



^ * V ^ * * ■ ' 



This ugly scar across 

 the face of an Illinois 

 farm wasn't caused by 

 nature. Nature protects 

 the land from things 

 like this. It was caused 

 by Man, Man the 

 squanderer, Man the 

 careless. Instead of 

 being a valuable heri- 

 tage, eroded fields like 

 these ore a curse to 

 the next generation. 

 Here some of tomor- 

 row's farmers try to do 

 something about it by 

 planting trees to hold 

 together what soil 

 there is left. 



By LEW 

 REISNER, 



Field Editor, 



Illinois 



Agricultural 



Association 



RECORD 



"They have sown the uind, and lhe\ shall reap the uhirl- 

 wind." — Hosea, 8:7. 



NATURE'S forces of wind and rain have reaped their 

 toll in erosion and waste on farms where man has 

 taken for generation upon generation, returning 

 nothing to the soil. One such farm laid waste is the 

 old Cooper place along Highway 50, two miles east 

 of Carlyle. Fifty years ago it was one of the best farms 

 east of the Waskaskia river in Clinton county. 



Now the soil is barren. Only broom sage, a worthless 

 weed, will grow. Gulleys deep enough to hide a two-story 

 house have clawed their way up gently sloping hillsides. 



But this spring after 40 years of neglect these gulleys 

 felt a new force at work. Farm kids from neighboring 

 country schools were scrambling up and down gulley banks, 

 planting trees. 



They planted black locust and loblolly pine to help 

 Stop erosion. The children were the first to work on a 

 countrywide project to make this abandoned farm produce 

 abundantly as it had a century ago. 



This farm, the old Cooper place, changed hands this 

 spring. The new owner agreed to allow the 160-acre farm 

 to be used as a project to show how erosion can be checked 

 and soil fertility restored. 



The work will be done entirely by farm families in the 

 county. The tools used will be only those tools found on 

 any Clinton county farm. 



"We want to prove that each farmer can save his soil 

 with just the tools he has on hand," Floyd Smith, farm ad- 

 viser explained. "This is going to be for and by farmers. 

 Not a spectacular and expensive show where a big farm is 

 terraced and contoured in a single day." 



The farmers who help with the project will work under 

 the direction of the Clinton County Farm Bureau, the dis- 

 trict Soil Conservation Service at Mt. Vernon and the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois. 



The tree planting this spring was confined to 20 acres 

 of the deepest gulleys. Next Aug. 4 the rest of the farm. 



comprising the work land, will be contoured and terraced 

 and grass waterways built. 



Durmg the Aug. 4 demonstration any farmer who cares 

 to try his hand can help with the terraces. Three will be 

 built nearest the road. The rest of the work land will be 

 contoured for strip cropping. 



Before fall the soil will be tested and fertilized as 

 needed. Farm Adviser Smith estimated the land will need 

 five tons of lime, 1200 pounds of raw rock phosphate, and 

 380 pounds of 50 per cent potash. This will cost about 



Extension Forester W. F. Bulkley, Champaign, shows serious 



minded school kids best way to plant loblolly pine seedlings. 



Tree planting was held this spring on farm where Clinton County 



Farm Bureau will hold soil conservation field day this fall. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



