42 BULLETIN 11, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Condition of Land for Cultivation. 



The pump was first started on this tract about March, 1910. The canals had 

 been cut some months before and the lateral ditches had also been in operation 

 on the higher portions for about the same length of time. Some 300 acres of 

 land were brought under cultivation during the spring of 1910, a large part of 

 it by the use of horses and ordinary farm machinery. The remainder of 

 this 300-acre tract was broken with a pulverizer attached to an apron-traction- 

 ditcher frame. During the season of 1911 about as much more area was 

 brought under cultivation. Nearly all of the tract that had been ditched could 

 have been cultivated from the first. Much of the land in the lower portion of 

 the tract is not yet completely ditched ; in this part the ground is still far too 

 soft to allow the use of horses or mules and ordinary farm machinery. 



The general crop grown was corn, with a small acreage of cane planted in 

 1911. Both crops were uniformly good, the cane being especially heavy. 



AREA NO. 5, DES ALLEMANDS, LAFOURCHE PARISH, LA. 



This tract of land (fig. 12) is one of the newest of the reclamation districts, 

 and has only been under drainage since September, 1911. It lies on the western 

 side of Bayou des Allemands, which at this point is several hundred feet wide 

 and from 10 to 15 feet deep. The district contains 1,880 acres and includes 

 a portion of the village of Des Allemands. lying on the western side of the 

 bayou and south of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The land is 1 or 2 feet 

 above ordinary tidewater in the bayou, and a large percentage of it is made 

 up of firm silt ridges, with a very thin layer of muck on the surface. At inter- 

 vals there occur old muck-filled bayous, having widths of from 100 to 200 feet 

 and depths of from 10 to 15 feet; however, the land is mostly quite firm, the 

 proportion of such soft ground being about 10 per cent. Some of it was solid 

 enough to plow in the ordinary manner as soon as the water was removed by 

 the pumps. Except for a few scattering trees on the high ridges, most of the 

 tract is covered with a heavy growth of the natural prairie grass. The muck 

 averages from 8 to 12 inches in depth and is quite turfy in character. 



Levees. 



On two sides of this tract the problem of levee building was a simple one. 

 The embankment of the Southern Pacific Railroad makes an excellent levee 

 on one entire side and on the side that borders the bayou the solid ridge of silt 

 was almost continuous and averaged about 2 feet above mean tide. Twice over 

 with the dredge along the bayou made a levee about 5 feet high and having a 

 top width of from 8 to 12 feet. The side slopes on this part of the levee are 

 about \\ to 1. It is expected to use this part of the levee for a road, and as 

 the material is almost pure silt it should make an excellent roadway. After 

 the first layer of material was placed in this levee a muck ditch was cut along 

 its inside slope. When the second layer was placed this ditch was filled with 

 pure silt taken from the bottom of the levee canal. This should give a levee 

 that will be free from any great amount of seepage through the base. On the 

 other two sides of the district canals had been cut some years before and the 

 material thrown on both sides. This left a low solid base for the levee, and in 

 most places once over with the dredge gave a levee 3 or 4 feet high with a top 

 width of from 4 to 6 feet. The side slopes on this portion of the levee are from 

 2 to 3 horizontal to 1 vertical. The berm varies from 5 to 10 feet. Except 

 where some old muck-filled bayous are crossed, the levee is high enough to pre- 



