SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 27


the Gulf and has come to be described as sheet flow (Parker, 1974). The
chronic inundation allowed the accumulation and preservation of the
organic soils and peats which characterize the highly productive Ever-
glades Agricultural Area.
 In about 1880, Hamilton Disston entered into a contract by which he
would drain land on the upper Kissimmee River and receive as compensa-
tion half of the land he drained. His success was debatable (Tebeau,
1974). The history of early drainage efforts is a history of inadequate
technical expertise and insecure funding. The scope of the drainage issue
was continually underestimated. Disastrous floods associated with hurri-
canes in 1926 and 1928 moved the Federal Government to take action.
The extensive floods of 1947 and 1948 made it obvious that water
control had not yet been established and set the stage for the interven-
tion of the Army Corps of Engineers (Tebeau, 1974).
 In 1947, most of south Florida was flooded for several months. The
U.S. Congress, in response to the continuing water-control problems,
passed the Flood Control Act of June 30, 1948. This action directed the
Army Corps of Engineers to plan, design and construct a massive project
which would ultimately solve water problems in all or parts of 18 coun-
ties in central and south Florida (Snyder, et al., 1978). In the plan pro-
posed by the Army Corps of Engineers, major concern was devoted to
the protection of life and property along the lower east coast of Florida.
The first phase of the project involved building an artificial levee from
Lake Okeechobee to about Homestead in order to confine flood waters to
the Everglades. The project was also designed to provide water control
for soil, water conservation and farming (Snyder, et al., 1978).
 After studies by both the United States Department of Agriculture and
the University of Florida, the lands of the present "Everglades Agricul-
tural Area" were set aside for agricultural development. The organic soils
of the Agricultural Area were the only soils of sufficient depth and of the
proper type to support cultivation for a period of time sufficient to justify
development (Snyder, et al., 1978). It is important to note that when the
Everglades Agricultural Area was being planned it was recognized that
subsidence of organic soil would occur and that the area could not sup-
port cultivation indefinitely (Snyder, et al., 1978).

 Crops and Soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area

 The Florida Everglades comprises the single largest body of organic
soils in the world, 1,976,800 acres (Shih, 1980). The Everglades Agri-
cultural Area consists of 765,700 acres of fertile organic soil. Winter
vegetables from the Agricultural Area include sweet-corn, celery, rad-
ishes, leaf crops, carrots and beans. In addition, lands of the agricultural
tract are used for sugar cane, pasture and turf (Shih, 1980). Sugar cane
is the dominant crop with cash receipts of $215 million in 1977- 1978
(Snyder, et al., 1978).
 The proximity of the Florida Agricultural Area to the south.shore of