112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the drainage work has been found most profitable throughout 

 the middle west. Very large sums are spent at times by 

 some of those districts. The assessment in the case of some 

 of the Iowa lands has averaged $40 or $50 an acre. North 

 Carolina has over 100 drainage districts formed to-day. Those 

 are in various processes of reclamation; some are completed, 

 others are under construction and still others are just being 

 formed. 



Question. I would like to ask the gentleman what the 

 condition of the land was on the farm where 70 bushels of 

 shelled corn to the acre were raised after the land was drained; 

 also what they used for draining and what they found the sub- 

 soil to be. 



Mr. McCrory. It was a swamp; that is the best descrip- 

 tion I can give you. It was almost impassable. The soil is 

 what we call "gumbo" in that country. It is a heavy, te- 

 nacious soil ; when it is wet it is as sticky as anything can be. 



Question. Is it composed of vegetable matter? 



Mr. McCrory. No, it is composed principally of material 

 deposited in still water, very fine silt, of very fine texture, 

 with no sand to speak of; on this particular farm there was 

 some wash from the hills and the soil was practically uniform. 

 I could see no difference in its texture when we went down 4 

 feet or more. We used drainage tile exclusively, emptying into 

 a large ditch near one corner of the farm. The tile varied in 

 size from 12 to 4 inches in diameter. We placed the tile about 

 100 feet apart, on part of the farm. The idea was that later, 

 if found necessary, we could put another line of tile between 

 the strings as we laid them. 



Question. Did you lay those tile right on the ground? 



Mr. McCrory. Right under the ground, about 3 feet deep. 



Question. I should think there would be danger of their 

 getting out of place in that soft land. 



Mr. McCrory. Well, the subsoil is not so soft; down 3 or 

 4 feet it is quite firm. We got the surface water off first by 

 surface ditches. After we let the surface water off we got it 

 quite firm, and then put the tile in and got very good results. 



Question. That sort of land would be firmer than vege- 

 table matter? 



