PROBLEM 4. Why We Must Practice Conservation 



Fig. 354 A hillside tuat has gone tu iiaste. Can you explain how:' (u. s. soil conser- 

 vation service) 



Overgrazing causes loss of good soil, 

 too. When too many animals graze on 

 too small an area, they are forced to eat 

 all the green parts above the ground, 

 starving the roots which bind the soil. 

 Sheep and goats are particularly destruc- 

 tive because they crop very close to the 

 ground. Stripped of its cover of grass, 

 much of the topsoil is washed and blown 

 away. (See Figs. 354 and 356.) The land 

 becomes poorer and poorer. In some sec- 

 tions of our country the topsoil is en- 

 tirely gone. Overgrazing is partially the 

 cause of the treeless slopes of Spain and 

 other Mediterranean countries. 



Ordinary farming operations cause 

 much loss of topsoil too. In plowing the 

 land we expose the topsoil to the action 

 of rain and wind. Furthermore, unless 

 the farmer adds fertilizers or takes other 

 precautions, the nitrogen and other min- 

 eral compounds will soon be exhausted. 



Soil conservation. The United States 

 government through several of its bu- 

 reaus, some of the State governments, 

 and groups of private individuals who 

 are concerned about the future welfare 

 of the country have attacked the prob- 



lem of soil conservation in several ways. 

 Education of farmers and city dwellers 

 in regard to the need for soil conserva- 

 tion and the danger of forest destruction 

 is the first job to be done. Government 

 agencies search for plants which may be 

 used to bind the soil. Research workers 

 devise and try out ways of farming to 



Fig. 355 The topsoil is often dark colored. 

 Why must it be kept from being washed away? 

 (geographic review) 



