The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-02
DRAINING THE SWAMPS
Some Big Schemes Which Will Add Billions to Our
National Wealth

Recent Investigations OF The GOvern-
me4lt GeographeF-Ten Million
swamp lands Are and Their Enor-
NOUS VaIue-T1se Empire OF the
Mississippi Delta and How it Can
+e Handled-Ifle Everglades OF
41orida and the Marshes Below the
Great Iakes-Recent Work in the
sacramento Valley, Where Some OF
the Lane is Worth a thousand Dol
,sars an .Acre--Drainage by the
states and Nation-The Great Dis
mai swamp. Which George Wash
Chippewa Iands-Iive Matters
ttout Some OF. the Big Schemes of
Uncle sam. Patriarch.
frupyright, 1911, by Frank G.. Car
penter.)
WASHINGTON. D. C.
write today Of one Of the biggest
s-hcmes of Uncle Sam, patriarch. 1t
= q scheme which means the crea-
Ton Of millions Of farms, and Of new
sail which will feed more thar fifty
4ulIIi0ns Of people. 1t means the
bringing under cultivation waste land
which contains some of the richest
earth on the face of the globe, and
7he creation Of new real estate wealth
which will aggregate from ten to
fifteen billions Of dollars. I refer to
<he drainage Of the swamps now scat
eered over. the Union. The scientists
Si me w ili111hl Al SISdSCd IL
surveying them. They have already
plotted something like ten million
acres and there are sixty or seventy
millions yet to be mapped. They are
going over the country with spirit
levels measuring the hills and hoIloWs
and sounding the depths. Their wor&
i so carefully done that the civil
engineers can run their canals by a
look at the maps, and they really
form the basis Of the working plans
for the
This great undertaking is in the
hands Of the geological survey 1t is
done by the topographic branch, and
the scientists in charge OF 1t are
known as geographers. The chief Of
them is Mr.. r. b. Marshall, and un-
der him are four others, each of whom
has one great division.
h swamps Of the Atlantic States
are under Mr.. Frank Sutton; those
Of the Central States under Mr.. w. H.
HERON. while the Rocky Mountains
and Pacific Coast are respectively man.
aged by Mr.. Sledge Tatum and Mr.,
T. q. Gerdine. Each of these men
has a large corps of surveyors, and
all visit the various sections and work
together after fixed plans During
the past week / have talked with
these g~eographers. and through my
Investigations at the geological survey
and in the Agricultural Department
am able to give some idea of what may
be zone
Big Wet Spots i'm Uncle Sans Back
Yard.
Talk about your acres OF diamonds.
These wet spots on Uncle Sans farm
are worth more than any
field in the plateau of South Africa
They contain thousands of millions
eff easily available wealth and they
are scattered all over h Union.
First let me tell you what they
amount to. The experts of the Gov
rnnlen ave estimated their area at
between seVenty-Seyen and seventy
nine million acres, and the probable
$ty is tina they will run millions
more. At the lowest calculation they
represent d country bigger than Great
Britain and Ireland. and equal to the
three States of Indiana, Illinois and
ohio. They have a soil Wsich IS
richer than Holland, and their area is
ten times as great. Holland is now
feeding almost six million people anu
at the same ratio these wet lands nave
Il potential food supply for almost
sixty millions. or ten millions more
than the half of our whole popula-
tjOn.
Where the Sxamps are.
Aud now take your map OF the
United States and see where they are.
They are not scattered over the desert
away off from t. railroads amid the
canyons and VALLEYS of the arid West.
They ar. close to the centerS OF our