WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 219 



better and richer portions of the remaining soil. For- 

 tunately a hundred or more of these lived and began 

 to grow vigorously. Soon other plants began to come 

 up from the roots, and in the course of a few years 

 the whole surface was covered by a beautiful growth 

 of young locusts. Now, after the lapse of more than 

 forty years, this abandoned hillside is not only a beau- 

 tiful spot in the landscape, but also supplies fence posts 

 for the whole farm and yields a larger income accord- 

 ing to its area than any other portion of the farm. A 

 considerable part of it has also been naturally seeded 

 to maple. 



If the farmers' boys throughout the United States 

 on all farms where erosion has played its game would 

 undertake a reforestation in this direction, incal- 

 culable benefit would JDC derived therefrom. But it is 

 not necessary to abandon the cultivation of such eroded 

 areas. The contour system of cropping will usually 

 save them for use. It is true, it requires some labor 

 to lay out the lines of level and build the little embank- 

 ments. This, however, can be very well done by\ the 

 plow. A considerable part of the area is unavoidably 

 wasted for arable purposes, as the embankments cannot 

 be plowed up. But on the whole it pays either to re- 

 forest these denuded areas or to cultivate them on the 

 contour principle. This process is now in use in parts 

 of the country, and decided progress has been made in 

 recovering the soil from the effects of erosion and pro- 

 tecting it against further injury. 



QUANTITY OP SOIL CAREIED. 



It is of course impossible to do more than estimate 

 the quantities of soil which are carried from the sur- 

 face of the fields and forests and emptied into the 



