Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-10-17

used on gently Stopping tdhu "hlle tho
greater spacing applies to steep lana.
The question of proper spacing de-
ponds to n great extent upon the care
and maintenance of the terraces. I'm
less considerable attention IS to be
given to the maintenance of the ter
race banks the smaller spacing should
be used. For the 3-foOt spacing a
greater number of terraces are re-
uuired and narrower benches result,
but the terraces are easier 10 build
and maintain than for a greater spac-
ing. However. many farmers favor
the wider benches because of the few
err terraces required and the fact that
ii Is more convenient to guilty ate the
field in few broad strips than In a
greater number of narrow ones. In
other words, they are willing TO in
cur greater loss by erosion for the
sake of greater convenience in cult
walton.
Protection Against Erosion.
When constructed and maintained
properly. bench terraces give excel
lent protection against erosion. How
ever, many landowners object 10 this
terrace on account of the difficulty OF
moving farm machinery from one
bench to another. the necessity OF Gull
tivating each bench separately. the
loss of the land occupied by the I'M
cultivated embellishments, ami the
growth of weeds and grass on the en-
bankment, which robs the adjacent
cultivated soil of its plantfood ana
tends to seed the entire field to weeds
and Objectionable grasses. Ihese
reasons are sufficient to initiate
against the use of this terrace except
on steep slopes where no form or cul-
tivable terrace can be employed.
The best practice indicates that the
bench terrace should not be used on
slopes exceeding 20 per cent. How
ever, they are actually in use on slopes
up to 80 per cent. with a vertical In
terval of 8 to 10 feet; but in such
instances the labor of cultivating the
narrow benches and of maintaining
the high entertainments is considerable,
and 1t is believed that such slopes
could be devoted more proftably to
pasture or timber.
Narrow.Base Level-Ridge Terraces.
The narrow-base level-ridge terrace
is used to a great extent throughout
the Piedmont region of the South. 1t
is essentially the first stage in the
construction of q bench terrace, but
methods of blowing are employed to
prevent it from developing into ter
race of the bench type. 1t is built usu-
ally 3 to 5 feet wide at the base and
from one-half to ] foot high. Where
these terraces are sOdded heavily they
render satisfactory service on previ-
GUS soils and slopes not greater than
s to 8 per cent. They should be
spaced from 2 to 3 feet apart IN YER
teal distance. A close spacing re-
duces the volume Of water which coli
lects above the terraces, and the sod
ded surface prevents erosion of the
terrace due to impounded water over
topping it.
This type Of terrace Is cheap to con-
struct, easy to maintain, and affords
a very convenient guide row in plow-
ing and planting. The principal OBJ
jections to it's use are () the land Oc-
cupied by the sodded terrace reduces
the total amount of tillable land In
the field; (2) the growth on the ter.
race saps the strength from the adj
joining soil, resulting in a dwarfed
plant growth on either side of the ter
race; and (3) the weeds which often
are allowed to grow on the terrace
tend to seed the entire field, and har-
Dor Objectionable insects in the win
ter. Owing to these objections, this
type of terrace is losing favor rapidly
among tho most advanced farmers