The Detroit times., 1911-04-03
TURNS sWAMPs
into RICH LAND
North Carolina Farmer Drains Soil
and Reclaims Thousands of
Acres by System of Canals.
BY ROBERT WILSON.

BELHAVEN, n. c.. April S.-They
are draining the swamps of eastern
North Carolina and turning them into
rich farms, because John A. Wilkin
son, OF Belhaven, showed them how.
The system OF canals and laterals
which takes the stagnant water on
the soil and dumps IL into Pamlico
sound, where 1t belongs, is called the
Wilkinson plan"
Most everybody on the coast be-
tween Capes Henry and Lookout
knows about wilkinson The men
who have worked with him call him
girth and good nature, in ideas and
in capacity for work.
The drainage man was born here.
He grew up into husky lad, left
the swamp farm and went to the saw
mill. The sawmill Is about the only
Industry In the swamp country,
In those days timber was plenty and
the milImep wouldn't bother, with
small trees. After they'd cut over the
land you could buy ii for a song
so cents an acre, maybe. 1t wasn't
worth anything Just swamp with
the big timber all gone.
Wilkinson knew swamp timber. He
knew the swamp pine tree would add
from half inch to an inch to it's
diameter every year. At that rate 12-
inch trees, left by the loggers in those
days, would be 20-inch trees and
more In ten years. The land would
be worth as much as before the log
gers came.
Young Wilkinson decided to make
cut-over swamp his savings bank. He
pinched from his scant wages, and
every time he could get few dollars
ahead he bought cut-over swamp. He
got better jobs-yard boss, foreman,
superintendent, manager.
At last the big opportunity came
to invest lot OF money and make q
lot. Wilkinson had the money. The
ten years were up. The worthless
land he had bought had become valu-
able again. He had the money when
the opportunity came, The swamp
land savings bank had made good.
He made a pile Of money In various
deals and for long time now he has
been the big man about these parts.
Now for the drainage part. VIII
kinson's fathers farm was on a dry
spot In the swamp. The boy had
noted how wonderfully crops grew In
the black land. He also noted how
regularly the rains drowned the crops.
The richest soil in the world, but use
less because 1t wouldn't drain.
Ten years ago the Norfolk & South
ern engineers surveyed for swamp
route and Wilkinson saw their maps.
III 81 1g
that the swamp lands, supposed to be
below sea level. were really the high.
est places on the route. The swamps
were Is to 20 feet above sea level.
They only lacked outlets through the
sand ridges to drain dry.
Wilkinson and his brother Sam be
gan buying swamp. They got about
25, 900 acres In all, cheap.
Then Wilkinson went to the N. q
s. officials and told them how badly
they neederd a cutoff road from the
Belhaven branch at the main line
a l2-mile stretch, and, incidentally,
through Wilkinson swamp property.
The railroad decided to build the cut
of and gave wilkinson the contract
for grading the roadbed.
Wilkinson built the embankment
with q steam dredge. When the work
was finished the railroad had its EN-.
bankment on the dirt piled by the
dredge and Wilkinson had q 30-foot
canal. And the railroad had paid for
It!
Through their land the Wilkinsons
have dug parallel 1s-foot canals at
mile intervals, connected by lateral
bitches every 400 feet.
The drainage Is so swift the work
men have to build dams behind the
dredges to keep them floating. The
soil of the drained land Is a porous.
friable black loan, with dense clay
subsoil.
The crops are wonderful-a bale
and a half OF cotton to the acre, IS
bushels OF corn. and as many as 500
bushels OF white potatoes have been
raised on this soil. The land 10 peer
less for truck.
There are over one million acres OF
such North Carolina swamp land once
thought below sea level. now known
to be high enough TO drain. Many pri
vate drainage projects have been
started on the wilkinson plan, but
none Is so far advanced as that oi
tha nionear