Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. 



J93 



direction is bad practice. Nature could not desire a better begin- 

 ning for a gully. The work of one season's run-off may be suffi- 

 cient to produce a gully that the next season's tillage operations 

 does not fill, and the slight draw soon increases and becomes a 

 source of annual trouble. The slopes should be kept as uniform 

 as possible, to prevent any accumulation of water in draws. 



On land liable to serious washing, plowing should always be 

 done along contour lines or across slopes. In the southern states, 

 where they have studied the problems of soil washing more than 

 in any other region, contour plowing is universal. From Virginia 

 to Arkansas this is the only method practiced on rolling land. The 

 water in running across the furrows meets with more obstructions 

 and greater resistance than in running with the furrows. Plowing 

 up and down the hill is apt to leave small depressions between fur- 

 rows in which the water will accumulate and do washing. Plant- 

 ing should be done across the slope. I have seen small ditches six 

 inches or more in depth in the track of the planter a week after 

 planting where the rows had been run up and down the hill. The 

 corn had all been washed out by the water which had accumulated 

 in and followed the planter track. If the corn rows had been run 

 on contours this could not take place. Up and down hill planting 

 allows the accumulation of water between rows, and this will form 

 a large number of small ditches, which in the aggregate carry a 

 large amount of material. In contour planting each row retards 

 the movement of water down the slope, causing greater absorp- 

 tion. Wheat should be drilled in the same direction as the corn 

 is planted. 



While the direction of plowing is important, the depth is 

 equally so, since this controls in large part the amount of run-off. 

 A deep layer of loose soil will absorb a considerable rainfall with- 

 out run-off. Five inches of such soil will readily absorb one inch 

 of rainfall. Deep plowing mixes the organic matter with the soil 

 to considerable depth, thus keeping it loose, so that the water will 

 penetrate it quite rapidly. 



4. Terraces and Hillside Ditches. — In the southern states it 

 is a somewhat common practice to terrace the slopes, the kind of 

 terraces depending upon the character of the soil and subsoil. 

 Where the soil is pervious, such as a sandy soil, the terraces may 

 be run on a level across the slope, but more frequently they are 

 given sufficient fall so that the water runs along the terrace with- 



