Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-08
LOSS OF SOIL BY EROSION.
One of the Largest Leaks for Money
on the American Farm.

From Country Life In America
The moving of soil by water is not con-
fined to large streams as many farmers
Know to their sorrow. Every tiny rill trick
ing down the slope carries off some of the
fireSt and richest soil on the farm After
heavy rain the spring is roily and the
puddles in the hollows are muddy with t..
The deep burrows left up and down the
slope by the cultivator teeth become minia-
turc water-Courses, and the trickling water
eXactS tribute of rich soil before it Joins
the large riil 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
soil has been washed into the bottoms and
part OF II has hurried off to help build up
some excellent farming land about ten miles
down stream
After heavy rain the farmer can see the
best part of his soil creeping, running, rae
ing away from him. A thousand murky
r!llS slowly meander across his ploughed
ground. and gather forces in the hollows
A hundred turbid rivulets pour down the
| holoWs and join waters IN the guch. a
dozen muddy brooklets rush down the
gulch swell the brook into creek and race
down stream, bearing away tons of the rich
silt and loan that make plants grow. When
dried out enough to TILL there are graveliy
places that the farmer finds it hard to
make productive, 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 farming land, partcu-
larry the red clay soils of the south ana
the loose, shaly soils of the north. are
gouged and quilted every year until they
become practically valueless for cropping. |
have seen many hundreds of acres ruined
by washing in the Carolinas, Tennessee and
Georgia On most farms. however. the less
is less conspicuous and more insldious.
Every farm that has an irregularity of sur
face. however slight, pays tribute to the
orce that does more leVeling In an hour
than all the patent leveiing machines have
ever done or ever will do.
very important problem for the farm
owner TO consider is how to check erosion
cheaply and effectively. The plan that viii
be most successful depends upon the local
ity, 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 retain wooded areas running across the
slopes that are subject to washing ana
otherwise disposed SO as to prevent the
ga thering of water. The warehouses;
should be looked to carefully. little work
directing streamlets into legitimate chan
nels is time well spent. There are various
methods of holding the soil with plants A
cover crop of rye. clover. vetch, etc, sown
in the orchard cornf1eld in late summer
may do much to prevent surface WdSnlns
during the winter Steep banks may be
held with uuack grass: slopes may be put
into meadows Cultiyat,ng across the slopes
instead of up and down will save many
tiny leaks that amount to a serious loss in
some cases Many other methods of check
ing erosion will suggest themselves to the
man who has this problem to solve, and the
methods born of personal need and local
experience are apt to be most efficient.
The loss by erosion is. | believe, one OF
the largest leaks on American farms today.
1t is bound to increase as our wooded area
decrease This loss cannot be entirely
prevented. as long as the rain faiIs upon
land that is not perfectly level. But a
large part of it can be prevented. How to
do this is worth considering by every man
who has the problem on his hands