35 



tural value, and which should, with the least possible delay, be re- 

 stored to a forest condition. The steep, shaly ridges within our limits 

 which have but little natural productiveness, which impose upon 

 the unfortunate who attempts to farm them an extra labor and cost 

 to maintain them in a remunerative condition, and even then very 

 frequently fail to answer to even moderate expectations, are ex- 

 amples. 



It may be well here to quote a general statement from the "Eco- 

 nomic Aspects of Soil Erosion," by Professor N. S. Shaler, whose ob- 

 servations upon this point have been careful, long-continued, and 

 have extended over wide areas. "Owing to the fact that in North 

 America generally the rainfall is apt to have a torrential character 

 (the precipitation taking place at a rate which is not common in 

 Europe) and to the fact that these downpours are likely to occur on 

 ground which has been loosened by the frost, o>ur soils are exposed 

 to a measure of danger much greater than that which menaces the 

 fields of the Old World. There appears to be but one way by which 

 we may meet this danger this is by limiting the work of the plow to 

 those fields which have a degree of slope so slight that with proper 

 tillage they may not be exposed to scouring action. Although this 

 classification has to be made for each district and species of soil, it 

 may in general be said that no field which has a greater slope than 

 five feet vertical in one hundred feet of length should in any country 

 be exposed to the danger which ordinary cropping inflicts. Areas 

 from this measure of inclination upward to thrice this rate of slope, 

 or to a maximum of fifteen feet in the hundred, may reasonably be 

 plowed in order to bring them into the state of grass lands, but 

 should not be tilled more than is necessary to retain them in this 

 state. All areas having a slope of more than fifteen feet in one hun- 

 dred should by the rules which the conservator of the soils is dis- 

 posed to lay down, be devoted to forests which afford the only crop 

 that can be harvested from such ground without a swift and imme- 

 diate loss of fertility." 



There remains for consideration the other aspect of this pro-blem; 

 i. e., the effects of the wash upon the land where it may be arrested. 

 If this soil so deposited is fertile the land receiving it is a gainer. 

 If, on the other hand, as often happens, sand, stone and pebbles are 

 deposited upon the lower land, the effect is most destructive. This 

 latter condition seldom occurs except where deep gulches have been 

 worn out of the hillside above, and where the water flow has as- 

 sumed the character of a torrent. In this country land lost to culti- 

 vation by the overflow of sand and rocks is not large in area. Cer- 

 tainly not, at least as compared with certain districts in Europe. 

 For example, we are reliably informed that the "French government 

 and flile farmers together have spent during the last thirty 



