levels in the instance of some of the major crops produced 

 under the single-crop type of farming. Referring to the Big 

 Creek erosion project of the Soil Conservation Service in 

 north-central Missouri, where the corn acreage reduction 

 amounts to 37 percent for a S-year period on the cooperating 

 farms, it has been said, "This (reduction of single-crop 

 acreage) obviously implies a long series of economic read- 

 justments within the individual farm as well as in its outside 

 relationships." 7 These changed conditions mean that the 

 farmer must apportion his soil assets among more lines of 

 production in combinations varying according to climatic 

 and soil conditions and the demand-supply trends in agri- 

 cultural markets. 



[3] Cultivation of Tilled Lands. 



The problem of conserving water supplies and preventing 

 erosion will be solved in part by a rational assignment of land 

 to forest cover and sods. But the most difficult part of the 

 problem still remains, that of proper treatment of the culti- 

 vated areas. The forest, sod and aquatic treatment is entirely 

 in conformity with Nature's procedure. The cultivation of 

 land is in opposition to that procedure. However, civiliza- 

 tion is built on the production of cultivated crops. The 

 problem resolves itself into one of securing the benefits of 

 cultivation in a manner which departs least from natural 

 arrangements. There are several practices which in com- 

 bination go a long way toward meeting these conditions. 



First; there is cultivation itself. Frequent, but not too 

 frequent, cultivation where the nature of the crop makes it 

 possible is highly effective in conserving soil moisture in that 

 weeds are destroyed and transpiration thereby reduced to a 

 minimum. Where effective weed control can be obtained 

 without excessive pulverization of the soil, some gain with 

 respect to increased absorption of rainfall results. That is 

 to say, a granular or fine-fragmental condition of the soil is 

 not only more favorable to absorption of water on most 

 temperate zone soils as compared with a dust-fine condition, 

 but the rougher surface of the coarser soil offers somewhat 



7 R. Schickele, J. P. Himmel, and R. M. Hurd, Economic Phases of Erosion Control in 

 Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri, Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 

 No. 333, p. 194, June 1935. 



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