210 Practical Farming 



will do far more to prevent the washing of the red clay 

 hills than all the terrace banks that were ever constructed. 



The constant addition of humus-making material will 

 also have a great influence in preventing the washing. 

 These uplands did not wash when newly cleared from the 

 forest, and only became liable to destructive washing after 

 the humus had been worn out and the soil baked and ran 

 together after a rain. 



Of course, all plowing on these hills should be on the 

 level contour of the hill, but every effort should be made 

 to avoid the making of deep furrows to catch water and 

 form a head to break over and start a gully. The ridging 

 up of the crops of cotton and com in the last cultivation of 

 a season has been responsible for a great many of the gul- 

 lies that now damage the Southern hills. These furrows 

 between the rows soon fill with water in a heavy rain, and 

 one after another breaks over adding more and more vol- 

 ume, till a torrent rushes down the hill and a gully is 

 started. If the plow is rigidly kept out of the cotton crop, 

 and level and shallow cultivation is adopted, the water 

 will be spread out and will be more largely retained as is 

 needed instead of running off and making guUies and 

 leaving the land dryer in the drought. 



While a good rotation is important, the proper cultiva- 

 tion of the cotton crop is equally important when the 

 future well-being of the land is considered. The best ro- 

 tation will avail little if the cultivation of the hoed crops 

 is bad and the land is allowed to lose its fertihty by wash- 

 ing in winter and summer also. 



The following rotation will be found a good one for the 

 upland sections: Corn, with peas sown among it; winter 



