2. Removal of forests and laying bare the soil to the direct 

 action of the elements. The thick canopy of a forest, as well as 

 the carpet of leaves and twigs beneath it, protect the forested 

 surface from) the erosive violence of heavy rains. Remove 

 the forest and stir the soil and erosion is favored. This does 

 not necessarily lead to evil results, however. The forests must 

 be cleared and the lands must be cultivated for man's sustenance, 

 and as long as he gives intelligent care to the soil washing need 

 not result. It is only when he relinquishes it after clearing and 

 cultivating it that it goes to destruction. Manifestly then care 

 should be used in choosing lands to clear, leaving in woodland 

 very hilly sandy lands, and especially if located near the head- 

 waters of important streams, for forests are feeders of springs 

 and springs are the only permanent feeders of our streams. 



3. As intimated in the above paragraph, loose sandy soils and 

 clayey loams underlaid by sands permitting undercutting and 

 slumping favor washing of the land. This is patent to any in- 

 telligent observer. On the other hand, dense homogeneous struc- 

 tures, well compacted, yield less readily to erosion. 



4. Heavy rainfall particularly where it falls at times with 

 torrential violence rushing down the slopes with destructive 

 force. 



These are some of the most important factors influencing the 

 rapid washing of the land. Let us apply them to conditions in 

 Mississippi. Where is soil washing most active and where least 

 so in the State? 



Lying in the western part of the State is a broad, irregularly 

 elliptical area, extending from Memphis to Vicksburg. This is 

 the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta a low-lying featureless plain 

 built up of floodplain deposits, and the surface soils consisting 

 of dark sandy loams near the streams and prevailingly sticky 

 clays, "buckshot" or gumbo, in the interstream areas. All of this 

 is very recent formation. 



