Evening star., 1960-07-08
Dr.. Hugh Bennett Dies;
Soil Conservotionist

~~u ~~u
DR.. Hugh Hammond Bennett,
70. the retired Department Of
Agriculture official known in
Iternationally as "the father of
soil conservation" died yeSter-
day at a hospital in Burlington,
N. c.
DR.. Bennett, who lived at
SAIL Kirby road. Falls Church,
Va, entered the Burlington
hospital on June IS for treat
ment of pernicious anemia by
his only son, DR.. Hugh H. Ben
nett, jr.. a staff physician there.
An early advocate of soil
conservation, the elder DR..
Bennett developed the field
into a profession during nearly
so years as an author and
public servant.
He began his career in 1908
with the Soil Survey Division,
then a sub-unit of the Depart
ment of Agriculture. After set
ting up the departments Soil
Conservation Service in 1888
and heading it until 1851, he
retired from Government serv-
ice in 1852. when serving as a
special assistant to the Secre-
tary of Agriculture.
Saw Farm Land Washed Away
His biography, published in
1851 as Big Hugh-the Father
of Conservation" says DR.. Ben
nett became interested in soil
erosion while a boy on his
fathers plantation near Wades-
boro. N. c.. where he saw rich
farm land washed away by the
nearby Pee Dee River.
He studied chemistry at the
University Of North Carolina
and joined the Agriculture De-
partment in 1908. a few weeks
after receiving his bachelor Of
science degree.
That was the start Of a career
which took him from Alaska to
the Union of South Africa on a
lifelong crusade to sell" soil
conservation.
AS a soil inspector he was a
member of an agricultural ex-
pedition to the Panama Canal
Zone in 1909. Later he led sim
liar missions to Alaska, Cuba,
Central and South America.
the West Indies and South
Africa.
Served in World War 1
He served on the Guatemala
Honduras Boundary Commits
sion in 1919 and headed the
North America Technical Mis-
sion to Venezuela in 1941-42.
World War I brought a first
lieutenant's commission in the
Army Engineer Corps. From
1919 to 1929 DR.. Bennett was
an Army reserve captain.
In spreading his gospel of soil
control, DR.. Bennett had to
contend with attitudes such as
that expressed by an early head
of the Bureau of Soils, who in
1909 said "the sell is the one
indestructible, immutable asset
the Nation possesses. 1t is the
one resource that cannot be
exhausted; that cannot be used
up"
Less than a quarter of a
century later. the "black bliz-
yards" of dust storms were
securing the Midwest's Dust
Bowl, causing the "Okie" emf
grafton from the region.
Once, as he was pleading
with a congressional commit
tee here for money to fight
the dust storms, daylight
turned to darkness. The COM
mittee stepped to the windows
and saw the sky darkened by
clouds of dust.
There goes part of the Mid
west blowing overhead" DR..
Bennett told the committee.
He got the appropriation.
AS head of the Soil Conser-
vation Service and member of
the Great Plains Drought Com
mission, DR.. Bennett directed a
Government task force in saw
ing the land. Aided by the re-
turn of normal rainfall, the
region was back in production
in time for World War II.
In 1947 he was honored with
the Agriculture Departments
Distinguished Service Medal,
the Cullum Medal from the
National Geographic Society,
and an award from the Cuban
National Agricultural and In
dustrial Society.
Member Of Organizations
DR.. Bennett was a member of
several scientific organizations,
among them the Washington
Academy Of Sciences and the
American Geographic Society.