Nov. 5, 1917 
Run-off from Drained Prairie Lands 
251 
3 days, no flooding of the surface occurred. A small amount of seepage 
entered the district during the last day or two of November and the first 
10 days of December. Continued drainage and cultivation had so com¬ 
pacted the humus or muck which originally covered the surface on this 
district that the top soil was no longer greatly different in appearance 
from that encountered on the average cultivated fields on near-by planta¬ 
tions. Careful examination would still show the origin of the top soil, 
but it had lost all of its turfy characteristics. 
Conditions during 1915.—The entire area was cultivated and well 
drained until the end of September. The early part of the year was very 
dry, but abnormally heavy rains occurred in the last few days of Sep¬ 
tember and the early part* of October and caused overflow from the 
adjoining highland. This water was pumped out, but it is not included 
in the records, as it did not represent typical conditions. 
WILLSWOOD PLANTATION—AREA, 2,600 ACRES 
This plantation, located about 10 miles above New Orleans, fronts on 
the Mississippi River. The soil along the river front is of a characteristic 
sandy nature, becoming finer grained as the distance from the river 
bank increases. A tract of about 800 acres which makes up the rear 
of the plantation was at one time a part of the adjacent wet prairie. It 
w T as formerly covered with a light growth of willows and the usual prairie 
grass. The humus or muck was originally 3 or 4 feet deep, although 
at present, after about 19 years of cultivation, it is well decayed and com¬ 
pacted, making a rather heavy soil. The total fall in the land surface 
from the front to the rear of the plantation is about 10 feet. 
All the small field ditches run from the front to the rear of the planta¬ 
tion, down the greatest slope; but frequent larger cross ditches inter¬ 
cept these field ditches at intervals of about a quarter of a mile and carry 
the water to larger canals, which run in the same direction as the field 
ditches. The main reservoir along the rear of the plantation carries 
the water to the pumping plant. The capacity of the pumping plant 
was about 1.50 inches of water on the area drained per 24 hours. The 
capacity of the reservoir was about 0.40 inch of water over the area. 
The levee was built around this district from material taken from 
immediately inside of the levee, and yet no appreciable amount of water 
seeps into the reservoir canals. All water is pumped out promptly from 
this district, and the reservoir canal is kept nearly empty, in readiness 
for heavy rains. 
In the early spring of 1911 the area was increased by the addition of 
about 200 acres of river-front land, enlarging the total area to 2,600 
acres. The pumping plant capacity was thus reduced to 1.40 inches per 
24 hours, but, as the reservoir canals were later cleaned out, the reservoir 
capacity became about 0.42 inch. Except for high-water conditions in 
