4 BL'LLETIISr 198, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



encounter the belt of elevated land bordering the river, however, 

 they are diverted directly south, their waters eventually reaching 

 Bayou Macon. An exception to this condition is Cypress Creek. 

 As may be seen by figure 1, this stream maintains an outlet directly 

 into the river at about the center of the eastern boundary of the 

 district. It is owing to this fact that a continuous levee can not be 

 constructed along the front of the district under present conditions 

 to exclude the damaging river floods. 



AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS. 



The cultivated areas are mostly confined to the high lands along 

 the bayous, and at present comprise probably not more than 10 per 

 cent of the district; all of these will be benefited by the proposed 

 ditches, which wiU afford outlets for underdrainage. The top soil 

 generally is the ordinary Mississippi alluvium, modified more or less 

 by decayed vegetation. Cotton forms the main crop, though some 

 rice is grown in the north part of the district along the Arkansas 

 River. While by far the larger part of the district is wooded, the 

 area has been fairly well cut over and the larger timber removed. 

 Some logging is still done, but the cutting of railroad ties and stave 

 bolts forms a considerable part of the timber industry. Fairly good 

 roads are maintained along the high-banked bayous, but travel over 

 the roads of the low lands of the mterior is rendered uncertain by 

 overflow. Land values depend largely "upon accessibility and degree 

 of drainage. 



PRESENT DRAINAGE CONDITIONS. 



MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODS. 



Primarily, the reclamation of the area covered by the Cypress Creek 

 drainage district is dependent upon the exclusion of the flood water 

 of the bordering rivers. Before the levees were constructed along the 

 Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, the larger part of the area now 

 included within the boundaries of the district had been subject to 

 intermittent overflow from these streams. The period dm^ing which 

 some measure of protection has been had from levees extends back 

 a great many years. During all this time the levees have from time 

 to time been increased in cross section, as higher flood stages demanded 

 and as funds permitted, until now, so far as they have been con- 

 structed at all, the levees are expected to afford protection against 

 any flood that may be looked for in the light of past experience. 

 The flood of 1912, during which the river rose at Arkansas City to 

 a stage of 2.5 feet higher than any previous record, required the 

 temporary raising of the levee, but did not cause any crevasses along 

 the Desha County front. Apparently the only serious defect in the 

 levee system is the gap at the mouth of Cypress Creek. By reference 

 to figure 2 it will be seen that in the southwest corner of T. 10 S., R. 



