes the very best and richest
of farming land, with capacity for
crop yields of almost unbelievable
abundance and quality Wherever
such lanls have been opened up to
cultivation, in almost all instances the
results have been so far beyond pre-
vious expectations as to astonish and
delight the owner of the land. They
are not suited so we'll to the produc.
ton of small grants, but for grass, for
age, root and vegetable crops, they
cannot be excelled, and the dairy in
dustry, on which Northern Minneso-
ia must rely, finds natural home on
such areas. Hence, the reclamation
of these swamp lands is a matter of
great Importance to the development
of the state; and although relatively
little has been accomplished, a start
has been made that augers we'll for
the complete reclamation of northern
swamp lands in years to come.
In the drainage of vast areas such
as are present in Northern Minneso-
ia, great forces must be brought to
bear. This is work for the whole
people OF the state, not any one Sec
ton to accomplish. And yet, in the
great amount of work to be done, the
State cannot establish a detailed and
complete system of bitches, large and
small, that will drain every farm and
every acre in the wet district; it can
at present only lay the foundation for
the reclamation of these lands, by
digging great outlets through the cen
ter of the swamp areas, thus afford
ing means for the ultimate compile
ton of the work in detail, and leaving !
this ultimate completion to the dispo-
sal of the people directly benefited. |
And so the draining of Northern Min |
nesota devolves upon, not one, but
three agencies for the advancement
of the work. In the first instance,
the State, as mentioned above, opens
up the wet areas, providing where
necessary, artificial outlets into which !
the whole surplus water of the terri
tory may be drained. The compile
ton Of the drainage program is then
in the hands of the county or counties
in which the wet areas lie. When
two or more counties are mutually in
terested in the construction of a sin
gle ditch, the work comes under the
official supervision of the district
Judge, and it is called judicial
ditch" When only one county is in
terested, the control of the ditch is in
the hands Of the county commission
ers and it is known as a County
ditch
In this article We desire to mention
briefly few of the features of coun
4,, ;+1l oil
alton in Northern Minnesota When
once the state ditch has gone through
or where tire are natural outlets in
the county, the agitation for county
bitches comes, not from the county
officials, but from the people on the
land where drainage is deemed de-
sirable. The law provides, and the
practice u.s. that where group of set
tiers desire ditch, they unitedly pc
tition the county commissioners for a
consideration of their claim, and that
no less than three Of these interested
settlers go on the petition as bonds
men to guarantee the preliminary ex-
penses of survey and report. Then,
if there are no patent obstacles
against such proposed ditch, the coun-
ty commissioners order the county
drainage engineer to make a survey
and estimate the cost When this is
completed, and the report filed with
the county auditor, the county COM
missioners appoint three disinterest-
ed viewers, whose duty it is to go
over the ground and ascertain if the
community will bneft according to
the estimated cost of construction. II
this report is favorable, the commits
sioners then advertise, in the official
paper, for hearing of interested
parties, at which as many as can are