rnNSF.RVATION THARLEY by Harry Corry 



SSCC MAKES WATERSHED TOURS IN MONTANA 



"Good soil is a glutton for work , Charley 

 remarks a» he and Bert sip their morning coffee. 



"The country's sure curled up for the winter," 

 Bert replies. "It doesn't look like it's work- 

 ing too hard right now." 



"No, that's true enough," Chuck admits. Old 

 man Winter really puts the brakes on growing 

 things. But that's not really what I meant. 

 I was speaking of giving the soil plenty to do 

 during the growing season. A lot of folks seem 

 to think that soil improves by giving it a va- 

 cation. That isn't always the case. 



"Course, on dryland," he continues, "where 

 moisture is short, it has to have a rest in 

 order to store up growing juice. But that's 

 for the moisture's sake, not the soil's." 



"You mean that you can keep growing stuff year 

 after year after year without raining the soil?" 

 Bert asks. 



"Yep," Charley replies, "if it's taken care 

 of at the same time." 



"Whatta you mean by care?" is Bert's next 

 question. 



"Well, I can't improve on an editorial that 

 the PRAIRIE FARMER recently published" Charley 

 says. "Here, let me read it to you." 



He pulls a clipping out of his pocket and his 

 sonorous voice relates the following tale: 



"From a Minnesota soil scientir.t comes the 

 opinion that agricultural land is not necessarilj 

 improved by leaving it idle or giving it a rest. 



"He points out that high-yielding crops, 

 properly fertilized, will start a chain reaction 

 of adding more and more organic matter to the 

 soil and thereby Improving both its structure 

 and fertility. The bigger the crop, more roots 

 there are working through the soil and the more 

 residue there is to plow down. 



"This is a point we have been making all 

 along. Good soils, like ambitious people, like 

 to work hard and produce well. 



"When you take a big harvest from the 

 land, it is, of course, necessary to replace 

 the nutrients that have been hauled away. But 

 when this is done, the land can actually improve 

 under full load if the methods of husbandry are 

 the right ones. It is good stewardship to keep 

 our good land busy with abundant crops and to 

 shift our poorer land to the kinds of production 

 for which it is best suited. 



"This new Idea need not hamper or change our 

 ideas of conservation. It is the essence of 

 good conservation to use land, as well as other 

 resources, efficiently and intelligently. We 

 should remember this as we ponder our farm 

 programs and the changes they may need." '"" 



Charley's voice drifts into silence. He folds 

 the clipping and puts It back in his pocket. 

 Then he wets his whistle with a shot of Java. 



Bert i9 also silent for a moment. Then he 

 turns to Charley. 



Continued, next column 4 



Watershed Tours were held during the months 

 of October and November. 



On October 6, the Cove Creek Watershed Project 

 in Yellowstone County and the Valley Creek Water- 

 shed Project in Stillwater County were toured by 

 the State Soil Conservation Committee and Soil 

 Conservation Service personnel. 



On November 9, the Little Boulder River in 

 Jefferson County, the Bro^-m's Gulch Watershed 

 Project in Silver Bow County, and the Racetrack 

 and Little Blackfoot Watershed Projects in Deer 

 Lodge County were toured. Those making the tour 

 were Members of the State Soil Conservation Comm- 

 ittee, Soil Conservation Service personnel and a 

 member of the State Water Conservation Board. 



A tour was made on November 19 and 20 of the 

 following watershed projects: Thirty Mile, Fort 

 Belknap, and Paradise Watershed Projects, all in 

 Blaine County; City of Shelby, Toole County; 

 Pondera Creek, Pondera & Teton Counties; Highwood 

 Creek in Chouteau County, and Sand Coulee in 

 Cascade County, 



All Members of the State Soil Conservation Comm- 

 ittee made this tour, along with Frank Schledorn 

 of the Soil Conservation Service. 



Conservation Charley, Cont. 



Well, if you put it that way it makes a lot of 

 sense", he remarks. "I guess the catch is in re- 

 placing the nutrients taken out of the soil. 

 There's a lot of fellows who aren't doing that." 



"You clobbered the nail on the cranium that 

 time," Chuck agrees. "Soil is a go-getting son- 

 of-a-gun if it's given a chance. I wish more 

 fellows would wise up and pitch in and help it 

 out." 



They finish their coffee and flip to see who is 

 tuck for it. Charley loses but he still feels 

 good about getting his good turn done for conser- 

 vation for the day. 



