30 BULLETIN 652, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



means of a herringbone gear to a 215-horsepower motor. Current is supplied 

 by a power line from an electric company in New Orleans. The pumps are 

 primed by means of a chamber-wheel vacuum pump driven by an auxiliary 

 motor. The machinery is housed in a stucco-covered concrete building with 

 structural-steel framework. The suction pipes are expanded at their ends with 

 a long taper, so that the entrance and friction losses probably are less than 0.3 

 foot. The pipes are cut vertically at the end, and a row of sheet piling has been 

 driven in the suction basin to form a funnel to direct the water into the ends of 

 the pipes. As shown in figure 6, the pumps have an overshot discharge and 

 are set so that the discharge openings are above high water in Lake. Pont- 

 chartrain. The pipes are enlarged with a long taper so that the loss of velocity 

 head is probably less than 0.3 foot. 



The foundation of the building and machinery is supported by round piling, 

 and the whole is inclosed by a wall of steel sheet piling driven deep into the 

 sand. This sheet piling forms a bond with the concrete foundation. 



Condition of Land foe Cultivation. 



From 1908 to 1913 only about 600 acres were drained. During this time only 

 a very small amount of land was cultivated, and this was almost entirely the 

 firmer soil along the lake. By the end of 1913, 300 acres were cultivated ; dur- 

 ing 1914, 1,700 acres ; during 1915, 4,500 acres ; and by the end of 1916, 6,000 

 acres. This land was brought in as fast as it was well drained. Usually the 

 land ditched one year was cultivated the next. In bringing the land under culti- 

 vation the heavy growth of grass and considerable scattering brush were re- 

 moved by burning, or by cutting and burning. Most of the cutting of the 

 grass was done with power machinery. Light automobiles were rebuilt so as 

 to have sheet-iron rimmed wheels with a width of 15 inches. These were used 

 in drawing mowing machines mounted on wheels with wide treads. Each mow- 

 ing machine was driven by a small independent gasoline engine mounted on 

 the mowing machine itself. The land then was plowed with large disk plows 

 drawn by tractors (PI. I, fig. 1). After the land had been harrowed and allowed 

 to settle for a short period it was usually possible to work farm animals on the 

 land, provided the weather was reasonably dry and the feet of the animals 

 were equipped with broad shoes locally known as "bog shoes." The first crop 

 planted usually was corn. This was followed by various truck crops or corn 

 the next year. The surface of the land rapidly became firmer, and during the 

 second year of cultivation, except in wet weather, ordinary farm animals could 

 work without difficulty. As rapidly as the land came into good condition it 

 was planted in citrus trees and the cultivation of field crops continued between 

 the rows. 



DES ALLEMANDS DRAINAGE DISTRICT, DES ALLEMANDS, LA. 



This tract (fig. 7) has been drained since the latter part of 1911. It lies on 

 the western side of Bayou Des Allemands and south of the Southern Pacific 

 Railroad. A portion of the town of Des Allemands is located in the northeast 

 corner of the district. The land is from 1 to 2 feet above the ordinary stage 

 of water in the bayou, and a large percentage is made up of firm silt ridges 

 with a very thin layer of muck on the surface. Old muck-filled bayous, having 

 widths of from 100 to 200 feet, occur at intervals. The muck in these is from 

 4 to 8 feet in depth. However, the land mostly is quite firm, the proportion - 

 of soft ground being about 10 per cent. The average depth of muck was from 

 8 to 18 inches Except for a few scattering trees on the ridges the land origi- 

 nally was covered with the usual heavy growth of natural prairie grass. 



