520 FARM MANAGEMENT 



makes the struggle more difficult for the man who 

 cannot use the machine. If he must compete, with it 

 by hand labor, he must lower his standard of living or 

 change his type of farming. 



Some men are wasting their lives on land that ought 

 to be kept in permanent pasture or woods, merely because 

 the land is cleared and there is a house on it. 



Sometimes such land can be combined with better 

 farming land so as to make a good farm. The rougher 

 area can then be used for pasture and the better parts 

 for tillage. (See Figure 91.) 



Topography also affects erosion. This problem is of 

 greatest importance in regions of heavy rainfall, and is 

 particularly serious in regions with a long season. Ero- 

 sion is one of the most serious problems in the South. 

 If contour farming has to be resorted to, the irregular 

 fields still further increase the expense. 



If the land washes too much, fall plowing cannot be 

 done. This reduces the crop area that a man can raise, 

 and hence reduces the income. 



Because of erosion and leaching, side hill soils are 

 likely to be exhausted very soon. Valleys are kept rich 

 at the expense of the hills. Many of the wars of Europe 

 have been fought for possession of parts of the rich valley 

 of the Rhine. Nations do not often fight for the owner- 

 ship of infertile land. 



Sometimes the topography affects production in other 

 ways. In one township in Wayne County, New York, 

 the four-year average yield of apples was 43 bushels 

 more per acre on easterly than on westerly slopes. 1 The 

 difference seems to be entirely due to the prevalence of 

 strong west winds that blow off the apples. 



New York, Cornell Bulletin 226, p. 326. 



