Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-01-23
$4,000 ACRES TO
Be RECLAIMED
SWAMP LAND IS PURClASED
AND WILL BE USED AS NJ.
cLEUS OF GREAT col.
ONIZATlOH PLAN
soil Is VERY RICH AND FtaIIlt
Drainage Of Great Tract viii Involve
the Digging Of 175 Miles
OF bitches

Raleigh. \. C-Forty-five thousand
/ acres of swamp land near Bclhaytn in
/ the eastern part Of the State. which
/ il is proposed TO reclaim by drainage.
| using The reclaimed lands as a nu-
/ cleus for colonization purposes on a
| scale never before attempted in this
/ State, have been purchased by New
. York investors. The purchasing COM
pany has been Incorporated as the
| Norfolk Southern Farms and is head.
cd by Mark W. Potter, New York in
weston and lawyer and president Of
the Carolina. ClinchGcld < Ohio Rail
road.
The mrge acreage of the proposed
farm will permit plans for the opera
ton of a packing house and grain
elevators which will assure a market
for all products. 1t is said that the
company will operate and manage
farms for purchasers OF small tracts
which will be sold after the land is
thoroughly developed and put in thor
ough shape. Regular shipments of
pork and beef are expected to be sent
in carload lots to New York.
The drain7ge of this great tract of
land viii involve the digging Cf 175
lies OF bitches. The land is in the
famous BLACK Belt" that is regarded
as part OF the richest farming land in
the country. Its rich, blaek soil. from
three TO seven feet thick. contains
from 50 10 so per cent vegetable mat
ter Ii is not unusual for more than (
100 bushels Of corn to be raised on /
each acre Of adjoining lands that have /
been brought into cultivation. In adj |
dition 10 corn thes~ lands are now .
producing phenomenal crops of POI /
tatoes, cow peas, soy beans, winter .
rye. oats, cotton, peanuts. alfalfa and .
clOvers.
Soy beans, COW peas, crimson Glow /
or, vetch, winter wheat, oats and rye .
sown in the corn at the last cult
walton, furnish excellent grazing .
throughout the winter, so the land |
will grow the best of stock foods the /
entire year. The long season permits /
a spring crop of potatoes. followed by |
summer crop OF corn and the fall |
and winter cover crops referred TO. |
1t is stated on authority that crops |
grown while the land is being cleared /
by cutting and burning the standing .
timber will more than pay for the .
expense of reclamation. The lands as |
the present time carry a dense growth
of trees and shrubs. They are cleared
simply by cutting down the trees and
burning them where they fall. The
first years burning dsposes of every
thing except the larger logs and
Immediately after the first
burning corn is planted or stuck"
among the logs. without their re-
noval. by dropping kernels in small
holes made by stick and the yield is
about 80 bushel to the acre without
The second and third year the land
S again burned and planted in the
amc manner. The fourth year, as
most of the logs and stumps have
burned and softened up. the land is
'ledIFu dl SliNIP tApCIGS anu put
lnder the pillow.
Approximately 10000 acres of adj
dining lands have been brought into
cultivation during the last five years
md are yielding upwards Of 100
bushels of corn without the use of /
ertilzer or lime and with only indif- {
erent cultivation. These lands lie be- {
ween Albernarle and 'Pamlico sounds.