The times-news., 1936-08-31
Cure for Situation Roose-
welt Studies in West May
Be Complex Activity
By KILLER KRIEGHBAUM
Press Staff Correspondent

I
United Press Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Aug. 81. (UP)
As President Roosevelt's special
train rolls across the parched
prailies, the nation again con-
| fronts the problem of what to do
about erosion. .
Dust storms in the spring OF
1884 first brought erosion from
technical discussions among SOIL
conservationists into the every day
! life of the average American clti-
zen. These storms, however, were
simply a prelude to the drouth OF
that year and the even worst ohe
of this summer.
Americans today are erosion
conscious. They know SomeIhlns
probably will have to be done, done
The experts have said so; the
most recently in a report to tne
president last Thursday at Dis
marck, N. D.
But just what is erosion any
way? ,, ,L; of
Erosion IS really INC ioDUiliS VI
the soil of some necessity iof
growing crops. AS erosion be-
Comes worse, crops become more
and more scarce. When crops are
scarce, food prices rise. mat IS
what makes it nationwide pfoo-
lem of interest to Mr.. and Mrs
Tones as well as President koose-
veIt and his agricultural and con-
servation experts. -,
! Soil may be robbed OF It's vital
elements by these three processes;
Exhaustive cropping, water ana
wind. Proper rotations OF crops
and fertilization will take care OF
the first which is considered one
of the hazards of growing crops.
The second two are the ones that
worry the conservationists. Their
cures are more complex. ,.
Government experts estimate
that either water or wind erosion
is active in some form in approx
matelv 6OO,OO0,OOO acres out OF a
total of approximately 10000
600 in the entire continental Uni
ted States. Look out over the
countryside and mark one out OF
every three farms as ALREADY
showing the strains of erosion
That's the price Of three centuries
land abuse, the experts say. =,
Without proper use Of the land,
every shower of rain takes its toll
from the soil. When there Is
natural cover on the land, the
raindrops seep down into the soil
When the earth is bare, the water
ioins with loose particles to form
"a film which virtually seals cover
over the ground. When there IS q;
heavy rain, the water runs OH
taking with it the movable par
ticips This is the robbery Of wa
ter erosion. 49,,
|. Heavy winds, too, have tneii d
had effects. A slight breeze hao
no effect when there is a cover
hut when the land lies bare, even
= breeze may roll dirt across the
folds and tiny dust particles into
The air. Heavier winds may sweep
huge masses of CRIME over thou
sands of miles as the dust storms
of the past two years have done
Il is at least 1000 miles from the
eo-calIed "dust bowl" to the At
Iantic ocean yet the eastern sea-
hoard has seen a number OF
storms since May 1884.
Frosion's first effects are sleett
erosion. Rich top soil is ROBBED
Of chemicals vital fay the growth
of crops such as nitrogen, phos-
phorus, and the others that are
included in any commercial fer-
tilizer. Farmers, unless they are
versed in the ways Of erosion, can
not tell what is wrong with their
land except that the yields of theil
fields gets smaller and smaller an
nually. Slowly the top soil slides
away. :,
When sheet erosion has done its
damage, finger erosion is apt to
start. This is when the land itself
starts running off. A COW path
may start this by allowing the wa
ter to accumulate and to run of
continually over the same route,
These fingers eventually grow into
gullies unless some preventive