The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-05

itieS here believe.
 Dust storms that have ravaged fields in western Kansas and the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles indicate that Improvements are needed in farming methods and not that crop production in the area is doomed, experts at Kansas State college and the U. 6. state experiment station here say. x. M
 They scoff at reports in the east that the southwestern wheat belt gradually is becoming Q desert. Some farmers, discouraged by re- curing dust stormsy have moved from the affected area, but they are few.
 Conditions Held Temporary
 The experts base their predic- tions on the fact that only a part of the wheat belt is in the dust bowl; not all the land within the dust bowl is affected by the blow ing, and on belief that the condi- tion is only temporary"
 The blowing does not affect fer tility of the soil, experts say. The same thing has happened before and has been followed hy tbe greatest wheat crops in the history of the southwest. The only differ ence is due to the fact that more land is under cultivation.
 "Soil blowing is not general" ac- cording to Dean H. Umberger, col- lege extension director, it usually affects scattered fields, begins on land that is poorly farmed, and is primarily the result of low rain fall and high winds.
 Farming Methods Improved
 During wet years of the rainfall cycle it is not 8 problem. Proper farming methods will reduce soil blowing even in dry years. The effect of improvement in farming methods will be to make the south west a more reliable wheat-pro- ducillg area, year in and year out, than it has been in the past.
 ITO say that dust storms and wind erosion have destroyed the southwest as a wheat producing ares is as absurd as to say that the recent flood has destroyed the Ohio valley as a corn producing area" ,>. 'tt5
 Z Dust storms have been blowing in the southwest for several million years, Umberger said, building up from deposits of the windblown soil some of the best land in the area. They are not of major importance in soil destruction, he said.
 More Land Titled
 z. Lack of sufficient rainfall, prev alence of high winds blowing across tho level unprotected fields and in- creased tilling of the land are the principal reasons for the increased amount of soil blowing in recent yeaes, Umberger believes.
 "There are some relatively small areas which must be returned to grass because they are tinsuited to cultivation" Umberger said. "But in most of the southwest. farming will not need to be abandoned. Abandonment would be uneco- iaomical." ,5; < Fourteen southwestern Kansas counties, generally referred to as being in the dust bowl, produced nearly $14,OO0,000 worth of. farm products in 1884, despite the great drouth, Umberger said. During the past 20 years the same counties pro- duced $Sfi i,705,O00 worth, he said. v Vast Increase shown
 They produced 3,295,820 bushels of wheat in 1883 and 6,23l, ,681 bushels in 1884. Production jumped from l0,30i, $50 bushels in 1925 to 52,640, ,lo8 bushels in 1881.
 Reports of the state board of agriculture, which go back to 1860, show that yields dropped during years when there was @ moisture deficiency but immediately climbed back to high levels when weather and moisture conditions were nor- nal.
 A dispatch tomorrow will deal with steps being taken to overcome the Augk storm menace.