The land is leaving / P.A. Grill.

THE LAKD IS LEAVING

P. A. GRILL

StIMl\'IARY

Soil erosion has been going on since the
world began. It is this process that created oixr pres-
ent agricultural soils. When man begins to remove the
protective vegetation from the land, erosion talces place
very rapidly and can destroy vast areas in only a few
years. This did not bother the early American farmer
for he could always move to some section that had never
been subjected to the harsh treatment of human cultiva-
tion. Today this is not possible and farmers are being
confronted with a very grave problem. How can they Iceep
their farm from being carried away by the wind and water?
The government has been taking an important part in solv-
ing this problem during the past ten and fifteen years.
The Soil Conservation Service has been created and is
engaged in carrying on all work of this type. It has a
tremenaous job because erosion has been working unimpeded
for many years. There are many ways that erosion may be
stopped. The main ones are strip cropping, reforestation,
and controlled plowing. The 'r"roblem seems to be coming
under control but only very slowly. A Cherokee Indian
wrote the following essay when he saw a picture of a di-
lapidated farm house and a badly washed field:

"Both pictures show white man crazy. Make

-2

.

big

"tepee .

. Plow

hill.

Water wash.

Wind

blow soil,

grass

all

gone .

Squaw

gone,

papoose

too ,

¥o

chuckaway .

No pig, Tio corn, no hay, no cow, no pony. Indian eat
buffalo. Hide make tepee, moccasins, tor). Indian no
malce terrace. ¥o build dam. No sive4 All time eat. \

Ko hunt job. No hitch-hike. No ask relief. G-reat
Spirit make grass. Indian no waste anything. White
man much crazy,"

The Indian seems to express both the cause and
cure for soil erosion very well.

THE lAI© IS LEAYING

The land is leaving. How many of us realize
the seriousness of this statement? "The civilization
of this country is founded on nine inches of top soil.
When it is gone civilization will go with it." This is
evident in many parts of the world. In one section of
the French Efiger Colony in South Africa there ezists
one of the most dreaded desert regions in the world.
There is evidence, however, that less than 200 years ago
this same desert section contained many farming districts
and was heavily popiilated. Will anything like this ever
happen to the United States? Let us seel

We saw, just a few years ago, how the careless
farming of vast sections brought about disaster. We all
remember the "Dust Bowl" which covered many of the Mid-
Western states and destroyed many acres of valueable
farm land, some of which we are still unable to use at
the present time. This was caused by the lack of vege-
tation in this section. It was not until this problem
arose that our government realized the vast job of re-
clamation and control of soil erosion. There was no
information to show the extensive damage caused by wind ,
rain, floods, or most important of all, carelessness.
Here was a problem that had been growing ever since the
United States had developed into an agricutural nation

-2-
and yet we have just started to realize and control it.
Just what causes erosion and why is it so serious?

Plowing, when done improperly, leaves a bare,
unprotected surface for the elements to work upon. The
rain will wash it , the sun will bake it and the wind will
dry it and blow it away. Erosion, will not occur, of
course, if these conditions are balanced. There are dif-
ferent types of soil erosion that occur. Sheet erosion,
in v;hich the whole top layer of soil is removed uniformly,
is, consequently, not very noticeable. Rill erosion is
caused by the water concentrating in streams and washing
small cuts in the field. Gf-ully erosion is caused by

lar.i^e quantities of water follrwing well defined paths

F££r

which may become as much as 100 ' [^t>;?rcca deep. Soil car-
ried away by any of these methods can never be replaced.
Since the average layer of top'soil, which is the most
important in agriculture, is only about 8 inches deep,
it does not take very long for the entire layer to be
removed. It is estimated that in fields that are con-
stantly cultivated this will only be lo to 51 yer-rs. It
would take 4000 to 95 ,000 yesrs if theground were cover-
ed with veget8.tion. In 1955 a study showed that there
was about 414 million acres of cropland, in the United
States. Of this, 100 million acres has been either to-
tally or severely daiTiage by erosion. Thus, we can see
t'lat if all these conditions continue, to exist it would

-3-

not take verj^ lonr^ for the entire agricult-ural status of

To Birr/?* Ptfwv

the United States «ig^==sas:^e:s; . VSfhat are we doing to con-
trol this national menace?

There are many theories, some tested and some
not, thnt have been sug^-^ested to control or stop soil
erosion, I»lr, Edward ?aulkner I'vrote a book called "Plovj-
man's Folly". He contends that by plowing the ground we
expose it to the elements without any protection against
erosion, Faulkner believes in building up the soil from
the top down as nature does it. Instead of plowing all
the weeds and rubbish under, he cuts it up and lets it
decay on the surface. This method was used back in the
1930' s in the "Dust Bowl". This has checked the destruc-
tion of vast areas very effectively. Thie new kind of
farming has necessitated the development of new tools.
The implement companies are experimenting with many dif-
ferent kinds for the realize that there will be a great
change over to this new type of farming. The primary
function of these machines is to cut the top layer of
soil away from the subsoil. It also cuts the roots of
vegetation in the field but leaves the ■^around surface
well protected.

Another way of controlling erosion is strip
cropping. Thisjias its name implies, does not expose
all of the ground surface to the elements at one time.
The most effective type is contour stripping. In this

-4-
method a farmer divides his fields in long narrow strips
which follow closely the contour lines. The crops are
alternated in these strips so that a cultivated crop is
next to an uncultivated crop and so on. Tbis will elimi-
nate the danger of erosion and save many acres from being
destrojred. I have seen fields that have been continually
cultivated and washed until there is nothin^^ but bare
rock where once nine inches of top soil had been. An or-
chard has been planted and the erosion has been checlced
to a great extent. However, it is doubtful if the land
will recover sufficiently to make it suitable for the
growing of crops. If strip cropping had been applied to
this area before it had been completely ruined it would
still be productive. Most of our farmers fail to see or
do anything about erosion until it has reached a serious
condition.

Since the deforestation of land is condusive
to erosion, it is only natural that reforestation is a
means to prohibit and correct erosion. It has long been
known that forests greatly reduce the amount of soil
that is carried to the river and is detrimental both to
the land and to the strea'n due to its silting effect.
Each year the melting snows of the Middle West cause the
Mississippi River to overflow or even flood surrounding
farm land and towns. If these conditions are to be cor-
rected we must control the flow of ^ water and soil to the

-5-
river , The vast amounts of silt that settle in the river
"bottom shallow it and thus cause it to widen and flood
adjacent lands. If the water from the snow can be con-
trolled by the use of proper agricultural practices , the
floods will be largely eliminated. In Northern Missis-
sippi in 1931 and 1952 cultivated fields were losing 34-
tons of soil per acre while forest areas were losing 75
pounds per acre.

Erosion has probably reached its maximum de-
velopment at the present time. The government had not
taken any steps to control this situation until a few
years ago. Now the Soil Conservation Service is one of
the largest and most important services in the govern-
ment. It is carrying on its work in many di'^'ferent parts
of the United States receiving many encouraging results.
If the American farmer will take care of his land as sug-
gested by the men of this service, he will save both
himself and his government many millions of dollars a
year and the United States will be well on the way to
bring this enormous problem to a successful termination.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Agricultu r al Engineers , United States Department of A^gri-
culture j pages 581 to 692

Farmer 's Bulletin , United States Department of Agriculture,
Number 1776

Farmer ' s Bulletin , United States Department of Agriculture,
Number 1917

Readers Digest , ^eceTnber,1943, pages 35-39, 68
^ olls an d i^en. United States Department of .igriculture, I938
pages 581-592