REMOVAL OF THE FEETILE SOIL FROM THE 

 FAEM BY WATER. 



In a brief paper elsewhere in this volume the writer has stated in 

 general terms the relations between forests and the soil of farms. 

 This article is intended to present some more detailed and practical 

 suggestions upon the same subject. 



Just how valuable this soil is which is washed away from our 

 cultivated acres will appear from the following statement made by a 

 gentleman who was well-known in Pennsylvania and recognized as) 

 one of our most wide-awake farmers. The late Colonel James Young, 

 of Middletown, was asked at a meeting of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, what fertilizer he derived the largest returns from. He re- 

 plied promptly, that in the winter he kept men employed cleaning out 

 the bottom of the canal, which ran through his land, and that he 

 thought this paid him better than any form of fertilizer he could use. 

 In short, he said, that it was about the most profitable industry on his 

 farm. Colonel Young was simply gathering up the wash from hifl 

 own land and from tlh'at of others, further up stream, and restoring 

 it all to his own land. It was a far-sighted, legitimate enterprise, 

 one which was an example of the application of common sense to 

 farming. It also converted his productive farms into object lessons 

 for the rest of the community. 



Just how great the volume of this fertile soil wash is very few 

 persons have any idea of. Usually it goes on and attracts but little 

 attention. Unless it in some way becomes conspicuous by its un- 

 usual amount, or by becoming a nuisance in the form of mud or 

 dust in our roads. 



The illustration accompanying this article is one, however, out 

 of many which might have been had this summer. The space in- 

 cluded within the dark lines shows the location of such a wash, 

 and to a certain extent its volume. The history of that pile of fer- 

 tility (indicated by the lines aforesaid), is this: Last summer, it was 

 observed that the corn field above the road, having an average slope 

 of probably three degrees, was badly washed after each heavy 

 shower. The loss of soil was very apparent. The field was in earn, 

 and of course its surface was loose. Over the whole surface, obser- 

 vation showed, there had been a general removal of material, which 



