The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-11-19
S2OO,OOO,OOO STOLEN FROM FARMERS
ANNUALLY BY EROSION, SAYS SCIENTIST

Rushing rainwater sweeping over
Tire fields of the United States car
mes away 20 times as much plant
food material every year as is per-
mAEently removed by the farmers
E0ps, says H. H. Bennett, soil sci
ea.ist of the United States depart
ment of agriculture. Soil erosion
sA1es $2O0,000,000 out of the pockets
Of the farmers every year, he esti-
mates. Yet most of the attention
given to soil conservation is in coz
zection with the comparatively insig-
nificant loss of plant-fOod elements
due to cropping; the much greater
loss caused by erosion is almost COM
Phtely overlooked.
Soil erosion" says Mr.. Bennett,
Is he most important problem con-
fronting the conservation Of our ma
sural resources. When, for instance,
our petroleum products are used up,
feel can be produced from the soil
N .he form of alcohol from potatoes,
sugar cane and other crops; that is,
z the soil is not wasted too"
Huge Plant Food Loss
While the annual loss of plant-food
material due to rushing waters is es-
minated by Mr.. Bennett to approx
mate 126, 900, 1000 900 pounds as com
pared to only 5,9OO,OOO,OOO pound;
permanently removed by crops, the
2ass of plant-food material is by M
mesns the only damage caused BY
erosion. Millions of tons of rich TOT
aail are carried out to sea annually
leaving in many instances a soil yer!
lnfertile and one that is more diff
=u& to till. Erosion takes the ricl
top soil from the gentlest slopes p!
Eelf as from the hillsides. Much D
his soil that is removed is depositeI
sver the rich bottom lands farthe
d0wa the valleys, often running crop
and depositing sand and other iner
material of an inferior fertility.
10000, 900 Acres Destroyed
Probably not less than 100000
acres of land formerly cultivate
have been permanently destroyed b
rain-wash, according to Mr.. Bennett
A single county in the Piedmont re
Eion was found by actual survey t
rontain 5000 acres of formerly GU
tivated land now permanently RUNE
By erosion. Another county in tn
Atlantic coastal plain has 5000
acres ruined beyond repair. Much
his land could have been saved b
z1mely ~terracing, says Mr.. Bennett
and a great part of it should neve
kave been plOwed in the first plaC
because of its extreme susceptible
20 erosion. Such lands should
maintained in timber Oh pasture.
In addition, not less than 3,000,0(
acres of good stream bottom lanC
have been practically ruined by d
position of inert sand and gravel al
by increased swampiness due to cha
sells choked with soil washed out
1pland fields.
Effects Not Recognized
While the more violent types
erosion which form gullies into viii
houses topple are of such charact
rs to attract the attention of la
owners, sheet erosion is quietly was
ing the lands Of the country and il
Poverishing the farmers on a mu
vaster scale. The effects are gene
ally unrecognized by farmers, oft
being incorrectly ascribed to soil
Pletion by crops. Nearly every i
pOrtant agricultural county of
country suffers to some extent fri
sheet erosion which takes the rich t
soil from both gentle and ste
slopes. In one instance it was fou
Shat sever inches of top soil WI
removed in "a years from a gen
SIoping field growing corn under
binary cultivation. Soil scienti
agree that most of the worn-out 81
u the world are in their present C
dltiOn because much of the surf