strips for more gently rolling land. 



"This terracing and contour farmin' 

 may b-j all right for rough land, but I 

 don't need it. My farm slopes some, 

 sure, but it's too much bother to do 

 what those government fellers say." 



Ever hear anything like that.-' If 

 not. you will. Contour farming and 

 terracing run counter to the traditional 

 way of doing things. And anything 

 new always draws plenty of tire. 



Most Illinois land slopes some. It 

 may not gulley but sheet erosion is con- 

 stantly at work taking away the fertile 

 top soil faster than it can be built up. 

 Listen a minute to Farm Bureau mem- 

 ber C. D. Goekq of Winnebago county: 



"After much study and reading of 

 experiences of other farmers in solv- 

 ing erosion difficulties we became in- 

 terested in the Soil Conservation Ser 

 vice program. Our soil is rather level 

 to gently rolling with just enough de- 

 cline to run off excess water. Thus wc 

 have considerable sheet erosion when 

 rains are heavy. If we would lose only 

 one-fourth inch of soil every year by 

 sheet erosion, that would make one 

 inch in four years. That is so slow 

 nobody would detect it, yet it would 

 take nature about lOO years to rebuild 

 that inch of lost soil. That is some- 

 thint; to think about. 





.r^ 



HOMEMADE TERRACE. CARROLL COUNTY 

 "See how if holds the wafer and soil?" 



Alter due consideration we fol- 

 lowed the Service's recommendations 

 to contour and strip farm those por- 

 tions that showed considerable sheet 

 erosion after heavy rains. When asked 

 if plowing, plantinir. or cultivating 

 corn gave us any ditTiculty in our con- 

 tour work, trankly, I say no. Plowing 

 may take a little longer but it makes a 

 better job when your plows are on -the 

 level than when they lean one way go- 

 ing up grade and the other way when 

 going down. It may be a little difficult 



*te% '%* 



A 3.5 INCH RAIN DID THIS 

 A few hours before a corn cultivator passed 

 over this gully, Mt. Pleasant township, White- 

 side County. 



at the beginning to make some of the 

 changes when one is not experienced, 

 but after a half day's work when you 

 get accustomed to the method, there 

 IS no difficulty. 



Regarding the cultivation of corn, 

 we use a two-row plow and have not 

 the least trouble in plowing as close or 

 as well as one does when plowing 

 checked corn. I prefer tractor cultiva- 

 tion to horses. There is not the least 

 diffitultv following the rows closely 

 with a tractor. 



"What about conservation of mois- 

 ture.^ You can send anyone here after 

 a heavy rain and I can show him where 

 the rows have been standing level full 

 of water. And it all seeped into the 

 soil where it fell and only seldom does 

 any ever get across to the next row. In 

 the event of excessive rainfall where 

 contour work would not hold the 

 water, the strip of grain or alfalfa will 

 catch and hold any surplus water or 

 soil carried by it. 



"In regard to saving fuel or power 

 in contour farming. I would say there 

 is. Anyone can judge for himself 

 whether it is easier to pull machinery 

 on the level or pull it up and down 

 grade all day." 



There you are. Just a few simple 

 fat ts about soil erosion and how to con- 

 trol it. Not from a gcivcrnment engi- 

 neer or college expert, but trom a prac- 

 tical farmer. 



Wherever you go in Illinois you will 

 find f^ounty I'arm Bureaus and farm 

 advisers alert to the dangers of gully- 

 ing and sheet erosion. ( omparativety 

 few farms in the state are flat. Fvery 

 county has thousands of acres of roll- 

 ing land. And no matter how gentle 

 the slope, a heavy ten minute rain in 



April or May on a freshly prepared 

 seed bed can do more damage by sheet 

 erosion than can be repaired in five 

 years of the best crop rotation and 

 fertilization. 



At Elmwood, in Peoria county, the 

 Soil Conservation Camp is in charge of 

 Harold B. Shawl, superintendent. He 

 and his associates are emphasizing 

 broad base terraces on gently rolling 

 land. On the Joe Garlish farm in Ful- 

 ton county we saw such terraces being 

 made with a Parsons Whirlwind tcr- 

 racer. A 21 year old CCC lad, George 

 Sholtis, from around Gillespie in Ma- 

 coupin county, was driving the tractor. 

 He was doing a good job and enjoying 

 his work. Here the grade was about 

 three per cent. A strip of earth (0 ft. 

 wide was disturbed to build the terrace 

 with a 30 ft. base. The terrace outlet 

 is along the fence at the end of the 

 field — a shallow trough blue grass 

 sodded eight to 12 ft. wide. 



In a few ca.ses the Conservation Ser- 



ENGINEER FRANK REED AND FARM LEVEL 

 used to 'set stakes for terracing — Elmwood 

 SCS Camp. Peoria County. 



vice is providing etpiipment for terrac- 

 ing while the owner pays the fuel bill. 

 The standard practice, however, is tor 

 the owner to furnish or pay for the use 

 of the ec]uipment. The conservation 

 camps provide all or most of the labor. 

 The expense to the farmer is not heavy. 

 The outlay will come back to him with- 

 in a few years in higher crop yields. 



Prof. F. W. Lehmann and R. C. Hay 

 of the University of Illinois are the 

 authors of a late circular No. 1^9, 

 "Terraces to Save the Soil." It is ably 

 written, timely and well-illustrated. A 

 penny post card to the Collj'ge of Agri- 

 culture, Urbana, will bring you a tree- 

 copy. If you have sloping land better 

 look into this., Contour and strip farm- 

 ing are coming. In fact, they are here. 

 And they're here to stay. You might 

 as well get in on the ground floor. 

 Why let the best part of the soil get 

 away from you ? Take care of the land 

 and it will take care of you. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



