The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1950-01-27


managed by his son-in-law, Thomas
Mann Randolph, who introduced into
this billy Virginia country a new
method of cultivation that was destin-
ed more than hundred years later
to make over the face of America.
This method was horizontal plough
ing, which we know today as con-
touring.
Jefferson for many years watched
Randolph's efforts to prove the eff
fectiveness of horizontal blowing in
preventing erosion of sloping land.
After he retired to Monticello perm
anently, he became an enthusiastic
supporter of this method. In re-
counting to William Burwell in 1910
violent storm in which three inches
of rain fell in a single hour, he wrote !:
every hollow of every hill pre-
sented torrent which swept every
thing before it. | have never seen
the fields so much injured. Mr.. Ran
dolph's farm is the only one which
has not suffered; his horizontal fur
rows arrested the water at every step
till it was absorbed, or at least, had
deposited the soil it had taken up"
No, erosion is not new and it is
not confined to the United States.
There is scarcely a nation on earth
without it's erosion problem, and
some face tougher job than we do.
Here in this country, nothing real
ly effective to halt the inroads of ero-
sion was done until about Is years
ago, when the blowing soil from the
Great Plains began plotting out the
sun at midday over state after state.
1t was only then that any great num-
bers of people recognized the urgen-
cy and the emergency proportions of
the soil erosion problem in our coun-
try.
Then Congress established the Soil
Conservation Service to carry on a
action program against
erosion, which was described as ma
tional menace. By that action an
effort was made to do something
about a problem which had been
seriously and tragically neglected un-
til that time. Thus for the first time
in history, a program was developed
and tested beyond doubt which pro-
tects the land against winds and wat
er even while the land is being used
for crop production.
Farmers approve of this program.
1t makes good sense, for conservation
farming has demonstrated that it not
only protects the soil but increases
yields per acre at the same time. On
of farms in all parts of |
our country, conservation farming
has resulted in an average 20 per
cent increase in production per acre. |
And this is accomplished with little
1r no additional equipment, time or
abor. AS a matter of fact, many
farmers say that conservation farm
ng is easier and it takes less fuel and
ess time than old-fashioned methods.
Common Sense Farming With
Scientific Methods"
What is conservation farming? DR..
Hugh Bennett of the Soil Conserva-
ion Service has defined it as "com-
non sense farming with scientific
Methods. 1t means treating every
.cre of land according to it's individ-
lal needs, and using every acre &C
ording to its individual capabilities.
each acre of land, like each human
icing, is different from the next one.
20 get the best from it, it must be
landed in just the right way. If
here were some simple remedy, for
he problems of the land, that could
re applied everywhere, in a standard
zed treatment or formula, the job
f conservation would be relatively
asy. But there is as much variety
n erosion as there is in the land
cape.
There are some SO major soil con-
ervation practices now being used to
top erosion, conserve rainfall, and
improve the land. These practices
1clude terracing, contouring, strip
ropping, grassed waterways, and so
n. Each conservation measure ap-
lied to the land is designed to sup ;
ort another one, and the conserva-
ion work on one farm is carried out