^ They Licked Soil Erosion 



How Otto Berlage and His Wife Carved a Successful 



Farm and Home From Jo Daviess 



County Pasture Land 



^^^^HE first year Otto Berlage 

 ^^~jf^ and his bride started farming, 

 \l they harvested just 70 bushels 

 of barley. 



"The corn froze and there wasn't 

 a forkful of hay," he said. "But some- 

 how when interest day came we had 

 enough to make the payment and a 

 little more." 



That was 25 years ago. Today the 

 rolling run-down JoDaviess county 

 land without buildings or fences that 

 the Berlage's took over in 1914 is a 

 productive 258-acres known as Avery 

 Hill farm. It has a modern house, a 

 fine set of buildings, a good dairy 

 herd, a flock of purebred Hampshire 

 sheep, and a bunch of thrifty cross- 

 bred hogs. The Berlages have literally 

 carved out their farm and home from 

 land that was all but abandoned. 



Settled in 1819 



When Otto was invited down to the 

 University of Illinois' Farm and Home 

 Week last winter to tell about his 

 experiences in soil erosion control he 

 astonished his listeners with an account 

 of JoDaviess county soil history. 



"The first settlers came to the lead 

 mines around Galena about 1819," 

 Berlage said. "After 10 years spent in 

 mining, there came a slump and the 

 miners looked about for something 

 else to do. So about 1829 they began 

 farming. In 1832 the miners' journal 

 reported that 102 large steam boats 

 and 72 keel boats came up the Galena 

 River to Galena, the old county seat, 

 in a single year. The same boats that 

 plied the Mississippi came up the Ga- 



lena River. In 1835 it was planned 

 to put a bridge across the Galena 

 River. The two narrowest places they 

 could find were 284 feet and 268 feet 

 wide. Water in the river was 12 to 

 16 feet deep at normal stage. 



"But by 1850 a dredge committee 

 had been appointed in Galena. And 

 by 1863 river navigation was suspended 

 because the river had filled with silt 

 washed down from farm lands. To- 

 day the Galena River is about 50 to 

 60 feet wide with two to six feet of 

 water in it. Thousands and thousands 

 of tons of JoDaviess county soil have 

 filled l|he river with about 20 feet of 

 silt. ' 



Fewer Farms Now 



"If we farmers will only stop to 

 think about our children and the gen- 

 erations to follow we surely will do 

 all in our power to keep the soil where 

 it belongs and in a high state of fer- 

 tility," he said. 



Berlage tells you that 40 years ago 

 there were at least 22 farms with a 

 family on each in his school district. 

 Today we have only 11 farm families. 

 Two or three of these farms are 

 headed for the deserted list. Six of 

 the 22 have been abandoned as homes 

 and the other five farmsteads have 

 been abandoned but the land is oper- 

 ated as a part of other farms in the 

 district. 



From the lowest point to the highest 

 limestone ridge on the Berlage farm 

 there is a rise of about 275 feet. The 

 ridges are partly covered with timber 

 and blue grass. So steep are some of 

 the hillsides that they can scarcely be 



LOOKING DOWN FROM 

 THE RIDGE 

 "It's 275 ieet from top to 

 bottom." 



OTTO BERLAGE AND HAMPSHIRE BUCK 

 He got into sheep occidentally. 



THE BERLAGE DAUGHTERS 

 Mercedes, 18, attends Dubuqe CoUege: 

 and Marcella, 12, is a seventh grader. 

 They both have raised 4-H Club lamba. 



pastured. To keep the soil on the 

 side hills and prevent gullying in the 

 plowed fields below Berlage has built 

 a diversion ditch that continues for 

 some 1200 feet around the highest 

 ridge. Water rushing down the steep 

 slopes is carried around the hill to a 

 grtes waterway. 



Berlage has used grass waterways 

 and strip cropping since he started 

 farming. During the past eight to 

 ten years he has practiced erosion con- 

 trol more intensively. About 80 to 

 90 acres of land are cultivated. The 

 balance is left in trees and blue grass. 

 Twenty acres, set aside for permanent 

 timber, have been planted to 70,000 

 young trees. This land will provide 

 fuel, lumber and posts in future years. 

 The farm has about a dozen springs 

 which furnish a constant stream of 

 cold running water. 



Saves the Soil 



I think strip cropping on the con- 

 tour is about the best way I know of 

 saving the soil on the side hills," said 

 Otto. "We have tried terracing but 

 find that our land lays too steep. Our 

 plan is to not plow more than is neces- 

 sary to keep our meadows in good 

 shape. We can grow as many bushels 



THE BERLAGE HOME 

 The house was built in 1914. 



