The Wilmington morning star., 1940-01-01
TERRACE PROJECTS
HIGHLY IMPORTANT
Maintenance Is One Of Farm.
er's Most Important Win.
ter-Time Tasks

tage of the remaining time .
winter rains set in TO get t.a.- II
race maintenance work do-e,
H. NJ. Ellis. agricultural eag.re4. q,
the State College Extension s4-.,
Silred channels and decreased c-s
mel capacity, resulting from p.s5.
aration and cultivation Of the s-5
makes this work vital a. this So.
son of the year.
Ellis recommends the three az
method of blowing terraced .s.L r,
maintain the ~broad-base drain.
type terrace commonly II Use in .
state. This type of terrace IS O..
signed to meet the following -
quirements. % 1t mus not eau .
any loss of cultivated area: e, E.
must be so constructed that il can
be easily crossed by farm wzc.
cry; 81 the channel must lie r.
and flat, with just enough s,1re :,
carry off the water but No. ero,.,
to cause washing; O. the rig.
must be high enough TO p-egs.
overlapping during heavy IAN
and 90 there must be a cont.rr. ,
grade toward the outlet, to p.e,e..
excess ponding Of water.
The three land method Of Z, q.
ing terraced land consists @: tsl.
ding the ridge Of the terrace. l..a.
ing a furroW y feet above the fl,
line Of the terrace and para-.s. :.
it, bedding TO this new furrcr Ut.
til the flow line has been p.oRet
out. and blowing the remaining ara.
above this land to the hes. a4va..
tage.
The specialist said that the or
land method is also used, but i s
recommended only where i :
necessary to open terrace channs
and the rest of the field is nos 10
plowed at that time.
The "one-land' method is as fl.
lows: with a two-horse turn pillow.
beginning at the top Of the terrac.
ridge, throw one furrow downht..
Throw the second furrow upht..
about ii to IS feet VI The slope from
the first. This lays off the LAM
that can be plowed cut Il maintaia
the terrace channel.
Plow the outside furrow deep arl
close gradually, decreasing the dep:a
and width of the cut as the land IS
plowed out. The blowing will +.
completed with a dead furrow in
the center Of the channel flow lire.
After the land has been plowed, thu
next step is to build up the low
places with either a shovel or :.
slip scrape and to open the ends q.
the terrace. When the ends ags
properly opened, they take the SANE
size and shape as the terrace in Ii.
field.
Pointing out the necessity OF Ter
race maintenance, Ellis said tia.
thousands of acres of North Carr
lima land has been terraced in rh=
past few years. At present farm
agents in 10 counties report rendey
ing assistance to farmers in terrac
ing. In Al counties the Extension
service has organized association:
that IRE operating power terracins
units, and selling this service t.
farmers at the cost of operating ex'
penses, plus the cost of l%iquidatins
the equipment.
Ellis said that there are three
generally recognized types of ter
races: The drainage type, the alb
sorptive type, and the bench type,
The drainage type appears to have
originated in the southeastern states
and is used more extensively in the
United States than in any Other
country. This is the type recon-
mended in North Carolina.
In general, it consists of a wide
shallow channel that has gentle side
slopes and a wide, rather flat ridge
on the lower side. The channel has
just enough grade to conduct The
water, off the slope, but not enough
to cause securing in the channel
The absorptive type terrace con-
sists of a very wide and low ridge
with practically no channel on the
upper side. The idea behind this
design is to hold as much water as
possible on the field.
The bench type terrace is usually
developed by breaking the land in
such a way that a series of benches
are made. They consist of nearly
level strips of land running across
the slope, separated by almost vertl'
cal earth banks. These banks are
usually held in place by a heavy
growth of permanent vegetation.
I'VE have a terrace which we
think meets the requirements Of
North Carolina farms and farmers
and eliminates the loss of cultivated
area and some of the other disad'
vantages of the absorptive and bench
type terraces" Ellis declared,
Detailed information on terrace,
including maintenance and con-
struction, is contained in EXtension
Circular No. 222, "Terracing to Re-
duce Erosion which is evailable
free to citizens of North Carolina
upon request to the agricultural ed.
tor at State college, Raleigh.