Growing Interest Shown In 

 Terracing, Contouring ^ 



Charles Britt 



ACROSS the face of the old college 

 of agriculture building at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois runs the legend : "The 

 Wealth of Illinois is in her Soil and 

 her Strength Lies in its Intelligent De- 

 velopment." 



Growing interest 

 of Illinois farmers 

 in contour plowing, 

 terracing and other 

 soil conservation 

 measures bears out 

 the acknowledged 

 truth of this inscrip- 

 tion as never before. 

 During the past 

 month, several thou- 

 sand farmers were 

 present at conser\'a- 

 tion demonstrations throughout the 

 state which featured the construction 

 of terraces and plowing on the con- 

 tour. Several methods of terracing 

 were shown with the use of various 

 implements. 



Further attention was focused on the 

 nation-wide importance of soil conser- 

 vation in the national premiere show- 

 ing of the film, "In Common Cause," 

 at Freeport in Stephenson county 

 where the scene of the film was laid. 

 The picture, produced under the spon- 

 sorship of the soil conservation serv- 

 ice of the United States department of 

 agriculture, illustrates average condi- 

 tions in one of 1,300 soil conservation 

 districts throughout the nation. 



Accepting contour plowing as com- 

 monplace, the Ford county soil con- 

 servation district and the agricultural 

 extension service sponsored the first 

 state contour plowing contest near Gib- 

 son City. One thousand spectators 

 watched Floyd Underwood of Melvin 

 win first place and a |50 war bond. 



The Ford county soil conservation 

 district reported 10,000 acres being 

 farmed on the contour this year with 

 that figure expected to be doubled in 

 1946. 



In the terracing demonstrations at 



both Randolph and Champaign coun- 

 ties it was emphasized that although 

 there are a number of excellent tools 

 available for terrace construction, satis- 

 factory results can be obtained with a 

 plow without additional help or equip- 

 ment. 



During the three-day exhibition on 

 the Ralph Roelf farm east of Rantoul, 

 500 persons watched the terrace build- 

 ing and other soil conservation meas- 

 ures with disc, tiller, plow, soil scoop 

 and disc terracer. 



Outlining the methods and aims of 

 the soil conservation district in present- 

 ing the demonstration were J. E. Har- 

 ris, Champaign county farm adviser; 

 Charles Britt, chairman of the Cham- 

 paign county soil conservation district 

 board, and Paul J. Warrick, technician 

 of the Champaign county district. 



It was explained that erosion had re- 

 duced fertility on the Roelf farm con- 

 siderably and drastically curtailed in- 

 come over what it would be if the soil 

 had been conserved over the years. It 

 was estimated that close to 18 inches of 

 topsoil was lost on the pasture where 

 the main demonstration was made. 



Farmers listen intently to soil consenra- 

 tion technicians during terracing demon- 

 stration at Roelf farm near Rantoul. 



During the field demonstration spec- 

 tators watched four tractors throw up a 

 terrace 12-24 inches high and 18 feet 

 wide following the contour across the 

 pasture sloping to the south. The ter- 

 race, designed to slow up the movement 

 of water across the pasture, was cut 

 across and below the top third of the 

 field and was also designed to con- 

 serve the upper third of the field for 

 cropping. Cropping of the lower two- 

 thirds of the pasture is considered im- 

 practical for several years until the 

 soil is grassed and built up. 



Visitors also watched the transfor- 

 mation of two small tributaries of the 

 main gully across the lower pasture 

 ♦into saucer-shaped depressions also de- 

 signed to slow up the flow of water. 

 These depressions will be grassed to 

 bind the soil. 



Spectators, who viewed the badlv 

 eroded field, were thoroughly im- 

 pressed by the practical efforts to save 

 the farm's topsoil as evidenced by the 

 numerous questions asked of the techni- 

 cians and demonstrators. 



Tractors swing around twisting terrace 

 during soil conserrotion demonstration on 

 Roeli form near Rantoul in Champaign 



county. Terrace was designed to slow up 

 flow of water from upper part of field at 

 right to 'prevent further erosion. 



OCTOBER. 1945 



