6 BULLETIN 114, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In general, the drainage outlets are low, flat branches or swamps, 

 varying in width from 50 to 1,500 feet and having in most instances 

 no discernible channel or "run." Where a branch has a run of appre- 

 ciable size, the latter will almost invariably be found so choked with 

 fallen logs and trees, bushes, and all manner of debris, as to afford 

 but a poor channel for the water. The branches are overgrown with 

 thick underbrush and water-loving trees, such as cypress, gum, maple, 

 and ash, through which the water finds its way but slowly There 

 being in most places no channel, the water covers the ground from 

 hill to hill, and the swamps, therefore, can not be cultivated. Where 

 the adjoining land lies but little above the level of the swamp it also 

 is affected to a great extent by this water, which seeps the land and 

 thus keeps it wet and sour. WTiile cleaning out these swamps would 

 undoubtedly help conditions considerably, this alone will not give 

 satisfactory drainage, which can result only from lowering the water 

 table by the construction of deep ditches. These swamps are almost 

 continually wet, and in most seasons contain standing water. How- 

 ever, with the exception of those near the Savannah River, they all 

 have large fall and can easily be drained. The bays and ponds 

 where most of these branches have their rise are very flat, and for 

 this reason will be much more difficult to drain. 



In places throughout the district ditches have been dug in these 

 branches, and much good has resulted from them. Hurricane Branch 

 and Hog Branch have been improved in this manner, and little addi- 

 tional work on them is necessary, the swamp often being under 

 cultivation right up to the edge of the ditch. These are exceptions, 

 however, and comparatively little work of this character has been 

 done. After having been constructed, these ditches have not always 

 been maintained, and consequently have filled up and fallen into 

 disuse. 



SOIL AND CROPS. 



The predominating soil of the district is a light sandy loam under- 

 lain by a reddish to yellow clay subsoil at depths of 4 to 18 inches. 

 This is the type most generally cultivated in the district at this time. 

 The soil on the flat "piney woods" land is composed of a grayish 

 clay, which is extremely tenacious and is difficult to drain on account 

 of its compact nature. Toward the Savannah River the sandy soil 

 changes to a red clay, which can be seen outcropping in places. 

 The soil of the bays, swamps, and branches is a heavy black muck, 

 several feet thick, which in most places is underlain by a clay, but 

 in some of the bays by a sandy subsoil. While the ditches planned 

 are to be located almost entirely in the muck soil of the swamps and 

 branches, they are to furnish drainage outlets for all the district, as 

 all the soil types need drainage, though the need is not so great for 

 the loam soil as for the others. 



