WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 215 



this simple way fields which have been badly washed 

 and gullied and entirely abandoned may be recovered 

 and made highly productive. 



" The most important thing in the recovery of waste 

 fields is the incorporation of organic matter of some 

 kind in the soil; pea vines, stubble, briers, or leaves 

 from the forest may be used as a source of the organic 

 matter. The straw from one acre of land which has 

 been recovered, as mentioned above, will be sufficient 

 to start the recovery of another acre, even if this be 

 deeply furrowed with gullies. Where enough organic 

 matter can be used as a surface dressing, this layer 

 helps greatly to retain water and to make the under- 

 lying soil more absorbent. 



" As soon as a sufficient supply of humus has been 

 accumulated and the lands are brought up to an ade- 

 quate condition of fertility, clover or grass should be 

 seeded, if the land is at all suited to these crops, or rye, 

 oats, or field peas should be sown to help hold the sur- 

 face. Little by little, but more rapidly than would 

 be expected from the forbidding aspect of the field, the 

 land can be reclaimed again and made productive 

 through the accumulation of humus and organic matter. 

 A soil containing a fair quantity of humus will wash 

 less readily than one nearly destitute of this mat- 

 ter. 



" A soil containing a fair supply of lime is much 

 less liable to wash than one similarly situated and ex- 

 posed which is deficient in lime. The reason of this 

 is that clays which are deficient in lime, when once 

 brought into suspension by moving waters, will remain 

 in suspension and keep the water turbid for a long 

 time. Clays which are heavily impregnated with lime 

 salts, on the other hand, are in a flocculated state, the 



