The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-05-18
To PROTECT THE LAND.

The moving OF soil by water Is no'
confined TO large streams, as hlaHy
farmers know TO their sorrow. h'-
ery tiny rll tcicking down 'he s1op
carries off some Of the hhest an
richest soil on the farm. Alter .
heavy rain the spring is rolly anu
the puddles in the hollo"s are 'i,"
dv with it. The deep burrows H.'
I'm and down the slope by the cur
yator teeth become immature "alI
courses. and the trucking water
acts a tribute Of rich soil before !"
ioins the large rill by the road. me
coil of the cornfield that was lel'
hare all winter has lost some OF us
hest loan by planting time. IuiileS
appear on the farm here and theie'
widening and deepening AFTER every
rain. The soil on the knobs and nil
sides becomes thin and yeiic"' lo'
The. .:lil, black surface soil --.'s pc--i
washed into the bottoms, and part ~
il has hurried CT TO Eelp paiia Up
some excellent farming land aDo"'
ten miles down stream.
After a heavy rain the farmer can
see the best part Of his SOIL creep
ing running, racing away from hliil'
A thousand mariy rills slowly mean,
der across his plowed grounds ANA
gather forces in the holloTs. \ hui'-
dred turbid rivulets pour down tne
hollows and join waters in the sHle1'
A dozen muddy brGckiets rush down
the culch. swell the brock INTO y
creel, and race down stream, peaiiha
away tons Of the rich silt ana loa'ii
that make plants grow. Nhen '-i'
rain is over and the soaked sou mas
dried ont enough to till. there ale
eraveIlv places that the farmer hnos
it hard to make productive, ana rocHs
are exposed that have never peen
above the surface before.
Unchecked erosion has ruined many
farms and seriously hurt MAN. o'n-
eds Thousands Of acres OF Valaaoie
farming land. particularly the red clay
soils OF the South and the loose sha!'
" soils of the North, are gouged ana
quilted every year until they become
practically valueless for cropping. !
have seen many hundreds OF acres
ruined NV washing in the Carcllnas'
Tennessee and Georgia. On most
farms. however, the loss is less con-
spicuous and more insidicus. Every
farm that has an irregularity OF sur
face, however slight, pays tribute -
the force that does more levellng III
an hour than all the patent IeVeiihs
machines have ever done or ever Will
do.
A very important problem for the
farm owner to consider is no" ~
check erosion cheaply and effectively.
The nlan that will be most success
full depends upon the locality, the lay
of the land, the kind of soil, the crop
and many other local matters. ~
extreme cases it has been found neces-
sarv to retain wooded areas run
ming across the slopes that are sup
iect to washing and otherwise dls'
posed. so as to prevent the gatheFins
Of water. The watercOurses shou'u
he looked to carefully. A little WORK
directing streamlets into legitimate
channels is time we'll spent. Ihere
are various methods of holding uhe
soil with plants A cover crop OF
rye. clover, vetch, etc, soWn IN the
orchard or cornfield in late summer
may do much to prevent surface WASH
ing during the winter. steep panho
NAV be held with quack grass; slopes
may be put into meadows. CultiVatlhs
across the slopes instead OF up anu
down will save many tiny leaks tha'
amount to a serious loss m SOME
cases. Many other methods of check
ing erosion will suggest themselves
to the man who has this problem TO
solve. and the methods bern o. per-
sonal need and local experience are
ant to be most efficient.
The loss by erosion is, l believe
one Of the largest leaks on American
farms today. 1t is bound to increase
A our wooded area decreases. This
loss can not be entirely prevented, as
long as the rain falls upon land that
is not perfectly level. But large
part Of it can be prevented. How to
do this is worth considering by ev-
: cry man who has the problem on his
hands.-Indianapo News.
WATER HANGING PLANTS.
Be sure that plants in hanging pots