LIFE ON THE FARM. 



WATER BOTH DESTRUCTIVE AND USEFUL. 



Water is destructive as well as useful. Evidence 

 of this can be seen after every heavy rain in the 

 amount of earth washed down from the steep, 

 unprotected hillsides. Similar action takes place 

 on the more level ground, especially when it is not 

 protected by plant growth, and even then some is 

 washed away. Some of the soil washed away by 

 the water is carried only a few feet, and set!fes 

 down of its own weight if the water flows slowly or 

 spreads out into shallow pools. Some is carried 

 many rods, sometimes settling down and spreading 

 out in a thin layer over a large piece of low land. 

 The finest soil is carried into the rivers and finally 

 reaches the sea. More than a hundred million tons 

 are thus carried annually by the Mississippi to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



There is a difference between water wearing 

 land away and dissolving it away. Soil worn away 

 makes water muddy, but the water may hold, in 

 addition, dissolved matter which is not seen. 

 Muddy water soon becomes clear when not in 

 motion; but after it becomes perfectly clear, it 

 nearly always contains other earthy matter which 

 will not settle, regardless of the length of time 

 that it remains guiet. This dissolved matter, 

 however, can be obtained by evaporating the 

 water. 



The washing away of soil by the action of water 



