The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1883-09-27
agricultural.
BRUSH ROWS BETTER THAN
bitches.

BRUSH ROWS BETTER THAN
bitches.
To save bill land from washing it
is only necessary to substitute for
hill side ditching horizontal brush
rows, at proper distances apart, &C
cording to the declivity of the bill.
The readers of the CultiUdtor will
find nothing better for this purpose
than old fold pine brush. When
the brush rots away briars and
broomsedge will take it's place, and
you will have a close hedge to re
main perpetuaIIy.
Although after many years the
hillside will be partially terrsced,
terraciDg is not the purpose, nor is
it at all necessary that the land
should be terrsced to prevent wash
ing. The purpose is to prevent the
accumulation of water in currents or
to break up the currents before they
are strong enough to move the sur"
face soil. If the brush rows are near
enough to each other and are laid on
a dead level, and the points where
they cross the ravines made secure
by logs or stakes Crooks are still bet
teri so that the flow of water with
its sediment may be checked and
distributed along the brush rows,
there can be no rush OF water to
make a break at any point, and by
the time the dead water finds its
way through the brush row along
the line, the fall of the water on the
next plat below is absorbed or out of
the way, and there is no accumula,
tion of water at any point to make
current sufficient to move the surface
soil If it is desired to throw some
of the floating trash on poor level
spot in any part of the field it Is only
necessary to give tho brush row
very gentle slope to that point. But
the main thing to be observed in the
whole system is to lay the brush
rows on a horizontal line, so that ii
there is any break in the hedge it
will only take in the water near that
break, and there will be no rush OF
water to do any damage to the plat
below. We rarely ever have very
heavy and disastrous fall OF rain lastn
ing longer than five minutes at
time. If the hedge rows hold the
flow of water in check half minute
and distribute it along the hedge row,
the danger is passed. The water
finds it's way through at thousand
points and there ia no damaging cur
rent at any point to wash the land
below. The next heavy fall, if it
comes five minutes after, is disposed
of in the same way.
The quantity of land occupied by
the brush rows is not to ha thought
of, when it is known that tho best
constructed hill side ditch not only |
carries off with the water much of
the best surface soil, but much of the
soluble fertilizer from the soil it
leaves behind, BY our system, if
the hill is terraced at all, it lie so
gradually done that the soil on the
plat above the brush row is not
leached of its sand and manure to
build the terraces. The accumula-
ton of floating trash and the rich
growth due to the moisture held by |
the brush row will raise the land
lust above it sufficiently after several
years to be called a terrace. The
system is simple and easily put IN
practice. The brush rows needn't
be more than three or four feet at
the base, and will pay for all the
land they occupy and ten times over.
Instead of providing by bitches an
easy way of running off the much :
needed summer showers, it stands
the farmer in hand to hold all the
rain that falls on his red hillside.