OIUkjoU ^an^me/U. Studif. S^ioUcut QoHi/iol 



Oh, ^044^ to. Mi4Uie4oia 



^0\l/ 55 of 56 Minnesota 

 ^^1 §■ farmers who operate 5780 

 ^'/ f acres of rugged and rolling 

 land just west of Winona are working 

 together to save their soil is a story 

 of cooperation that brightens the pages 

 of current agricultural history. More 

 than 70 Illinois farmers visited this 

 "show window" of the soil conserva- 

 tion service recently to learn more 

 about erosion control. 



Gilmore Creek, into which all of 

 this land drams, empties into Lake 

 Winona, formed by the old channel of 

 the Mississippi River. This land has 

 been cultivated for about 75 years. 

 During that time thousands of tons 

 of rich topsoil have been washed down 

 into the Lake. The city of Winona 

 uses the lake as a playground, mostly 

 for swimming and boating, has found 

 it necessary to dredge out the silt 

 washed in from the farms above, peri- 

 odically, to save their recreation spot. 

 This summer the dredge is at work 

 again, Winona citizens hope for the 

 last time. They are as much inter- 

 ested in the erosion control project 

 of their neighbor farmers as the farm 

 owners themselves, for if the program 

 succeeds, there will be no more cash 

 outlays for dredging and farmers will 

 be more prosperous. 



The first step in attacking the ero- 

 sion problem in Gilmore Valley was to 

 make a change in land use. Before 

 the control work began in the spring 

 of 1935, some 2340 acres of the 5780 

 in the area was in crop land, 2777 

 in pasture, only 316 in unpastured 

 woodland. Four years later, the crop 

 acreage had been reduced to 1555, pas- 

 ture had been cut from 2777 to 1528 

 acres, unpastured woodland had been 

 stepped up from 316 to 1901 acres and 

 permanent hay land had been raised 



TYPICAL WINONA TOPOGRAPHY 

 "The first step was o chemge in land use." 



from 78 acres to 565 acres. 



The old woodland on sloping ground 

 was fenced off from cattle, and the 

 leaves, grass and underbrush were al- 

 lowed to accumulate into a thick mat 

 to hold the rainfall. A substantial 

 acreage of pasture was planted to young 

 trees and fenced. 



The second step in the erosion con- 

 trol program was to change the meth- 

 od of cropping, move the fences to con- 

 form to contour lines, increase soil- 

 building and soil-conserving crops and 

 practice strip cropping, basin listing, 

 contour planting and furrowing, spread 

 lime and fertilizer, increase acreage 

 in alfalfa and other legumes and prac- 

 tice rotational grazing. 



Before the project was started by 

 the federal soil conservation service 

 around Gilmore Creek there was no 

 strip cropping practiced along contour 

 lines and practically all woodland was 

 grazed. After four years 1439 acres 

 were in strip crops, 25 acres were 

 terraced, 4480 rods of fence had been 

 changed, 5120 rods erected to prevent 

 woodland grazing, nearly 11,000 square 

 yards of grassed waterways were es- 

 tablished, diversion ditches built, 1840 

 temporary and eight permanent gully 

 structures completed 1901 acres of farm 

 forests protected from fire and grazing. 



On the 320 acre farm operated and 

 owned by John Michael, all the fields 

 and fences have been streamlined fol- 

 lowing the contour of the land. 



"It was a little more work the first 

 year," said Michael, "but none of us 

 would farm any different now.. This 

 system is saving our soil and holding 

 the water up on the side hills. Our 

 crops are better because they get more 

 moisture." 



The Gilmore Creek area was once a 

 heavy grain and wheat growing section, 



JOHN MICHAEL 

 "None of us would iarm any diiierent 



M. M. Keliher of the Soil Conserva- 

 tion Service told the group. Farmers 

 had been plowing most of their land, 

 even on steep slopes. Plowing up and 

 down hill was accompanied by gully- 

 ing and sheet erosion. Today, dairy- 

 ing and livestock raising have largely 

 replaced grain farming. 



On the Michael farm, deep contour 

 furrows had been made on a steep 

 side hill at intervals of from 9 to 16 

 feet. Two trips with a 24 inch scraper, 

 Michael said, made the furrows and one 

 trip was made to block them every 

 40 to 50 feet. These little dams, or 

 blocks, in the furrows every 50 feet or 

 so make excellent reservoirs and pre- 

 vent water from breaking through. 

 The furrows will hold the water from 

 a two-inch rain or better. Such land 

 is suitable for pasture and when planted 

 to a mixture of sweet clover, red 

 clover, alfalfa, alsike, timothy and 

 brome grass produces an abundance of 

 feed. 



Slopes of 15 to 20 per cent or more 

 were planted to trees obtained from 



THE ZEPHYR 

 "100 miles an hour going 

 and coming." 



TO USTEN AND LEARN 

 "Rich pasture here where once was barren 

 hillside." 



