18 BULLETIX 716, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part of the Avaste land of this area is the result of erosion. Un- 

 protected soils on these hillsides erode easily. Any slight breaks in 

 the sod furnish starting places for -washes and after a few j^ears' 

 neglect often result in a condition much like that shown in the upper 

 illustration in Plate I. If neglected a few jears longer gullies similar 

 to those shown in the lower illustration may be worn. On several 

 farms are areas where conditions prevail similar to those indicated in 

 one or both of these illustrations. Such areas vary in extent from 

 small fractions of an acre to 15 acres or more. These conditions, 

 prevalent throughout the hill section, exist through neglect. When 

 small breaks in the sod are first made a little grass seed and manure 

 scattered over the bare soil will prevent further washing; but the 

 longer the matter is neglected the m^ore difficult it is to overcome. 



The upper picture in Plate II shows SAveet clover growing on land 

 that had reached the stage indicated by the lower illustration in 

 Plate I. While the work was only experimental, it indicates what 

 may be done to reclaim such land. In the spring of 1913 one-half 

 bushel of white sweet-clover seed (hulled) was sown on 4 or 5 acres 

 of this land. The stand obtained was by no means perfect, but it 

 was encouraging. The plants that grew from this seeding matured 

 seed in the fall of 1914 (the white sweet clover being a biennial) 

 and reseeded themselves. The illustration was photographed in 

 November, 1916, shortly after the reseeding had matured its crop of 

 seed and the foliage had dropped off. It indicates the stand obtained 

 and the growth made from the reseeding. In a number of places on 

 this land bluegrass and white clover were already coming in at 

 that time. 



On an adjoining farm 25 locust sprouts were set in the ravines of 

 washed land, also in the spring of 1913. Most of these lived, and 

 in the spring of 1917 the washes where they grew were about one- 

 half filled in. (See lower i^icture, PI. 11.) 



These simple experiments indicate that sweet clover sown on eroded 

 areas and locust sprouts set in the gullies are effective means in 

 checking erosion. The sweet clover is also a soil improver and an 

 excellent forerunner for bluegrass pastures. It should be noted that 

 the sweet clover thrives better on the red than on the white or yellow 

 soils. 



PASTURE LAND. 



Pasture land comprises about one-half of the farm area. Fully 

 two-thirds of the pasture land admits of cultivation, but when con- 

 sidering how difficult it is to cultivate and how easily the soil erodes 

 it is hardly advisable that much of it be broken, except for occasional 

 reseedings. Only a small proportion of the total pasture land was 

 included in the rotation area. 



