292 SOILS 



side-hill ditches, which follow the contour and have 

 a fall of 1 to 5 inches in 100 feet. They are 6 to 

 10 feet apart on a very steep slope and 15 to 30 

 feet apart on a gentle slope. The ditches are 

 made mostly with a plow. They should.be sodded 

 with grass. There should be no low places where 

 the water will collect and break through. Unless 

 built with great care they are apt to scour or break. 



Terraces and side-hill ditches are not used now 

 as much as formerly. They prevent washing in 

 many cases, but they occupy land that ought to be 

 in crops and they breed weeds. The land is cut 

 up into small fields, increasing the cost of produc- 

 tion. In many cases terraced or ditched hillsides 

 wash badly. Deep plowing and green-manuring 

 are usually more serviceable than terracing for 

 preventing these soils from washing, and all the 

 land can Tbe cropped. 



Holding the Land With Soil-binding Plants. 

 This is the most practicable solution in many cases, 

 especially on gentle slopes. If erosion has not pro- 

 gressed so far that the land will not grow a thick 

 turf, the slope may often be made into a pasture or 

 meadow with gratifying results. Grass roots hold 

 the soil tenaciously and the stubble divides surface 

 water and prevents it from accumulating. But 

 it is often difficult to get a close turf established. 



Grasses with creeping root-stalks, like Bermuda 

 grass, are most valuable for this purpose. Ber- 

 muda grass is the salvation of many Southern hill- 

 sides. It makes a very dense turf in a remark- 

 ably short time. Sometimes it is established in 

 this way: Shallow furrows are plowed diagonally 

 across the slope, 4 to 6 feet apart. Small pieces of 

 Bermuda grass are dropped in the furrows, 2 to 3 

 feet apart, and covered. Bermuda grass spreads 



