February 12, 1916 



HOKTICULTURE 



207 



CONTROL OF SOIL WASHING. 



The Agricultural Experiment Station 

 at Columbia, Mo., has sent out an in- 

 structive illustrated bulletin on "The 

 Control of Soil Washing," by M. F. 

 Miller. 



Soil washing is the greatest single 

 source of loss on many rolling lands. 

 It is greater than the loss of plant food 

 through cropping. The washing off of 

 the surface soil during a single season 

 may remove as much organic matter 

 as will be replaced by the turning un- 

 der of two or three clover crops. A 

 single rain may form gullies which it 

 will require years to repair. And the 

 Injury to the land itself is only a part 

 of the story. The filling of our smaller 

 streams with silt and the great injury 

 that is done navigation by the clogging 

 of our large water courses with this 

 eroded material is another very im- 

 portant phase of the subject, when the 

 country as a whole is considered. A 

 large share of this damage is prevent- 

 able. Public sentiment should be awak- 

 ened to the seriousness of the problem 

 and the land owner brought to realize 

 the importance of persistent efforts of 

 ■control. 



As long as land is kept in timber or 

 in thick-growing vegetation, as in its 

 virgin state, the rate of surface loss 

 from the average soil by erosion is less 

 than the rate of accumulation by rock 

 weathering. When the land is put in 

 cultivation, erosion is greatly increased 

 and the rate of loss is then far greater 

 than the rate of soil formation. It is, 

 however, when the land is in tilled 

 crops that the greatest loss occurs. 

 Careless culture is undoubtedly produc- 

 tive of the greatest losses. Where 

 washes once start they invariably be- 

 come worse rather than better if the 

 land is kept in cultivation. Shallow 

 plowing is another of the causes of 

 washing which usually accompanies 

 careless farming. If the plowing is 

 deep, most, if not all, of the water will 

 be absorbed and washing greatly de- 

 creased. 



A crop rotation which leaves the land 

 bare as short a time as possible is the 

 most fundamental preventive measure. 

 The use of winter cover crops such as 

 rye will go a long way in preventing 

 the washing of the fall, winter, and 

 spring rains. The use of such crops 

 not only means a saving of soil but 

 also the addition of organic matter or 

 humus — a substance badly needed in 

 most lands which are inclined to wash. 

 A preventive measure which the 

 farmer on rolling land must sooner or 

 later learn to apply is that of contour 

 farming, that is, farming the land 

 around or across the slope, ratlicr than 

 with the slope. Where furrows run up 

 and down the slope washing is greatly 

 Increased. 



A fourth general preventive uioasurc 

 in controlling washing is that of main- 

 taining organic matter in the soil. Soils 

 low in organic matter wash muih more 

 than those high in organic matter. This 

 Is due to the fact that soils high in or- 

 ganic matter absorb water more rapid- 

 ly than those which are low in this 

 material, while the presence of organic 

 matter also aids in binding the soil 

 particles together, thus preventing 

 washing. The farmer who maintains 

 organic matter by crop rotation, ma- 

 nuring, and the growing of cover crops 

 will suffer little from soil-washing. 



CYPRIPEDIUM PHILIPPINENSE (L/EVIGATUM.) 



This is a very handsome stove spe- 

 cies, a native of the Philippine Islands, 

 which appears to be extremely rare at 

 present, although it has been in cul- 

 tivation for half a century. The dor- 

 sal sepal of this species is striped 



purplish lirown on a white ground, the 

 lip greenish yellow, petals six inches 

 long, striped brown on white ground 

 and twirled. It reminds one of our 

 South American Selenipediuras, espe- 

 cially S. Concliifenim. 



M .T. Pope. 



SCHENLEY PARK. 



A View from the Steel Entrance In Sclienley I'lirk. PItlsburgh, Pa. 



The accompanying cut shows one time. The picture tells its own story 



more in the series of views in Pitts- '" ""^ artistic tree groupings, healthy 



„ , , . , luxuriance and evident attentive care 



burghs pride-Schenley Park-which bestowed by those having In charge 



we have been publishing from time to this beautiful public reservation. 



