John Porter Fort: A Memorial, and Personal Reminiscences

by John Porter Fort

This was a complete drainage and cost about one hundred and fifty dollars. By preventing the pipe from being stopped up with debris, the pond was kept successfully drained for several years. But, finally, through the difficulties of keeping it open, as there were only negroes on the plantation, and because of general inattention, the pipe became stopped up and the pond filled again.

I would here like to state that to my knowledge this method of subterranean drainage has been taken advantage of, in several localities. One that has been specially drawn to my attention is the drainage with six pipes by Mr. T. F. Putney, of Albany, of several hundred acres. This has greatly increased the value of his land. There are many ponds in south Georgia that I believe could be drained in the same way, as I feel assured that this same porous limestone stratum extends under that entire section.

I believe that this method could be the answer to the great problem of draining the Everglades of Florida. That State is now spending large sums of money on the attempt to drain parts of these vast swamps by canals and ditches. I believe that under this section of Florida is the same geological formation as under Dougherty County, Georgia, and into which could be drained the surface water. And at only a fraction of the cost of the system now being attempted.

I also hold the theory that the earth slides at the Panama Canal could be remedied in the same way, these slides being caused by very wet earth. The geological formation at the Isthmus is volcanic, resting on tertiary. Where the slides occur is one hundred feet above sea level. I think that a system of pipes, from the surface into a sand stratum which runs under the Isthmus, would remove the water from this wet earth. I shall not here go into my theory in detail. I have suggested it to Mr. Goethals, the engineer of the canal, and state it here not only as a theory of mine, but as a prophecy of the system that will ultimately be used.

As I became more and more convinced of the immensity of the underground waterways of Georgia, vast underground rivers making their way to the sea, and as I realized more fully the inexhaustible supply of good water to be obtained, I had the vision of a large area of our State being made more healthful because of pure water, and prosperous by the use of that same water for the irrigation of the land in the growing of crops.

I had always been interested in the problem of irrigation. Many years ago, a Mr. H. S. Orme moved from Milledgeville to Los Angeles, California. When on a return visit of Mr. Orme, I asked him what was the most wonderful thing he had seen in the West. He replied that which most impressed him was the fact that on a piece of land watered by irrigation such splendid fruit and vegetables were raised that it was worth five hundred dollars an acre; adjoining this tract was land which could be bought for one dollar per acre because it could not be reached by water. This showed the great value of water, both pieces of land being of the same fertility.

There is no section of Georgia that is arid, but a large section of southern Georgia is subject to prolonged summer drouths, when the crops burn badly, sometimes being totally destroyed. It is good land and with the help of commercial fertilizer and water could make over one hundred bushels of corn and two bales of cotton to the acre. This section is geologically in the tertiary system and I believe that in it artesian water is everywhere obtainable.

I was so impressed with these facts and my belief in the underground waters of the State was so strong, that I determined, if I were ever financially able, to make a practical demonstration of what could be done in this section by the help of irrigation from an artesian well.

In late years, with much difficulty and limited means, I have illustrated the truth of my theory. I have, ten miles from Albany, a plantation known as Tompkins. The land is good and well suited to my purpose. On this plantation I determined to make an irrigation plant. With difficulty, in spite of accidents, I succeeded in boring a well five hundred and fifty feet deep. From a pipe six feet above ground there now flow thirty-five thousand gallons per day. This now fills a reservoir which holds four hundred thousand gallons. This reservoir is about four feet above the field to be irrigated. I was financially unable to make a cement reservoir which would have cost between three and four thousand dollars. I made a cheap substitute of sand and clay at the cost of about one hundred dollars. I plastered the sides and bottom of my reservoir with sand and clay, and which I had mixed by dragging a log back and forth across it. The log acted as a trowel, and made the reservoir perfectly water-tight.

This reservoir now irrigates a field of fourteen acres. On this tract I have for the last three years averaged per acre two bales of cotton, and over one hundred and fifty bushels of corn, and over four hundred bushels of fine onions.