DRAINAGE FOR THE DISMAL SWAMP. 355 



tions of the peat could no doubt be burned if so desired. After drain- 

 age the change in the character of the area would be very groat. The 

 peat would contract to a very much smaller volume in losing water, 

 and would oxidize to a considerable extent. 



WATER. 



The water of Lake Drummond and, in fact, all water in the swain}) 

 is amber in color, and, after very heavy rains or unusual agita- 

 tion, is quite turbid. For the most part it is slightly acid, and 

 when issuing from areas where the juniper abounds, is markedly so. 

 The water often tastes of the wood of cypress or juniper, and is said 

 to have remarkable preservative properties. It is noticeable that 

 there are none of the offensive odors in the Dismal Swamp which are 

 so common about fresh-water swamps or ponds elsewhere, e. g., in 

 the prairie region. Formerly the water from the swamp was barreled 

 and used in ship voyages across the ocean. The movement of the 

 water in the swamp is, very slow, being greatly impeded by the dense 

 growth and the great accumulation of peat. When the land is cleared 

 of vegetation, however, it is easily drained. The subsoil, being sandy, 

 admits of quite rapid movement of the water. 



DRAINAGE. 



The labor expended in the past in draining areas around the 

 periphery of the Dismal Swamp would, if directed with regard to 

 the best present-day systems of drainage, have sufficed to drain the 

 whole of the area. The old drainage systems now in use were 

 planned by each owner for himself, without any relation to a gen- 

 eral scheme of drainage. There are many miles of open ditches, 

 most of which were completed before the middle of the present 

 century. Their construction was made at an enormous outlay, and 

 the annual expense of removing the vegetation ami soil that ac- 

 cumulates in them each year is considerable. At least 90 percent 

 of these open ditches could as well be replaced by underground 

 drains of tile, only the larger or main ditches being left open. By 

 means of underground drains the annual expense of clearing ditches 

 would be done away with. The additional cost would be that of the 

 tile only, and, indeed, this would be partially offset by the smaller 

 amount of excavating required. A ditch to receive tile needs to be 

 no wider than is required for the digger to work advantageously, and 

 its sides may be perpendicular, while a ditch which is to remain open 

 must be several feet wide at the top in order that the sides shall not 

 cave and fill the ditch. This greater width may more than double or 

 treble the amount of excavation required, which would largely oifset 

 the cost of tiles and, in the ease of small tiles, might exceed their 

 entire cost. Then, again, the tile drains can be laid in any direction, 



