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Dixon Springs Project 



Seelis Land Reclamation 



(Excerpts from intormation supplied by Prof. H. P. Rusk. 

 Chief of Animal Husbandry at the University of Illinois.) 



ILLINOIS 



'ARLIEST settlers in southern 

 Illinois didn't know when they 

 cut timber to plant crops that 

 they were taking the first step toward 

 agricultural poverty. Although rolling 

 and hilly, their new yellow-red forest 

 soil responded during the first few 

 years with a flush of satisfactory yields. 

 But the hill soils were low in plant 

 food and production soon declined. 

 With the loss of cover and humus, 

 inevitable under pioneer systems of 

 farming, erosion set in. So gradual 

 it was in the early stages that farmers 

 failed to notice. Even when it had 

 reached serious proportions, few farm- 

 ers recognized their problem and still 

 fewer tried to solve it. 



with all kinds of crops and cropping 

 plans on local fields. From these plots 

 investigators have gleaned much basic 

 information about soil and crop prob- 

 lems but there has been no attack on 

 the whole situation. There is a need 

 for information about pasture crops 

 and methods that may lead to a prof- 

 itable system of farming these worn- 

 out and eroded lands. 



On August 1933, the University of 

 Illinois proposed that an area near 

 Dixon Springs in Pope county be set 

 aside for general pasture studies and 

 demonstrations. A purchase program 

 was soon initiated by the Land Policy 

 Section of the AAA. Further develop- 

 ment of the region by the Resettle- 



%■ 



SHEEP HEADQUARTERS AT DDCON SPRINGS 

 Southern Illinois farmers look to the Dixon Springs project as a source oi inionnation 

 about sheep raising. Five sheep shelters and shearing shed are shown in the back- 

 ground. The bam is for horses. 



Yields tobogganed and erosion 

 speeded up until large tracts were aban- 

 doned as unprofitable for cultivation. 

 Reforestation appears to be the only 

 economic use that will stabilize much 

 of the land. Recognizing the serious- 

 ness of the situation, the Forest Service 

 of the USDA set up the Shawnee Na- 

 tional Forest purchase unit and has ac- 

 quired thousands of acres as a begin- 

 ning for a new National Forest. 



Weakness of this plan is that it deals 

 with only the lands unfit for any use 

 except tree production. The major 

 problem is — What can be done with 

 thousands of acres that are actually go- 

 ing down hill all over the southern 

 corn belt.' 



For more than a quarter of a century 

 the Agronomy department of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois has experimented 



ment Administration and the Farm Se- 

 curity Administration followed. Now 

 the project, covering 21 entire sections 

 and parts of seven others, is l>eing com- 

 pleted by the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Economics in cooperation with the 

 University of Illinois. Helping, too, 

 are the Forest Service, Soil Conserva- 

 tion Service and other federal agencies. 



How to put this yellow-red soil on 

 a paying basis? That's what the work- 

 ers at Dixon Springs are trying to dis- 

 cover. If they but had a plant, a crop 

 that would grow on badly eroded soil 

 and would furnish pasture and feed 

 for cattle and sheep the year around, 

 the land would once more support 

 farm families. 



From all parts of the United States 

 experimenters brought plants to try. 

 Some grew — others died or failed to 



KENTUCKY 



TENNESSEE 



TO HELP THIS AREA 



Results of the Dixon Springs demonstra- 

 tion are expected to benefit farms in the 

 shaded area, lead the way to a more prof- 

 itable agriculture for thousands of farm 

 families in Illinois. Indiana, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, Aricansas and Missouri. 



produce forage. The workers selected 

 the most promising crops and mixtures 

 for planting plots of ten acres or larger 

 in actual pasture tests. 



A start has been made in the estab- 

 lishment of herds and flocks for use in 

 demonstrating the value of new crops. 

 This phase of the project has not de- 

 veloped far enough to produce signifi- 

 cant results. About 150 Hereford cat- 

 tle, half of which are purebred, five 

 purebred Brown Swiss, and nearly 600 

 ewes will go into winter headquarters 

 this year. More livestock will be 

 added as soon as the carrying capacity 

 of the pastures and the provision for 

 winter feed permits. 



Perhaps poultry production will 

 flourish under southern Illinois condi- 

 tions. Almost 1,400 young turkeys 

 maturing on the rearing ranges con- 

 stitute what is hoped will be a com- 

 prehensive series of experiments in an 

 attempt to discover what can be done 

 with poultry. 



Dams for storage of surface water 

 for livestock have been erected in dif- 

 ferent parts of the Dixon Springs area. 

 There is only one satisfactory well on 

 the project. 



The Dixon Springs experiments may 

 point the way to a prosperous range 

 country on the southern edge of the 

 corn belt. Just as soybeans have changed 

 farming methods in corn growing re- 

 gions, there is a chance that another 

 crop will do the same for southern 

 Illinois. But the question still remains 

 — which plant? Further experiments 

 may provide the answer. 



>RD 



OCTOBER, 1938 



