I S4 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



about five-sixths as much water was required as for producing the 

 same weight of grain and forage in corn. 1 



42. DRAINAGE AS A MEANS OF RECLAIMING LAND* 

 BY SAMUEL H. McCRORY 



Back and Jacob swamps are located on the south side of the 

 Lumber River, in Robeson County, North Carolina. The watershed 

 of Back Swamp is about 17 miles long and varies in width from one- 

 half to 2^ miles, and contains 21,550 acres, about one- third of which 

 is under cultivation. Jacob Swamp has a watershed 9^ miles long 

 and varies in width from i to 4 miles. Its drainage area contains 

 9,980 acres, approximately one-fourth of which is cultivated land. 

 Gum and Cotton Mill branches are two small tributaries which empty 

 directly into the river and drain 1,320 acres, about 10 per cent of 

 which is under cultivation. 



The natural drainage of nearly all the land in the district is poor. 

 The land on the ridges that can be most easily drained has been cleared 

 and is under cultivation/ The lowlands and that in the swamps is 

 still in timber, although in places attempts have been made to clear 

 this land and to farm it. The land will grow fine crops in dry years 

 when conditions are favorable, but in wet years the crops are failures. 

 The greater part of the timberland in the district has such poor drain- 

 age that until improved outlets are provided for the drainage it cannot 

 be cleared and cultivated successfully. The cultivated land has almost 

 the same need for drainage as the unimproved. Attempts have been 

 made to drain this land, but on account of the poor outlets for the field 

 ditches it has not been possible to obtain the results desired; nearly 

 every field in the district shows the need of better drainage. 



During the rainy season the entire district is wet. The flat char- 



of the watershed makes the movement of the water to the 



present drainage channels extremely slow; over much of the district 



the water stands in the low places until it evaporates. The present 



1 The extensive use of alfalfa in the drier sections is made possible by reason 

 of its deep-rooting habit, and much work has been done in the direction of per- 

 fecting its drought-resisting qualities. Similarly, durum or macaroni wheat ex- 

 tended the wheat-growing area in semiarid regions. See Yearbook of the Department 

 of Apiculture, 1903, pp. 329, etc. EDITOR. 



Adapted from "A Report upon the Back Swamp and Jacob Swamp Drainage 

 District, Robeson County, North Carolina," Bulletin 246, Office of Experiment 

 Stations, United States Department of Agriculture, pp. 8-33. 



