The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-05-27
THE FARM N HOME.
a METHOD or PREVENTING
LAND WASHING.

Claysy Soil Suffers Heavily-To lncrsass
Yierds-A Cure for HeAves-More
Sheep - Farm Notes
and Home Hints.
Twas glad to notice in q late num-
Der of Coleman's Rural World. that
somebody besides myself Is concerned
about the washing of land. l have
felt concerned about that matter ever
since / first came to the clayey West
ern region, writes c. A. Osgood.
More than thirty years ago l wrote In
the N. Y. Tribune that it seemed
as if nature had taken the contract
of filling up the Gulf of Mexico. and
had impressed the farmers OF this
region into her service on the job,
and that they seemed to be good and
willing helpers, rs none OF them that
I know seemed to care for the wash
ing of their lands if so be the number
of acres were left and the ink not
washed out Of their title deeds.
When their fields became well
scored over with: gullies, they would
put some straw in the deeper ones
and pillow all full of top soil and con-
slider the harm all remedied. never
seeming to realize that every opera
ton of that kind lessened the aver
age depth of fertile soil m inch or
more, which in time would bring
the pillow down to sterile clay and
hard-pan. Sandy or gravelly land.
ever of pretty steep slope, will alb
sorb water as fast as it usually falls
in rain.
But it is quite different with a
clayey soil, SO that it suffers not only
from the effects of the washing, but
also from the loss Of the water itself
in case of short, rapid showers in
times of drouth. Once on a bright,
hot day in a time of general drouth.
I came to a creek, wallowing bank
full of thick, muddy water; there had
been a heavy shower higher up, but
none where l was.
We are depicting the fertility of
this Western region pretty rapidly
by the expectation of so much of the
products of the soil. For this we
get some return in cash and goods.
But l have no doubt the Missis-
sippi river drains the country of more
of the valuable elements. of crops,
Soluble and insoluble) than all our
exports together; and for this W. get
no return whatever. l have long re-
garded this waterway waste as a cry
ing evil and serious loss to mankind,
that ought in some way to be OBJ
Waited. Besides the securing of the
soil, there is an immense waste from
nearly all farms that carry much live
stock caused by the teaching and
washing away of manures.
And then, think of it! the elements
OF nine .tenths or OF all the food
consumed in cities and towns are
ruthlessly washed or dumped into the
rivers and ocean, and thus mostly
lost'to the ''habiters of earth" for q
geologic period, more or less. These
things must stop some time. There
is a simple and feasible way to most.
~ prevent land from washing.
l, years ago, saw directions for 1t
in a paper, and practiced it to a small
extent with perfect success. The
directions we're to take a straight
edged board one rod long and nail q
leg to each end, n leg one and one
half inch longer than the other. At.
tach a spirit level to the board (or o
plumb line would do). With this
lay out the waterways in such direc-
ton that the straight edge of the
board will be level with the longer
leg down hill. Stick marking pins
where-each leg stood. Go on for an
other length setting the shorter leg
where the longer hrst stood, and so
on, leaving a marking pin at each
station; then follow the course
marked out with q pillow two to four
burrows, and finish with hoe
Or scraper. In many places .
single furrow would do at lesst
for experiment. l later adopted
more expeditions mode of laying out
the bitches which answers very we'll
wherever the slope is pretty even. /
made q simple stand of conyenient
heighth to hold the level, then
marked on a staff the same heisht Of
the top Of the level, with inch marks
above. then beginning at upper end
Of course sent my helper With the
staff in the direction we were to run.
directing him to pace off q g,ven num-
Der OF rods (more or less. according
to the character of the s~urfacel, then
to face me with his hand on the staff
one and one-half inches above the
level mark for each rod he had gone
out. I would then sight over the
level and motion him up or down hill
until he found the place where the
level would strike his hand (top or
bottom as agreed. Bottom prefera-
bly,. We marked the stations as in
the other way.
! was SO situated that I never did
more of it in either way than 10 fairly
experiment., but / was so we'll salts
fed with the feasibility and benefit
Of the process, that l. intended. If
obliged to retain possession Of NV
farm much longer, to have bought q
road machine for the purpose of max
ing those waterways all over the
place. together with some roads and
perhaps rent the machine to the road
district. And that is just the way
TO do II. A road machine once In a
place and a little finishing up with o
plow and a harrow, would make a
perfect job at small cost. These ways
should be SO broad and shoal (mere
smooth denress;ons 90 vt S'"ste