The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-07-16
By John E. Case.
In Missouri Ruralist.

| unquallfled assertion after travelling
extensively in every part of imperial
Missouri. Six days spent in motoring
over the southeastern counties known
as the "'swamreast" section, the cOun-
ties Of Mississippi, Scott, Pemiscot,
New Madrid, Stoddard, Dunklin and
Butler convinced me that here, indeed,
was the long looked for land of oppor-
tunity. And soil fertility is only one
reason why this land of corn and cor
ton should become the king pin in pro-
ductiveness of farm crops. Reasons,
statistical and otherwise, are as nu-
merous as those advanced by Corne-
! Illus Roach. And new ones are being
added every year.
Swampeast Missouri, though, is an
empire in the making. Divided in SYM
pathy during the Civil War its boun-
diaries were ravaged by friend and foe
alike. Towns We're slow in rebuilding.
Cotton was king and little attention
was given to other crops. Until i
years ago when the first drainage
ditch was constructed the swampeast
district was almost given over to hunt
ers and fishermen. Property valuation
was based upon the fur catch. There
was no iixei price fer swamp land.
A few years before the coming of the
dredge boats New Madrid County
gave $4,000 acres for the establishing
of railroad. Records show that 100,-
| 900 acres was sold in 1881 for 50.cents
an acre. Old settlers still chuckle over
the story of the native who traded 200
acres for a mule, and then, because his
victim: couldn't read, slipped in another
section when the deed was made. That
farm now is worth 500 an acre and
growing more valuable every year.
There were a few men, though, who
realized that swampeast Missouri
would not always retain its time hon.
ored name. They looked upon those
millions of idle acres with covetous
eyes. 81 knew that if that swamp
could ever be drained it would be the
richest land the sun shone on" said
one man who now counts his acres by
the thousands and his dollars by the
millions, $50 l just kept on buying. 1t
didn't take much cash; owners were
glad to get interest instead of paying
taxes, and Pm still buying although
land is worth dollars where it was then
worth cents" And he heaved a sign
because other men had become pos
SCISSORS of the few thousand acres IN
that locality that he had been unable
to obtain.
When the big land owners began to
talk drainage and drainage tax there
was a near riot in every swampeast
county. A drainage tax orator was
about as popular then as a single tax
orator is now. Nothing daunted
though, the progressives kept ham,
mering away; secured the needed leg
islation; bonded the county, and sent
the dredge boats into action. Just to
show that they had confidence in the
feasibility of the plan one or two pri-
vate citizens put through bitches of
their own. The hammers stopped
knocking when 50-bushel corn crops
were produced on the reclaimed land
within three years after the water was
drained off. Having been duly
Shown" the entire population got
back of the drainage movement. Pres
ent day residents point with pride"
to the fact that no land has ever been
sold to pay drainage tax.
Volumes could be written about the
early day history of the swampeast
country and the rapid fire rise of land
values when the big dipper dredges
began to work in real earnest. Twelve
men who own $4,000 acres around
-Sikeston, Scott County, talked about
those early days last month, at BAN
quet in Sikeston. Remember how
sold you that section for S. an acre,
Judge" said one resident who owns a
little $500 acre tract, "and you sold
it to Jim here for $40? Jim kept it
few months and passed it on to Ike
at SIS About that time | began to
realize that selling that section was
big mistake. Ike asked me $50 but
beat him down to $25 and bought the
land back at that price" Yes" spoke
up Ike, land a blamed good days
work you did, too. I'll give you 500
an acre right now" But the land was
not for sale. That first sale was made
less than Is years ago.
Statistics make dry reading, so l
shall quote few figures to show what
really big project this drainage sys-
TEN is. Just now the dredges are
working in what is known as the Lit
tie River Drainage District. The land
in this district comprises 488,050
acres COVERING an area 10 miles wide