CHAPTER IX 

 CONTROL OF EROSION ON RANGE AND PASTURE 



Nearly one-half of the United States — the hilly half — is 

 being seriously impaired by runaway waters. In a relatively 

 short time — a mere moment of time historically considered — 

 much of the productive portion of hillside soils has been borne 

 along the " line of least resistance." In our eagerness to work 

 nature overtime we have destroyed the plant cover and pre- 

 pared the soil for its voyage. The rain furnished the trans- 

 portation. 



Remove the upper dark layer of humus soil, and you have 

 done the same thing as when you skim off the rich film which 

 has accumulated over the surface of a pan of milk; you have 

 taken the cream, the rich, productive part of the land, the part 

 you pay for when you buy the farm. 



Erosion is one of the most serious dangers that threaten the 

 farms and pastures of the Nation. On the other hand, a good 

 plant cover, especially on the steep hillsides, would be the 

 safest possible insurance against erosion and consequent dam- 

 age. And what would such insurance mean? It would mean 

 that approximately one-half of the population of the United 

 States would be more prosperous; that the productivity of 

 about 797,000,000 acres of farm land in this country — not to 

 mention the native pasture and forest lands — with a value of 

 about $28,500,000,000, would gradually increase instead of 

 declining. Erosion, the most disturbing single factor in the 

 development of the Nation's lands, is fortunately in a large 

 measure under the control of man. For this reason the prin- 

 ciples underlying its control are deserving of careful consider- 

 ation. 



Migration of Rainfall. — Everyone who has been in a dense 

 forest or where other types of vegetation cover the ground, 



