The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-12-24

I1ulalns Some Points in His Previous Let
ter
cor-.-ppndence OF The Progressive Farmer.
] thank Mr. Goldman for his criti
cism IF nv article on level terracing.
l see that was not sufficiently ex
pli7it. I will now try 80 be so.
He is right as TO it's danger. But
that ia only when it is not properly
and thoroughly done. All bad ter
racing and bad hillside ditohing ia
dangerous. Level terraotng badly
done il infinitely more so.
In level terraciug there must be
TERRACE FOR EVERY THREE FEET
of fall, the distance between the ter
races, Of course, being dependent on
whether the field slopes gradually or
rapidly. The right way is TO go 80
the tOD of the hill and run one ter
race three feet below that apex ami
so on down every three feet.
Secondly, the terrace
MUST BE ACCURATELY RUN.
Cheaper levels without telescopes
can bs used, but we use one made
specially for the purpose, provided
with small telescope, spirit level and
adjusting screws. It cost $25, but
one would answer for q whole neigh
borhOod, and being most substan-
tally made OF brass will last for gen
Grafton consider is about the best
investment made in my twenty-nine
years ex Jerisnoe as q business man
So accurate is it that l GOULD set it in
one place and run off ditch or ter
race 300 yards distant, detecting d
variation of half an inch, or even
less.
Thirdly, the banks on the lower
side OF each terrace must Rt once be
THROWN UP HIGH AND STR pNG
We nave at last hit upon an idea
two-hOrse plOw for the purpose 1t
has a very large swivel wing, which
at every turn is swung over so as e.
throw the furrow down hill. The
terrace line marked eff with small
stakes and then furrow, begin at
this furrow with your hillside plow,
plpwing back ward and forward along
the terrace line and above it, throw
ing each furrOw down hill. Mr.
Goldman ard all good farmers under
stand this. Continue thus until say
a dozen burrows are run Tnen be
gin ag in on the lover side of SAM
terrace and repeat the blowing four,
five or six times, plowing two or
three burrows wide every time till
the bank is two feet high and say
twenty to thirty furrows broad.
If praotica BILE each of these plow
ings c uld be continued higher ~
or even to the lDwer side of the ter
race above. This would inv i've
some six plOwings Of the whole field,
which Ia much more than the aver
age farmer can even think of. B =
sides, if all done at once, it would
leave d strip bare of soil several feet
broad Just below each terrace, caused
by tne shifting of soil down hill in
the p.O wing to form the terrace By
blowing ths terraces only, five or six
times and the intervening spaces
once or vice each year, the soil will
be grad 1ally shifted down hill and
the settling of the water in this bare
striD-which is will do more or less
as it is more or less Of depression
T., : nh
est nart of the strip
Proper terraoing involves Some
outlay FIR proper implements-the
ordinary hillside flow is a toy-and
some labor. But it's advantages art
immense. From all indications ii
VIII tulIv
DOUBi THE VALUE OF ALL OUR LAND
IN less, apparently much less, than
ten Years The advantages are
verv great over slOping terraces tina
we re discarding them entirely
Within a few years we shall have
our rolling and hilly land series OF
level stairsteps, or rather have eact
strip between the terraces sl1pins
up hill That il constant plO wing, |
throwing every furrow down hill,
will make the upper edge of this
stip lower than the lower end, if |
may he allowed 81, bernioism. This |
will, almost 'OlutelY,
PREVENT ALL WASHING,
she water largely soaking into the
soil where it falls, to it's gradual en-