The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-02-17
DRAINAGE is MEANS
OF RECLAIMING VAST
STRETCH OF WASTE
PrOductiUeHess of Soil and Health of Community Benefit
Greatly Through Reclamation Work In
Delta and In Arkansas.

other feature to light--the prairie-like
nature Of the region. once II Is re-
claimed. In sections Of the delta which
now are developed one can see for miles
and miles, If some Of the fine forests
Of hardwoods do not interfere. 1t is
much the same country as the Kansas
cerned. This is an asset In
the building Of roads and in making
almost every acre Of the land suitable
for cultivation. 1t is another thing that
will give impetus to trucking, an in
dustry that some of these days will be
OF enormous benefit to Memphis and
Ter people.
The start made in draining the low
lands OF Missouri, being so successful,
was followed by drainage work on a
scale of such magniture as is diff
cult to comprehend by one not familiar
with the lower Mississippi valley.
A later Missouri project is the Mingo
drainage district in stoddard and
Wayne counties which, when com
pleted, will restore 10000 acres Of land
to cultivation.
Arkansas has made great strides in
drainage work. The first was In Mis-
sissippi and Crittenden counties, largely
because these two counties were far
Their advanced and were better and
earlier protected by good levees.
The Grassy Lake and Tyronza district
Mn Mississippi county Is said to be one
Of the biggest ever organized. In this
district, known as No 3, are more than
300 square miles of fine land. 1t is
drained by 800 miles of bitches and in
it are some 25 miles of levees.
L. L. Hidinger, of the Morgan En-
cheering company, says OF this dis
trict:
bitches Successful.
THE drainage works Of this dis
trict have been constructed and In
operation for an average period Of
about three years, and the changes
which have taken place are an example
of what Is taking place wherever good
drainage Is being carried out in the
South. At the beginning of the project
practically the entire interior Of the dis
trict was in timber, with only some
of the highland along the rim Of the
Mississippi river in cultivation. Much
of this wooded, low-lying land could
scarcely be sold at any price. Now less
than one-tenth of the district Is vir-
gin forest, about ne-third in cut-oVer
timber land and the remainder Is in
cultivation. Good roads are being built
to join the outlying parts of h dis
trict with the towns where most OF
the products of the district are mar
keted. Land values have continued to
rise until now these lands are among
the most valuable in the entire delta
country" =
There Is a fine example of how the
region has grown since protection work
was started by the engineers In the
the territory of which Mr.. Hidinger
| speaks. The census of 1900 showed
the city of Blytheville to have 302 peo-
pie. 1t was not on the map when the
previous census was taken. In l9lUs
| census the little village had grown to
a city Of S,S49 Inhabitants In a re-
| Gently completed survey at B~lytheville'
announced the last week In January,
| 1920, it was found that Blytheville had
| grown to 8,057 people. The gain was
100 per cent in 10 years and 1858 pei
| cent in 20 years. Blytheville people
frankly admit and confess that Blythe
vile Is just commencing TO grow!
There are several other fine drain
age systems in Mississippi county, Ark.
| Nos. s, II, IL and 13. have been In OPP
Grafton. In the northwest part Of the
county, districts Is and II are getting
ready to wind up the county's com
plete drainage. , :.
Crittenden county, directly across the
| lver from Memphis, which are building
375 miles of channels. Several are com,
| pleted and the others will be finished
before long.
There are any number Of other drain
age districts In the eastern part OF
| Arkansas clear on south to the Louisi;
| ana line. Some of the more advanced
ones are In the delta section In the
very southeast corner Of the state.
Louisiana Lays.
Louisiana has peer much behind hel
sister state in all kinds OF development
| including the alluvial sections on the
east. While the soil Is as rich and tn
future undoubtedly as great as that o.
Arkansas richest alluvial lands, Louis
the center of population and at a
greater distance from where a new
country would get it's settlers than Is
the case in Arkansas. or course It's
lands are much cheaper but there Is q
very wholesome turning to Louisiana
now and great development is expected
in it's delta in the next few years, just
as was the case in Arkansas, missouri
| and Mississippi.
There are already definite movements
| for many drainage districts; in truth q
number already are in operation. A
| score now are going through the pre-
liminaries of getting started, so that
in 10 years time Louisiana will have
hundreds of thousands Of acres of fine
| reclaimed land.
The state of Mississippi Is running
her rival across the Mississippi a close
ace for great development through
| drainage. In the lead of counties Is
Washington, of which Greenville Is the
| county seat, Washington county has
four big districts, the Bogue Phalia
| Riverside, Black Bayou and Murphy
Bayou. These four embrace 900 square
miles Of territory which is being very
rapidly reclaimed. There are some '45t
| miles of drainage bitches and canals II
| all. One OF these, the Bogue Phalia
Is a canal 1870 feet wide, declared t.
| be the biggest in all the South. 1t Is
almost a river in appearance. 49,.
Coahoma county, which ranks will
Washington as being one Of the bes'
| developed counties in the Yazoo Mis-
sissippi delta, also has a great drain
| age system, which is further proof that
| drainage and development go hand II
| hand.
Nearer Memphis in North Mississippi
Is the Lake Cormorant drainage dis
trict, another large project which |:
just getting under way, The Indiar
| Creek district serving Tunica, QuitmaI
| and Pamela counties, is south of the
Lake Cormorant district. Bolivar ant
| Sunflower counties likewise have sys,
TENS to which is directly attributed the
| fast growth and the remarkable in.
crease in land values that have Sc
| impressed Memphians in the last year
Tennessee has Tess land needing
| drainage than the other four states
| but a number of projects have beer
carried out and others are under way
Among them are: First Forked Deer
Second Forked Deer, Middle Forket
Deer, touching Crockett, Dyer, Gibson
| Madison, Haywood and LauderdalC
counties: Gibson county No. 6 and Car.
| roll county No. 3, and several others
a few of which have just been or.
| ganized. Combined, they viii restore
a very great area of fine land at the
very door Of Memphis.
Not all the districts in the regfor
tributary to Memphis have been men
toned but a sufficient number Of then
have been cited to show their enormity
and the districts themselves. once
drainage has started, stand out very
clearly as examples Of this kind Of
reclamation work.
Drainage to the delta region is ont