3OO SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 



fine fiber, or of tobacco under shade requires a high 

 degree of both knowledge and skill. For the pro- 

 duction of special crops the preparation of the seed 

 bed and the subsequent cultivation are .matters of prime 

 importance, and should receive careful consideration on 

 the part of the cultivator. Many times agricultural 

 industries undertaken in new countries have failed 

 because the cultivation of the special crop used in the 

 industry has not been successfully accomplished on 

 account of lack of knowledge of the cultural methods 

 necessary. 



355. Cultivation to prevent Washing and Gullying of 

 Lands. In regions of heavy rainfall, rolling land of 

 clay texture often becomes gullied by the water flowing 

 in large amounts over the surface. Under such condi- 

 tions the preparation of a seed bed, and cultivation of 

 the soil so as to prevent washing are often difficult prob- 

 lems. To prevent gullying, the water currents should 

 be divided as much as possible by plowing narrower 

 lands and by increasing the number of shallow dead 

 furrows. The larger drains should be constructed with 

 the view of preventing the formation of deep gullies, and 

 this can in part be accomplished by encouraging the 

 growth of special grasses with fibrous roots which serve 

 as soil binders. Soils which gully are improved by the 

 addition of farm manures and other humus-forming 

 material which bind together the soil particles ; also by 

 seeding and cultivating at right angles to the slope of 



