The farmer and mechanic., 1915-11-02
Enlarging The Cranary of North Carolina
ADescriPtion of the Great Drainage Project
In Hyde COUNTY,
(By JOHN BROSSl
tBy JOHN u. BROSS.)

afsfnaEe work is going on here, but !
+ am constrained to believe that very :
fsv, are aware that the greatest recla- :
nation project east of the Mississippi =
!. 1nder way, and rapidly nearing !
completion, down here in Hyde {
county
TIs project is called THE Malta
nn-eret Drainage Project" and in
,.}yr, the drainage of one hundred
aid tnenty thousand acres of land,
said 10 be as fertile as the Nile val
let.
but / have seen some of tie famous
rich lands in the South and South
west and am prepared to say that
the lands now under cultivation
around the shores of Mattamuskeet
Lake are the richest 1 have ever seen,
not cXcepting the famous Brazos Bot
;oa- II Texas.
As i am writing these lines I have /
only TO look through my window to !
see lands that have produced this |
wear over fifty bushels of corn and |
over eighty bushels of oats per acre, |
and thdt too without commercial fer
nI1er. These lands have been in cul |
tiy8tiou for over one hundred and
twenty five years and are producing
better crops today than ever before.
Fjfty thousand acres of the land In
u Il
uulrr the waters of Mattamuskeet
Ia&e The United States Department
%. N0riculture has made soil survey
gt the bed of the lake. and has re-
ported that all the land in the bed of
tle lake is good agricultural land,
and that the greater part of it is very
Trn some Of it even more fertile
than the land now in cultivation.
Much Of the land included i'll the
80. nd ~
ua,. Some of this land has been
cleared, and, in dry years. produces
enormous crops OF corn, SOFA
beans, etc.
think il would be safe for me to
say that when the project is COM
Qletcd IL will add TO the arabic land
ol Hyde county an area of upward of
sevCnty-tive thousand acres OF land
hat will produce annually an average
"t thirty bushels Of corn per acre.
This will not he the only beneficent
result OF the project. Much of the
land now under cultivation is flooded
ny excessive rainfall and il frequently
happens that crops are made only or
the narrow ridge around the lake
When the drainage system is complet
"d this source OF failure will be elimi
mated and these lands will produce
great crops every year.
When these facts are conSidere'
yuU will comprehend the masnitud
oi the stakes for which the big drain
axe came is being played by the peo
pie III Hyde county.
Nattamuskcct Lake.
Che best term TO describe this LAX
s. 81, sheet Of water" for. while
covers an area of fifty thousand acre:
Il is not more than four feet deep i
any place. Old people say that
was much deeper years ago, bl
bitches have been opened into it fo
he purpnsc { draining the surround
uc land. and it has been filled II
- the silt brought Ill by these ditche
An Indian legend accounts for the or
gin Ot the lake by saying that II WI
burned out of the peaty earth, ar
lhat it burned for thirteen moons
Mattamus'<eet Lake is "a thing
beauty" If YOU have ever seen
}ou viii agree with me. I have liV'
here on its shores for nearly "
years, and have seen il in all its
'iouS moods; on q calm, sunny SUI
| lner day, when 1t lay like a great m!
cor with frame Of beautiful gree
holding in its bosom the image of I
clOud-ficcked, azure sky; when 1t W
raressod by the gentle breezes ire
he South and the wavelets play
with sun-sparkles upon its smili
itc"; when storm clouds froWned oN
1t ana its waters were piled In hu
heaps 10y the fury of the winds; I
under whatever circumstances l ha
seen il, Mattamuskect is thing
beauty.
But hIattamusk eet is not "a JOY I
ever" If it We're, great steam dred.
would not be tearing ugly Gasl
across its placid surface. Not O
does il hold under it's smiling f;
dfty thousand acres of the richest la
in America. but thousands of OF
rich acres around it can not be Gu
waited at all, and many other &C
are despoiled Of their crops fTeuuen
because it is here.
For years the people around
lake have thought. dreamed
longcd for the drainage of their laI
They can tell you of many years
which The fruit OF their toll has b