6 BULLETIN 114, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In general, the drainage outlets are low, flat branches or swamps, 
varying in width from 50 to 1 ,500 feet and having in most instances 
no discernible channel or "run." Where a branch has a run of appre- 
ciable size, the latter will almost invariably be found so choked with 
fallen logs and trees, bushes, and all manner of debris, as to afford 
but a poor channel for the water. The branches are overgrown with 
thick underbrush and water-loving trees, such as cypress, gum, maple, 
and ash, through which the water finds its way but slowly There 
being in most places no channel, the water covers the ground from 
hill to hill, and the swamps, therefore, can not be cultivated. Where 
the adjoining land lies but little above the level of the swamp it also 
is affected to a great extent by this water, which seeps the land and 
thus keeps it wet and sour. While cleaning out these swamps would 
undoubtedly help conditions considerably, this alone will not give 
satisfactory drainage, which can result only from lowering the water 
table by the construction of deep ditches. These swamps are almost 
continually wet, and in most seasons contain standing water. How- 
ever, with the exception of those near the Savannah River, they all 
have large fall and can easily be drained. The bays and ponds 
where most of these branches have their rise are very flat, and for 
this reason will be much more difficult to drain. 
In places throughout the district ditches have been dug in these 
branches, and much good has resulted from them. Hurricane Branch 
and Hog Branch have been improved in this manner, and little addi- 
tional work on them is necessary, the swamp often being under 
cultivation right up to the edge of the ditch. These are exceptions, 
however, and comparatively little work of this character has been 
done. After having been constructed, these ditches have not always 
been maintained, and consequently have filled up and fallen into 
disuse. 
SOn. AND CROPS. 
The predominating soil of the district is a light sandy loam under- 
lain by a reddish to yellow clay subsoil at depths of 4 to 18 inches. 
This is the type most generally cultivated in the district at this time. 
The soil on the flat "piney woods" land is composed of a grayish 
clay, which is extremely tenacious and is difficult to drain on account 
of its compact nature. Toward the Savannah River the sandy soil 
changes to a red clay, which can be seen outcropping in places. 
The soil of the bays, swamps, and branches is a heavy black muck, 
several feet thick, which in most places is underlain by a clay, but 
in some of the bays by a sandy subsoil. While the ditches planned 
are to be located almost entirely in the muck soil of the swamps and 
branches, they are to furnish drainage outlets for all the district, as 
all the soil types need drainage, though the need is not so great for 
the loam soil as for the others. 
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