56 BULLETIN 1017, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The Eed Eiver watershed includes large areas of land that origi- 
nally were sloughs, marshes, and swamps. These are of two classes 
with respect to location and origin of swampy condition; namely, 
those lying near the Eed Eiver in the bed of the glacial Lake Agassiz, 
and those outside the old beaches and situated at a considerably 
higher elevation. The former owe their existence as marsh land 
to the spreading of the larger streams as they came from the higher 
ground into the flat lake bed, and to small creeks, blind coulees, and 
general surface flow on to the almost level land bordering the river. 
These swamp areas lie on both sides of the Eed Eiver for the greater 
part of its length and generally are free from timber. The second- 
named type of swamp results from insufficient outlet due to flatness 
and to natural barriers to stream flow in the form of ridges. Most 
swamps of this class lie in the eastern part' of the watershed. Some 
the low pockets entirely surrounded by higher land, but for the most 
part they are swamps of comparatively wide extent and are perma- 
nently saturated. Direct precipitation, surface flow, and small streams 
constitute the source of their water. Lying as they do in the upper 
part of the watershed, no large streams traverse them as in the case of 
those in the lower levels. In fact, most of the larger streams which 
contribute to the swampy conditions below have their sources in 
these upper areas. These swamps, for the most part, originally 
were timbered, although in places there were considerable areas of 
open country and more has been cleared as drainage activities have 
progressed. 
DEAINAGE DITCHES. 
■ 
In studying the artificial drainage of the watershed the .flat areas 
which form the old lake bed were considered separately from the 
upland areas. The lands included in the former class are those lying 
on both sides of the river inside the 1,050-foot contour, (see fig. 1) 
from Lake Traverse to the north line of Eichland and Wilkin Coun- 
ties; inside the 1,000-foot contour from there to an east-west line 
through Fargo ; inside the 950-foot contour from Fargo to an east- 
west line through Grand Forks; and inside the 900-foot contour 
from there to the Canadian boundary. The drains which serve 
these lowlands have but little fall- and lie only slightly higher than 
the Bois de Sioux and Eed Eivers which they enter either directly or 
through short reaches of natural streams. Consequently, they de- 
pend to a large extent for efficiency upon the conditions of river 
flow and are intimately connected with any project concerning the 
river. The upland systems, with greater fall and free-flowing out- 
lets, are not directly concerned with the conditions below. 
The wet lands along the main watercourse have been improved by 
enlarging and extending the channels of the larger streams, and by 
systems of open ditches. The most extensive work of this nature 
