| Show A SUCCESS mr W 0 knudson Knud aon the man who demonstrated that electric wells would pay has now furnished another eye opener in the matter ot of reclaiming swamp lands by systematic drainage last year sir air knudson began the work and it will be remembered that powder was tried in blasting out the drains it was found that the swamps were nere too spongy to be handled in that manner so the work has been prosecuted by men on the business end ot of a chonel and with very marked success in fact the system has now been installed and the former swamp lands which were so EO spongy that nothing but a duck could get onto them are fast drying out so fast that it is now possible to drive a team and wagon over them in many places the was begun under the direction of mr R A hart government reclamation engineer for this district bud and during the past few weeks mr W A kell kelly of the government reclamation sen serice ice of the wyoming district has been directing the work sir air no ly cohues canles from the big horn country and is reciprocating for assistance rendered by mr hart in his district 1 dur during ing the winter A 1 trip to the gounds just west of tile the 0 S L depot and north of the county road is well worth a couple hours of time for it Is only by seeing what has been accomplished that one can fully realize what drainage in swamp lands will do the writer visited tile the place a year ago and it was utterly impossible to get around except where the quicksand from the drain ditch had been piled high on oll the bank and then the going was none too pleasant but now it is entirely different one can plunge through the rushes cut across the swamp follow the drain or go anywhere and the footing in is solid so rapidly Is the nater ater being carried off at the lower end here all the he laterals literals late rals converge a stream of water Is pouring down the channel as large as that which flows west from the tabernacle corner on second south street in the summer time just to show how low much of a stream mug luns along each lateral mr air knudson jammed his shovel betic between en two joints of tile and shut off the flow instantly the water spurted up between the tiling for some distance hack back or until the entire stream was honin robins aloe alo tile the top of al the tile and it was big bg enough to supply one of the city irrigation ini irti gation ditches with more water than goes into it over the city he adgate when the shovel was pulled up and tile the water released the tile pipe was lunning filled to its capacity and that was just one lateral there are several and where they all empty into the waste ditch a big stream ot of water Is the result mr li knudson midson called particular attention it to one spot of the swamp under a row of willows which has bee been 1 a quagmire ever since he has owned the larni farm some ten years or more and which was several rods from the drain ditch toddy today that particular spot can be walked over in fact the writer and mr knudson approached it from the swamp side and chere once water cress glow diew luxuriantly there Is now only mud that is fast drying up the water is seeping out from the bottom following the level until it comes in contact with the open drain vi where here it finds escape cape through tile the tile pipe mr knudson lias has twenty acres ot of swamps or that which was swamps as scon as tile the rost frost is out ol of tile alie ground lie expects to plow it all up ile he stated slated that tho the cost of reclaiming the tract would approximate 1000 granting that it does cost that much that would bo SO 0 per acre for drainage and by making that expend expenditure itu re land nd that was worth practically noth ing for it was too boggy even for cows to pasture on it is now worth one hundred dollars per gilcre cre and when it is properly cultivated it will pay the interest on a great many times that amount mr knudson disposed of five acres of the tract to prof C 0 at the above price and both gentlemen propose to get their ground in shape as quickly as possible and plant truck garden stuff it will be seen then that by spending one thousand dollars mr air knudson has made twenty acres of valueless ground to be worth 2000 or just twice what it cost him to reclaim it added to that is the stream of water developed which is worth a great deal and mr air knudson expects to get full value ou out of it too then added to the whole I 1 is the satisfaction of having accod the feat of making it possible to produce rich and valuable crops were nothing but rushes grew before mr knudson has about completed tile the work of putting a layer of cinders on top of the tiling and when that is finished the drains ft ill be covered over and then the ground Is ready tor for the plowman before the covering in begins it will prove mighty interesting is as well as profitable to any one VI LIU will ALLA V hie 1111 tl ip tv IU t tuc place to see just how the work has been accomplished the thing I 1 is a reality and will speak tor for itse itself if |
