Evening star., 1934-01-21
WATER EROSION COSTS
FARMERS 200 MILLIONS|
Governments Plan to End This Annual
Loss, With Farmers Contributing Labor,
Regarded as Challenge to Democracy.

be done under the supervision Of COM
petent engineers and which is now be-
ing efficiently handled in many locali-
ties by civilian conservation workers.
Sheet erosion. however. Is not so
easy to deal with. For ages 1t has been
partly controlled through bench ter
races. which make the side Of hill look
like an amphitheater. Comparatively
recently, this type has been displayed
by the broad ridge terrace which is
formed by blowing the land into earth
en- ridges thrown across the hillside,
which are either given slight grade
to carry off the water at low veloc-
ity or maintained level, so that 1t Will
be held in long. narrow pools until it
evaporates. One of the reasons for
adopting this type Of terrace Is that
it can be cultivated with our modern
agricultural machinery.
Unlike gully work, such erosion con-
troll probably has to be carried on by
the farmers themselves; for 1t in
wolves the planning Of his entire farm
Each year, the Department Of Agri-
culture has been given a few hun
dred thousand dollars to aid indi-
vidual farmers in laying out their ter
races and to disseminate informa-
ton regarding the necessity for, and
economy OF, erosion WOTk.
The New Approach.
In accordance with the Presidents
belief that more can be accomplished
through group cooperation than
through individual relations with the
Government. new approach to the
entire program is contemplated. 1t
must be abundantly evident that the
maintenance of our soil is a national
problem Five million dollars has
been given by the Public Works Ad
ministration to help safeguard this
rich heritage.
1t is planned to enlist the farmers
support and to organize, among farm
ers who are willing to contribute their
labor and machinery, some II Zero
sion control districts" in this present
year.. with others to follow as they
to include from 100000 to 100000
acres each and care will be taken
that they represent good farming land
on which a little labor might per-
manently save the SOIL but where
erosion is a real problem. They are
not to be areas definitely sub-marginal
which should be taken out of culti-
vation altogether.
In order to comply with the pro-
visions of the public works act, 10
per cent of the funds expended on
such projects must be contributed by
other agencies than the Federal Gov
ernment. In this case, 1t has been
thought that the farmers. organized in
these large districts, might give their
20 per cent in labor and machinery,
while the Governments 80 per cent
might be contributed by the Soil Ero-
sion Service in the form of supervision
and technical assistance.
An Instructive Experiment..
Each district would have an agri-
cultural engineer, a soil expert, and
an agronomist in charge: for. although
terracing might in some districts be
the chief method of erosion control.
it is also contemplated that strip crop
ping and seeding to permanent pas
lures with possibly some tree planting
and gully control work will be carried
out.
To this enterprise. three bureaus
of the Department of Agriculture would
contribute - Agricultural Engineering.
dustry. Their efforts will be closely
watched for through the choosing and
administering of these 10 areas. We
ment in planned land utilization. In
order not to waste the public money,
it must be utilized in the most effective
manner, and. in order to do this, the
right areas must be chosen, as we'll
as the right types of control. and the
right seeding program; in short, for
each area the most practical system
of control must be devised and put into
operation.
1t will be an interesting and in
structive experiment in the control
of land uses; but its very existence
will depend upon the support it re-
ceives from farmers. The Govern
ment in this case, as in that of such
other recent activities as the cotton
and wheat reduction programs, has not
tried to dictate, but rather to CO.
ordinate and assist. The farmers of
the country must contribute TO per
cent of the labor necessary to carry
out the erosion projects in the 10
areas; only if they will guarantee to
do that, can the Government carry out
its plans. This. then is another appeal
to our democratic institutions.
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