SOIL EEOSIOlSr IN THE SOUTH. 15 



efforts are required to bring tlie gullied land to a productive state. 

 In fact, there are many places in which the latter object can not be 

 accomplished economically if at all. 



The land is generally reclaimed either for agriculture or for forestry, 

 depending upon the character of the soil and the extent of erosion. 

 For the purpose of forestry it is necessary to study the native vegeta- 

 tion and with the advice of a trained forester, to plant the kind of 

 trees best suited to the climatic conditions of the particular locahty. 

 The trees must be generally deep rooted, on account of the lowermg 

 of the water table of gullied land, and the extremely rapid drainage 

 afforded by the gullies. Shrubs and grasses may be utilized, and 

 vuies afford a protection on the neiirly perpendicular face of a deep 

 gully, or on steep slopes. 



Most frequently land which is too badly eroded for agricultural use 

 must be reforested in order to be reclaimed. The first effort is to 

 stop the erosion. Trees should be planted thickly in the mouth of 

 and as far up the gully as possible. These will afford an impediment 

 to the water, and the soil material will be deposited. Thus there 

 will be a gradual refilling, and the work should be pushed back toward 

 the head of the gully as rapidly as the washing will permit. The 

 relation of forests to rivers has been discussed by Ashe.^ 



It is generally best not to attempt the reclamation, for agricultural 

 purposes, of land which is very badly eroded into gullies. With small 

 washes, the growing of pasture grass, filling the wash with brush or 

 htter and covering with soil is beneficial. In some cases the building 

 of small masonry dams is necessary. If the land is put in cultivation 

 it is wise to begin at once the construction of terraces, to incorporate 

 a large amount of organic matter in the soil, to plow deeply, and, at 

 the outset, to plant deep-rooted crops, such as rye. This produces a 

 physical condition suitable for the ready absorption of water. Im- 

 mediate results can hardly be expected, as it will take several years 

 of good treatment and constant attention to bring the eroded soil into 

 a state of productiveness. 



In the rotation of crops practiced on land which is being or has just 

 been reclaimed from erosion, it is well to include as often as possible 

 crops of rye, grass, and clover, which may be used for pasture. 



Two noteworthy examples of the reclamation of eroded lands were 

 observed in the erosion districts of the South. In one case a tract 

 comprising 38 acres, near Johnson City, Tenn., was purchased in 191 1 

 for S53 an acre. At that time the land was badly eroded, and the 

 own(!r described it as having then a gully 8 or 10 feet deep. The 

 gully was i\\hu\ with d6bris and soil, 200 loads of manure were applied, 

 and the soil was \)\()\voa\ to a depth of 10 inches and planted to rye. 



« Rept. of the U. 8. Inland Waterways Com., 60 Cong., 2d session, 8. Doc. 325 (1908). 



