The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1906-05-25
LOSS OF SOIL BY EROSION.
One of the Largest Leaks For Money
on the American Farm.

! One of the Largest Leaks For Money
on the American Farm.
The moving of soil by water is not
confined to large streams, as many
farmers know to their sorrow. Every
tiny rill trickling down the slope car
rieS off some of the finest and richest
soil on the farm. After Il heavy rain
the hollows are muddy with it. The
deep burrows left up and down the
slope by the cultivator teeth become
miniature water courses, n the trio
king water eXacts a tribute Of rich soil
before it joins the large rill by the
road. The soil of the cOrnfield that
was left bare all winter has lost some
of its best loan by planting time.
Gullies appear on the farm here and
there, widening and deepening after
every rain. The soil on the knobs and
hillsides becomes thin and yellow, for
the rich black surface part of it has
hurried off to help build up some excel
lent farming land about ten miles
downstream.
After Il heavy rain the farmer can
see the best part of his soil creeping,
running, racing away from him. A
thousand murky rills slowly meander
across his plOwed ground and gather
forces in the hollows. a hundred tur-
bid rivuletS pour down the hOllOws and
join the water in the gulch. 4 dozen
muddy broOkletS rush down the gulch,
swell the brook into a creek and race
downstream, bearing away tons Of
the rich silt and loan that make plants
grow. When the rain is Over and the
soaked soil has dried out enough to
till, there are gravelly places that the
farmer finds 1t hard to make pro-
ductive, and rocks are exposed that
have never been above the surface be-
fore.
Unchecked erosion has ruined many
farms and seriously hurt many others.
Thousands of acres of valuable farm
ing land, particularly the red clay soils
of the south and the loose, shay soils
of the north, are gouged and quilted
every year until they become practical
" valueless for cropping. l have seen
many hundreds of acres ruined by
washing in the C%arOlinas, Tennessee
and Georgia. On most farms, however,
the loss is less conspicuous and more
insidious. Every farm that has an ir-
regularity Of surface, however slight,
pays tribute to the force that does
more leveling in an hour than all the
patent leveling machines have ever
done or ever will do.
A very important problem for the
farm owner to consider is how to check
erosion cheaply and effectively. The
plan that will be most successful de !
Ponds upon the locality, the lay of the
land, the kind of soil, the crop and
many other local matters. In extreme
cases it has been found necessary to
wooded areas running across the
that are subject to washing and
disposed so as to prevent the
gathering Of water. The water course
be looked to carefully. A little
directing streamlets into legiti-
mate channels is time we'll spent. There
are various methods of holding the soil
'AH PtohIS- SONcL CIOp VI rye, ClO-
Ver, vetch, etc, sown in the orchard
cornfield in late summer may do
to prevent surface washing dur
ng the winter. Steep banks may be
ED with quack grass; slopes may be
)ut into meadows. Cultivating across
he slopes instead of up and down will
save many tiny leaks that amount to a
serious loss in some cases. Many other
Methods of checking erosion will sug-
5est themselves to the man who has
his problem to solve, and the methods
'orn Of personal need and local expe
are apt to be most efficient.
The loss by erosion is, I believe, n
the largest leaks on American farms
oday. 1t is bound to increase as II
area decreases. This loss can
lot be entirely prevented, as long as
he rain falls upon land that is not per-
level. But a large part of it can
prevented. How to do this is worth |
by every man who has the
on his hands.-Country Life In |
america. =