354 BOTANICAL SURVEY OF DISMAL SWAMP REGION. 



the lines of drains 300 feet apart. In fact, experience shows that open 

 ditches 4 feel deep and 300 feet apart afford ample drainage for the 

 swamp soils from which the above analyses were made. Underground 

 tile drains could be used at intervals equally great, with as good suc- 

 cess, and would have many advantages over the open ditches, which 

 will be spoken of under the head of drainage. 



Sample No. 357 is from the finest truck land near West Norfolk, 

 and is here introduced for comparison with the swamp soils in order 

 that we may judge of their fitness for early trucking. Excepting the 

 organic matter, the two soils are very similar in texture when we com- 

 pare t hem at corresponding depths. The swamp soil has approximately 

 five times as much organic matter as the truck soil, which, together 

 with its slightly greater amounts of clay, silt, and very tine sand, gives 

 it an appearance very different from the latter. 



The slightly heavier texture, together with the high per cent of 

 vegetable matter, very much increases the water-holding power of the 

 swamp soil, and as a result makes it colder in the early season. This 

 promises crops of larger growth, but they will be much later in matur- 

 ing, and since earliness is the chief factor on which the success of the 

 trucker depends, this soil can not be expected to compete successfully 

 with that about West Norfolk in truck crops, except in case of a few 

 crops where earliness brings no particular advantage, as in the case 

 of late potatoes, cabbage, and celery. These crops could certainly be 

 grown at less expense for fertilizers and no greater expense for culti- 

 vation and marketing than those of the famous truck areas. When 

 drained and put in a good stab 1 of cultivation, there is no doubt that 

 a large portion of the swamp area would be well suited to the growth 

 of celery. With a minimum amount of drainage, the borders of the 

 swamp might be used for the growing of cranberries and the water 

 from the interior used to flood them. 1 



For special crops, to which the swamp soil is adapted, much of it 

 could doubtless be economically used. In order to succeed, it would 

 of course require good business ability and a knowledge of the require- 

 ments, management, and marketing of the crop to be grown. There 

 is no doubt that the swamp soils, under proper treatment, will prove 

 very valuable for those crops to which the environment as a whole is 

 favorable. When thoroughly drained, swamp soils in general are 

 among the most productive and lasting. With the present demand 

 for lands, it is a question if it would prove profitable to deforest and 

 drain the whole of the swamp area, though it could be done at a moder- 

 ate expense. The value of the timber removed would, in part at least, 

 pay the expense of its removal. By drainage sufficient to lower the 

 water 12 to 18 inches below the surface fire could be used as a means 

 of destroying the timber, and at times of drought considerable por- 



1 The cultivation of celery in the region, as well as the possibilities of cranberry 

 growing, are discussed under the head of "Agricultural products." 



