EDITORIAL. 



very advantageous to production, can be purchased at a l<»w price 

 much lower in fact than land remote from market- and involving con- 

 stant expense for water supply. 



The everglades of southern Florida are attracting attention on 

 account of their ability, under proper drainage and management, to 

 produce subtropical fruits and vegetables for the northern markets. 

 Large amounts of money have been expended in drainage works to 

 lower the water alone- the border of the glades sufficiently to grow 

 vegetables during the winter season, this land being mostly under 

 water the remainder of the year. It seems likely that the area avail- 

 able for this purpose can be extended by the use of dikes and pump 

 ing, hut this presents experimental features and its extension would 

 ultimately involve large problems in drainage engineering. 



It is estimated that there are 300,000 acres of marsh land in Wis- 

 consin which at present have little or no value. This land i> to a con 

 siderable extent of a moss-peat character, and its reclamation therefore 

 requires somewhat different methods of treatment from that of ordi- 

 nary swamp land. Such lands in other places have frequently not 

 responded to ordinary methods of drainage, and special method- have 

 had to he devised. In Sweden, for example, it is reported that more 

 money has been wasted upon the drainage of moss-peat land- than 

 upon any other improvements attempted, hut a new system has at 

 length been devised which is successful. 



Another class of reclamation by drainage is that alone- the Illinois 

 River. Here levee districts have been organized to reclaim about 

 74,000 acres of land, the drainage water being lifted over the levees 

 by pumps when the river is high. In some of these districts the 

 expenses for ditches, levees, and pumps have amounted to as much as 

 5514 an acre, and the cost of pumping has been as highas$l per acre in 

 some years. But even this is insignificant in comparison with the 

 expense of irrigation. Many of these reclamation works have failed 

 in recent years owing to faulty and ill-advised construction. 



Although farm drainage has lone- been practiced asoneof the impor- 

 tant aids to increased production, the drainage of large areas calls for 

 expert advice in solving both the legal and engineering problems. It 

 is now recognized that in many localities much drainage work has been 

 poorly done, and that more scientific and thorough methods are 

 required in draining land for the more intensive cultivation demanded 

 on high-priced land. 



In other words, in this as in other lines of agricultural development, 

 systematic investigation and tin 4 services of expert- are required to 

 furnish a safe basis for large enterprises, and to work out the special 

 problems presented by different sets of conditions. The Held is one 

 of immense possibilities, viewed either from the standpoint of recla- 

 mation or of the important agricultural problems presented. 



