The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-08-26
POOR FARMING
METHODS RUIN
SOIL FERTILITY
Consequences Apparent in
West Following Dust
Storms.
By WILLIAM +. COLLINS
Times Special Writer

buffalo sod OF the West they took
of the cover that held down the
soil and substituted for 1t the dust
mulch Of the dry farming process.
When that dust mulch became SUI
ficiently dry 1t did not take much
wind to blow II away.
The finest soils are clay, the next
finest are silt, the coarsest are sand;
a mixture of the three IS loan.
After the blows" the destruction to
the soils became very plain. The
finest elements that make for fer
tility had been carried away.
One farmers wife in western
Kansas told me that she tapped
windows with surgeons tape and
sealed the doors Of the bedroom.
She would make the beds and cover
them with a sheet and in spite Of
all her precautions to keep the beds
clean, at night there was layer OF
fine dust on the sheet that actually
weighed four pounds.
The finer elements Of the soils
that carry the bulk Of the available
fertility are cOllOidal IN nature, that
is. when they are suspended IN
water. they Will not sink to the bot
tom. That Is why plant roots can
take them in and by some mySteri-
Gus process of nature convert them
into plant cells. When soils are re-
duccd to their cOarsest cOmpOnents,
plants can not live in them. They
are not available food.
Situation in Indiana
Let us leave the west for the time
being and come back - Indiana.
About seventy years ago. the south
ern part of this state was settled
with thrifty persons in a fertile soil.
They came here first because they
travelled by water The streams
were their highways. Suppose we
place ourselves in their surround
ings. What would we have done
that is different from what actually
took place. Would We have had
the foresight to have said
Let us pillow only the level
places. let the hills remain IN TIM
Der. Let US cut only the mature logs
and Immediately replant a tree OF
the same value Let US cut out
all weed tree growth so the valuable
trees can get light and air and
soil food. Whenever a wash de-
velops, let us dam 1t or terrace 1t. -
Had we been there and said that
we would have been laughed out
of the community. People were ig-
norant of conservation then. There
was no word in the English Ian
guage at that time that meant con-
servation of natural resources.
Ignorant of Conservation.
Had We used the word at all, it
would not have been connected with
its present meaning. But had 1t
been and had every one in southern
Indiana known what we know and
had practiced the above formula,
there would not now be % southern
Indiana counties on state relief as
they have been for the past 20 years.
Southern Indiana is a lost prov
ince in fertility, in timber. and in
wa,er. The rest of the state is
getting that way and when the
present generation of conservation
lists are out in Crown Hill some one
in zoos A. d. will be telling what
we did not do to get that way.
Water Wasted
The first thing we did not do in
central and northern Indiana was
save water. We dried up every sur
face water hole by drainage; we
cut down all our timber that has
the power to store water in the
forest leaf mold and give it oil IN
respiration. One mature white oak
will give of seven barrels of water a
day by respiration. Then We plowed
every available field. We made a
roof imDerWouS to moisture over
the entire state.
BY keeping the fields plowed. the
run of of rainfalls was so rapid 1t
carried the fine top soils into the
streams.
Harry Dowd. North Vernon, told
me that when he was a boy, the
Muscatatuck was never cloudy and
that a heavy rain never made a
torrent Of it. Last week there was
a -two-hour shower in the morning.
He was fishing in the river and
within 50 minutes the water was
rising fast. was laden with silt and
out of banks inside Of two hours.
Twenty-four hours later it was down
TO a summer trickle again.
Restoration Takes Time
1t does not make the slightest
difference in the long run whether
soil is blown of or washed of
When it is gone. its gone and that
Is the end of it and if you think you
are not interested. you have one
more think coming to you.
You can't take fertility out Of the
state BY the gross ton every year for
two generations and expect the state
10 have the same amount of natural
fertility left
Even the Ohio gas wells went dry
I saw the Karg well in Findlay
flaming for months to a height of
COO feet and the light could be seen
IN Toledo after dark. The natives
said it was ineXhauStable and let it
burn as an advertisement. But it
went out and millions of invested
dollars went "blooey" overnight.
We are not letting our soils wash
into the Mississippi for advertising
purposes. We are letting them &c
because We are an ignorant people
and have not yet felt the full rub OF
adversely.
If it has taken twenty million
farmers 70 years to deplete our nat
ural resources egged on by another
20 million promoters, it will take at
least that long 10 restore the waste
and it VIII take the national govern
ment and all the people of the coun-
try TO 90 Ii.
Nature is a prolific provider, but
she IS not an ineXhauStible one.