62 



BULLETIN 71, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



AREA NO. 8, NEW ORLEANS, LA. 



LEGEND 



Leyee 



Canals. — 



Railroads. 



This tract of land (fig. 17) lies within the city limits of New Orleans. It 

 contains 1,085 acres. The district originally was a part of the swamp, and had 



a heavy gi'owth of several varieties 

 of trees, although the predominating 

 variety was cypress. There is a deep 

 layer of muck on this tract, quite 

 similar to the usual wet prairie 

 nmck, except that it contains a large 

 percentage of leaves and twigs. 

 Underneath this layer of muck is a 

 subsoil of very sandy material that 

 is quite porous. The growth of trees 

 .has been almost entirely cut, but as 

 a whole the land is not cultivated 

 and is allowed to grow up in weeds 

 and brush. About 10 per cent of the 

 ai'ea is now taken up by improved 

 city lots. 



The tract was inclosed by levees 

 about five years ago. The levee 

 along the canals was built a number 

 of years earlier and the work was 

 done by dredge. This levee has a 

 width of from 20 to 40 feet on top. 

 that part along the west side being 

 used as a grade by the West End 

 Railway, and that along the east 

 side as a highway. The levee along 

 Lake Pontchartrain was built with 

 wheelbarrows, of a soil that is very 

 porous and contains a high percent- 

 age of vegetable material, and as 

 there is a canal quite close to the 

 inside slope it is reasonably certain 

 that the seepage is considerable. 

 The fact that underlying this thick 

 layer of muck there is a subsoil of 

 porous sand would make seepage 

 probable, not only under the small 

 levee along the lake, but also under 

 both wide levees along the canals. 

 The interior drainage canals have 

 been cut to the sizes shown in figui-e 

 17. and have been maintained nearly 

 to their original size. Their average 

 depths are from 6 to 8 feet. About 

 2 feet of water is kept in the canals 

 to check the growth of vegetation. 

 No extensive system of lateral 

 ditches has yet been constructed on this tract, only a few in the immediate 

 vicinity of the improved section having been dug; these, however, drain but 

 a small percentage of the total area. When the entire tract is well drained 



GFR^ 



Fig. 17. — Sketch map of area No. 8, New Or- 

 leans, La., showing arrangement of ditches 

 and levees. 



