WET LANDS OF SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. 15 



Louisiana since Government weather records haye been feepl in the State, the 

 muck began to burn on subdistrict No. .'{, near Raceland. This tract had been 

 drained but about eight months. A rain of three-fourths of ;m Inch Palled to 

 extinguish the fire. It became necessary to dig a ditch around the fire deep 

 enough to reach to the silt below. This method of checking fire Is practicable 

 and efficient if it is adopted soon enough. ' 



The danger that any considerable area of the reclaimed land will burn Is 

 very remote. The system adopted in reclaiming this land — that of dividing it 

 up into comparatively small levee districts — would limit the extent of the fire, 

 and the division of the districts themselves into small areas by the lateral 

 ditches makes it impossible for the whole of any plantation to be in great 

 danger from fire. The danger from extensive burning to the muck of unre- 

 claimed swamp land is not great, even when the muck is very dry, for the 

 ridges of river silt which occur at frequent intervals would serve as effectual 

 checks to any great progress of the fire. Even if the muck be burned from a 

 tract of land, the underlying silt makes a very excellent although a somewhat 

 heavy and impervious soil. 



The best preventative against the muck burning is cultivation. This prevents 

 the growth of grass or weeds that might burn when dead or extremely dry. 

 All such growth should be plowed under rather than burned, provided it is not 

 so heavy as to make good plowing impossible. If it becomes necessary to burn 

 the growth the burning should not be done when the muck is even partially dry. 

 After several years of cultivation the muck will become much heavier and 

 firmer and be much less likely to burn. However, in extremely dry times pre- 

 caution should be taken to avoid burning any thing in the fields. 



CROPS. 



The staple crops grown in this section of the State are sugar cane, rice, corn, 

 forage crops, and truck. In certain parts, especially along the lower portion 

 of the Mississippi and in other districts near the Gulf, large areas are planted 

 in oranges and other citrus fruits. In the eastern, or Delta, portion sugar cane 

 is the most profitable general field crop, while in the western portion rice is 

 grown almost as exclusively as is sugar cane in the eastern. Some corn is 

 grown in both sections, but not enough to supply the local demand. Of the 

 adaptability of the type of soil called the Sharkey clay, the Bureau of Soils 

 says : 1 



The Sharkey clay was not especially adapted to cane and cotton and w^as 

 no temptation to producers of these commodities, but the increased interest of 

 late years in the production of rice has given a new value to this soil, and if 

 the problem of drainage can be cheaply and successfully solved, the soil is 

 admirably adapted to the production of this crop. Near New Orleans the re- 

 claimed areas are devoted to the dairy business and to market gardening. The 

 fertility of Sharkey clay is almost inexhaustible, and when well drained it. 

 is adapted to any crop which requires a fertile clay soil. The crops most 

 profitably grown near New Orleans are onions, cabbage, eggplant, and tomatoes. 



The soil is exceptionally easy to cultivate, due to the large percentage of 

 vegetable matter present. In times of drought it retains moisture much better 

 than the other soils in this section, and good crops have been produced on it 

 when there were almost complete failures on adjacent sandy lands, owing to 

 the lack of moisture. 



While practically the entire list of staple and truck crops suitable to this 

 climate have been grown profitably on the reclaimed areas, sugar cane, corn, 

 and oats have been the principal crops. Yields of all crops have been good 



HJ. S. Dept. Agr., Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1903, p. 452. 



