402 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. MARCH, 1911
Mkxn~ri (George R’eeder, section director) .-Wheat is re orted to be in good condition. Elberta peach buds, wfich had been forced by the warm weather, were im- The weather
gas been unusually favorable for outdoor occupations. Mississippi (J. H. Scott, section director).- With the exception of 1910, this has been the driest March of
record. The temperature was higher than usual.
aired by the low temperatures of the 16th.
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF LAND DRAINAGE IN BOLIVAR COUNTY, MISS.
By W. W. BOONE, Chief Enginee? Bolivar County Drainage Com- mimion.
In telling of the movement for land reclamation by drainage in Bolivar County, Miss., the writer deems It pro er to give the reader at least a passin
discussion. Without going back farther than the advent of the white nian into this territory, we will begin 50
years ago, when the Mississippi River was spreading her annual flood waters without. human restrictions over the great and fertile l‘azoo-Mississippi Valley, and each year adding to the vast store of natural wealth in the fabulous richness of her “delta” soil. About 1858 the first organized effort in the State of Mississippi was made for proteckion from this yearly flood, when an act was passed by the State legislature creatin the “general levee board.” And then, down all the successive stages of its development, the levee throu% as grown, uiitil to-day we have a system of levees alon our river front the grade of which is 5 feet above the ‘gh-water ade line of the river. Previous t? t e completion of the levees a majority of the planters in cleaiing their ndge land for cultivation had used the winding bayous or sloughs through their roperty as a dumping ground for the logs to be removed ,From the clearing. SO that upon the completion of the levees the planters found that their natural drainage channels were totally inade uate to remove the heavy
and winter months. They then saw, too, that their natural drainage channels were fast fillin up, or were
the aftermath of a great timber industry that had flour- ished in this section. The floocl water of the Mississippi Ri,ver had previous to the completion of the levees served to gather up and bear away on its tide this congestion of drift, brush, and debris, but since they had wisely chosen to exclude this natural flushing system from their domain, the planters were now confrontecl with the fact that they must turn to ai.tificia1 means for the improvement of their drainage outlets. Still another and a grea.ter reason for drainage, however, was the fact that with a
rapidly increasing population, and a peiiod ?f industiial prosperity being enjoyed throughout the entire country, the time was ripe and conditions denianded that the thousands of acres of rich swamp ancl timbered lands lying useless and a burden for the lack of drainage be reclaimed and turned into channels of usefulness. .The question of draina e was agitated by the people of the Yazoo-Mississippi Alley for several years, which movement crystahzed into the passage of the “Alcorn Asicle
gh&cquclintwice wit R the previous history and character of t e lands under
IY a
rainfall which floods all the f owlands during the spring
already filled up, with tree tops, logs, an 8 small clbbiis,
the State legislature in 1906.
drainage law, a number of special acts
creating drainage districts in different parts of the State were passed. By the right expressed in this general draina e law the first step for organized drainage in Bolivar Eounty was taken at a meeting of the leading citizens of the county at the county seat, Cleveland, in the spring of
1907, when petitions were put hi circulation re uesting
lfogne Hasty and Northern drainage districts were thus formed from lands lying for the most part between a large stream, the Bogue Phalia, on the west and the Yazoo & Mississi pi Valley Railroad on the east.
the courts to organize a clraina e district em 7 3 racing s ecifiecl lands in the east end of !i3 olivar County. The
The total area of t P ie two districts taken together was -
146,000 acres. Through the effoi-ts of local landowners a part7 of endneers from the United States DeDartnient of Agri- cuhre, Office of Experinient Statigns, were sent Lon October 7, 1907, to make an investigation of the possi- bilities for drainage within the area pro osed to be
preliiiiinttiy surveys, and on October 3, 1908, submitte to the regularly appointed clrainage commissioners of Bolivar County their plan of relief for the territory cov- ered and the estimated cost of same. The general plan recommended by the Government engineers was followed as to the location of the ditches, but it is a matter of much regret that their estimates as to the cost of com leting the work fell far short of what
illustrate: Right-of-way clearing on the Bogue Phalia, which they estimated to cost $300 per mile, is actually costing $1,100, and right-of-way clearing on east Bogue Hasty, which they estimated to cost $200 per nlile, is actually costing $375. This underestimation of the cost of completing the work in hand would have been a source of much c.onfusion had not this mistake been detected by the drainage commissioners before they made their assessment. The estimated cost submitted in the report of the engi- neers of the United States Department of Agriculture was increased 35’ er cent by the board of drainage commis- sioners and t R eir assessment made accordingly, the total assessment on the 146,000 acres being $335,S57.50.
These figures give an average assessment of about $2.30 an acre. The assessment roll was approved on the 18th of August, 1909.
Twenty- ear bonds bearing 6 per cent interest were
But before the bond sale could be made Hon. Tlios. S. Owen, attorney for the drainage comniissioners, framed a friendly suit and brought it before the supreme court of the State, this action being necessary before the approval of the bond attorne s could be had. The supreme court
bonds were sold at their par value in April, 1910.
On April 18, 1910, the writer was employed as engineer for the drainage commission, the location of the canals was at once macle, and on July 5 contract was let to R. H. & G. A. McWilliams, of Chicago, Ill., for the exca- vation of 1,155,000 cubic yards of earth at the conserv- ative price of 9.65 cents per cubic yard. All of the con- tracts were subsequent!y let for the S5 miles of canal surveyed, at prices ranging froni 10 to 15 cents er cubic
work is 2,942,000 cubic yards, for clitc a es varying from
20 to 100 feet wide. There are now five dredge boats in the district, with two others t.0 be erected within the next
2
drained. These engineers spent four niont R s in niakin
the work is actual P y costing the drainage districts. To
nest issue B in the sum of 80 per cent, of the assessment.
ruled in favor of t i e f drainage district, after which the
yard of excavation. The total yarda e for t K e entire
MARCH, 1911. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 403
60 days, and practically all the work will be completed by June, 1, 1912.
In reviewing some of the many benefits to be derived from the reclamation of swam lands by draina e, atten-
in the two districts is now in cultivation, and that the ditches are so designed RS to relieve all of the land, thus available for cultivation. to estiiiiate all of the benefits to be tem of drainage outlets in Bolivar County. In view of the fact that water is the arch enemy of good roads,
tion is called to the fact that a 1 out 45 per cent o F the land
making the other 55
I t is an utter inipossi of a sys-
that good roads are an impossibility without drain e,
roads alone would warrant the expenditure of eve dol- lar to be used in the construction of our ditches. Then, the improved health conditions resultin from draina e
used for drainage, anzlast, but not least, the certainty of a crop, the increased yield from well-drained land, and the increased land values resulting from drainage are but a few of the countless benefits which are sure to reward the efforts of the citizens of Bolivar County,
b!!iSS.
we see that the improvements resulting to our pubic P
w o u ~ warrant the ex enditure of all t k ie money to f e