Drainage Canal Entering into Main Canal 



Reclaiming Marsh Prairies of the Delta 



The method of reclamation is simple, practical and of moderate cost, 

 when compared with the cost of reclaiming, by irrigation, the arid lands either 

 in Egypt or in the western part of the United States. The land is level and 

 open, is covered with a luxuriant growth of marsh grass, and while appearing 

 to be almost sea level, is in reality from three to five feet higher, but lacks suffi- 

 cient fall to enable it to be drained by gravity. 



In proceeding with its reclamation and preparation for cultivation, a tract 

 of 5,000 or 10,000 acres of the marsh land is selected at random from a drainage 

 unit. By means of a floating dredge, a canal is cut entirely encircling the tract, 

 the excavated earth being thrown on the inside so as to form a surrounding 

 embankment or levee some six or seven feet in height. The area thus enclosed 

 is then supplied with a system of drainage canals cut every one-half mile apart, 

 leading into a main outfall canal from which the water is removed by a pumping 

 plant located at a point where this canal crosses the dam encircling the enclosed 

 area. All the water is then removed from the enclosed tract, its level being 

 reduced in the canals to five or six feet below the level of the water on the out- 

 side. As the soil is loamy in character, and as the top surface is almost pure 

 decayed vegetation, the land dries out very rapidly, enabling the grass to be 

 burned off and the land to be immediately plowed and prepared for cultivation. 



The area thus reclaimed is then incorporated under the laws of Louisiana 

 as a municipal district and drainage bonds are issued and sold to pay for the 

 work of reclamation. The average cost of this is about $35 per acre, distrib- 

 uted over a period of forty years. The bonds are a first lien on the land and 

 draw five per cent interest, which together with the cost of maintenance and 

 the sinking fund, is provided for by the levy of a special drainage tax amounting 

 to about $2.50 per acre per annum. 



Although the work of reclaiming this alluvial area has been in progress but 

 a few years, there are already quite a number of reclamation units in a 

 highly flourishing and prosperous condition, with approximately 35,000 acres 

 under cultivation, and as the lands become better known to prospective settlers 

 throughout the corn belt states, there is a constantly increasing demand for 

 them. 



Soil 



The soil forming this entire Alluvial Delta Area o\ 5,000,000 acres is pure 

 Mississippi River silt. The top surface of the reclaimed marsh area, to a depth 

 ui two or three feet, consists of decayed vegetable matter, exceedingly rich in 



