Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-09-11
WHY WE SHOULD PREVENT SOIL
EROSION.

EROSION.
1t has been aptly said that our rivers
run red to the sea with the blood of the
land. Yet this condition continues to
exist and is exaggerated from year to
year. The appalling amount of fertil-
ity thus lost and the incalculable dam
age done to our agriculture cannot be
correctly estimated. but that 1t runs into
millions of dollars annually has been
definitely demonstrated by chemical de-
examinations of the losses occurring to
soils through washing and teaching.
When one looks out upon the country
side he cannot but be impressed with
its baroness and the crudity of the eff
fort made to prevent washing through
terraces and hillside bitches. That this
method is noneffective is shown by the
thousands of gullies which confront one
on every hand; even the comparatively
level pieces of ground have little tiny
Streaks cut across them, varying from
one-eighth up to several inches in depth.
showing where a violent rainfall has
resulted in carrying away a part Of
the fine rich top layer of soil. that con-
tanning in fact the largest amount of
available plant food. and hence primar-
lily concerned in the production of sat-
isfactory crops. If a farmer were to go
to town with a bag of gold dollars and
a break should occur in this bag and
the gold begin to drop out along the
street, can you imagine the amount Of
excitement it would cause or the strug-
gle which would ensue to obtain pos
session of the dollars? This illustra-
ton. however. graphically describes ex-
actly what is going on in the average
farmers field, except that no effort is
hainU the dollars Tins
being lost through erosion simply be-
cause they are not in the visible and
usual form in which gold dollars appear
and are therefore not recognizable by
the average farmer.
There is much talk about the high
cost of living and we are. constantly de-
ploring conditions in the open country,
but until we find some effective means
to cover up our waste lands as nature
intended should be done and protect
them from erosion, there will not be
much chance Of lessening the cost of
living, adding to the average production
of our acres or building up a permanent
agriculture worthy of the most enlight-
ened nation in the world, as we are so
frequently pleased to style ourselves.
The building up of soil fertility Is
slow process. 1t may take hundred
years for nature to cover up a CALLED
piece Oh anu ny ali hSI
tion processes and the silent alchemy
which she practices restore the surface
soil to a condition in which there Is
sufficient amount of available plant food
20 meet the requirements of growing
crops. On the other hand, per cent
of a really average soil may be de-
stroyed through erosion in one year; in
fact, it is not an exaggeration ably
to say that happenings of this kind are
far more frequent than we think. Ger
tainly this would be true of the sleeper
lands which wash more readily than
those which are comparatively level.
A fairly good idea of the amount of
plant food which may be lost from the
soil yill be obtained by study of what
frequently happens to the supply OF
nitrogen. This element so essential to
crop production is contained In the veg
etable matter or organic matter pres
ent in the land. Soils that are rich pos
sess considerable amount of vegetable
matter and the nitrogen in this mater
ial becomes available to plants through
the decay of organic matter. Under
favorable conditions as much as two
rer cent of the total nitrogen in the
land may become available each year
to growing crops Thus, two per cent
of the total store of THIS element may
be removed by crops, lost in the form
of gas, or leached. away through sur
face erosion or drainage water. This
loss of itself will destroy the value or
any area Of land for agricultural pur-
poses in the course of few years. The
replacement of nitrogen is the most ser
ious problem confronting our agricul-
ture for it costs at the present time any
where from 20 to % cents per pound.
True a part of 1t canbe returned 10
the soil through greene rops and yard
manures and legumes, but this Is a
costly and laborious process, even un-
der the most favorable conditions. While
the loss of nitrogen from the soil is
a serious matter at best, 1T becomes in
creasingly unfortunate when we consid-
err that its removal affects the availa-
bility of other elements of plant food;
hence the loss of nitrogen through the
decay of organic matter means that
the supply of the really essential plant
food elements will be lessened Finally
the physical condition of the land be-
comes such that crops cannot be grown
on it satisfactorily by reason of It's
inability to absorb and hold water on
the one hand and the readiness with
which it is affected by even short
period of drought.
The conditions which contribute to
the destruction of organic matter and
ing running burrows in the direction OF
the slopes, a failure to use cover crops
in winter, continuous cultivation of the
land, and the neglect of gullies, which
start frompractically nothing and In
the course of little while become sew
eral feet in depth. Any practice which
tends to correct these conditions viii
tend to lessen erosion. 1t is said that
the ancients knew something of the vir-
tues of crop rotation. If so, their dis
coVeries. in that direction seem not 10
have made much impression on the pub
lie mind Atleast the preaching of this
dictrine throgh hundreds of years seems
not to have convinced the average lay
man of the necessity of growing fewer
cultivated crops, devoting more of his
land to hay and pasture, and thus put
ting himself in position to maintain
larger number of animals to harvest the
food produced by his land and at the
same time enrich the soil through their
droppings. The evil day is already up
on us We suffer from the depletion
of the fertility of our lands. The Ills
to which we are heir at the present can
not be removed from our midst for
many years even if we practice the best
possible system of agriculture When
will wake from theRip Van Wrinkle
sleep which seems to possess u.s. and
realize that it is essential to the south