174 
SUGAR-PLANTATIONS IN LOUISIANA-SURFACE AND WHEEL-DRAINING. 
adapted to the cane, is reclaimed and put into the 
best condition for the hardier kinds, under the best 
system of tillage, with the most efficient and eco¬ 
nomical conversion of the product into sugar, these 
states alone are capable of producing far beyond 
the aggregate product of the whole world in 1844, 
which was below 780,000 tons. 
I will occupy the remainder of the space I shall 
presume to claim for a single number, by briefly 
noticing one of the improvements in this culture, 
that, I am confident, must be rapidly adopted here¬ 
after, throughout the entire delta, and which, more 
than any other, and perhaps than all others united, 
will inevitably contribute to this result. 
From the unvarying level of this sugar region ; 
the excessive rains that frequently abound during 
the growing season ; the great heights of the Missis¬ 
sippi and its minor outlets, during the same period, 
presenting a head of several feet above the level of 
the cultivated land ; and where the soil is not porous 
and liable to an excess of water on the surface from 
this hydrostatic pressure, it is so tenacious in con¬ 
sequence of the predominance of clay, as to hold it 
to the great injury of vegetation, and from the con¬ 
stant elevation of water in the rear, coming within 
a few inches of the surface, and being permanently 
backed up by the waters in the Gulf, are therefore 
incapable of being changed from each of these 
conditions separately, and hence, immeasurably 
more when combined, and bearing upon the same 
area, it is indicated conclusively, and beyond all 
cavil or dispute, that draining, deep and thorough 
draining, and the removal of all the surplus water, 
is the grand agent in rescuing additional sugar 
lands, and making those already cultivated, vastly 
more productive than they have hitherto been. 
This laudable enterprise has already been com¬ 
menced by a few intelligent planters; yet having 
been but recently attempted, its results have not yet 
demonstrated what every principle of vegetable life 
teaches, nay, compels us to believe they must be, 
when thoroughly carried out. I shall describe this 
system as I have seen it on three extensive planta- 
tations. 
The first is that of Mr. Andrew Hodge, which is 
bounded for several miles by bayou Barataria. 
This was formerly one of the numerous outlets 
of the Mississippi, commencing opposite Lafayette, 
just above the city, and emptying into Barataria 
Bay, an arm of the Gulf. Its communication with 
the river has been cut off by the levee on its right 
bank, and the bayou now serves as a drain for the 
Gulf, which, from violent and long-continued winds, 
sometimes raises the water opposite the plantation 
to a height of three feet. As but little of this land 
is higher than four, and much of it not extending 
two feet above the ordinary level, it is obvious that 
even a temporary rise must be a serious injury to 
the growing crop. To prevent this, the entire cul¬ 
tivated land, consisting of some 700 acres, is pro¬ 
tected by continuous embankment. Within, and 
contiguous to this, is a large ditch, communicating 
with numerous leading and cross-ditches of four to 
ten feet wide. A canal, twenty-five feet on the 
surface, and six feet in depth, receives the drainage 
from all these minor ditches, and conducts the water 
of the edge of the bayou, where it is discharged. If 
the water within be higher than on the outside, as 
sometimes occurs, it is permitted to flow out by a 
side cut; but if it be required to sink it lower, as is 
generally the case, the draining wheel is resorted to. 
This is twenty-six feet in diameter and five feet 
wide, and is placed within a small building over 
the ditch, which is here reduced to a flume of brick- 
masonry, supported by solid buttresses at either end. 
After passing the centre of the wheel, the bottom of 
the outlet curves upward, following at the distance 
of half an inch the outer edge of the wheel, till it 
reaches within two feet of the general level out¬ 
side, when it is discharged, and passes off through 
self-adjusting iron gates, that open outwards, by the 
pressure of the water, and close from its reaction. 
The buckets of the wheel are five feet wide by 
six deep, and run within half an inch of the walls 
on either side. They are fastened upon arms, at- 
tached to inner rims, which are themselves support¬ 
ed by iron arms, projecting from the centre. They 
are simply plain surfaces of boards, like those of 
an undershot wheel, whose direction forms an an¬ 
gle, with a line extending from the outer edge to 
the centre, of about HP or 15°. When the flume 
is full, they strike the water at a very slight 1 
angle, the bucket nearly coinciding with the sur¬ 
face, while they throw it out nearly at right angles. j 
The motion of the water, when the discharge has ful¬ 
ly commenced, prevents any loss of power, from the 
seeming disadvantage of the direction at which the 
buckets enter, and the process of removal goes on 
at a prodigious, rate. Mr. Hodge estimates, that 
with his engine of forty horse-pow r er, he can 
throw out, with full ditches, 3,000,000 gallons of 
water per hour ; and that after the heaviest rains, 
he can deliver all the water which his drains can 
bring to the wheel, from his enclosure, within a few 
hou rs. 
The two plantations of Mr. Thomas Morgan, on 
the left bank of the Mississippi, fourteen miles be¬ 
low the city, embracing some 1,300 acres of culti¬ 
vated land, are also very thoroughly drained by 
the use of a wheel, similarly constructed. This is 
twenty-four feet in diameter, with forty buckets, i 
arranged in the same manner as the one just de¬ 
scribed. I saw this in operation, three hours after 
it had been started, to throw out the accumulation 
from a short but heavy rain, and it had been draw¬ 
ing the water from a canal, five feet deep, and while 
doing only half work, effectually prevented any ac- I 
cumulation. Mr. M. states, that some rains have 
produced a fall of four inches, yet that all this body 
of water which can be led into the main canal, is 
capable of being expelled by the wheel within ten 
or twelve hours. A slow drainage continues from | 
the saturated soil, which, of course, requires a long¬ 
er period for its removal. 
The relative position of the two draining ma- l 
chines is different, owing to the difference of loca- ! 
tion. The first occupies the front upon the bayou, I 
which is on a level with the water in the Gulf; j 
while the latter is placed in the rear, where there is j 
less excavation to produce a descending current, and 
the swamp, at this point, is on the level with the 
bayou in the former, and six or eight feet lower ; 
than the river in front. These wheels are of the 
simplest and most efficient construction; and I do 
not believe that they admit of any improvement in 
economy and rapidity, in discharging the water for ! 
