Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. 295 



dams are sometimes held in place by rows of driven stakes across 

 the draw. In general, straw is too fine to be used alone very sat- 

 isfactorily. The water cannot get through it rapidly enough and 

 so is very apt to wash the dams away or wash around the ends. 

 A coarser material used with the straw gives better results. 

 These means are not always satisfactory. 



A better plan, used a great deal in some parts of the state, 

 is to keep these draws in grass sod, at least until they are so well 

 filled that there is little danger. A sod of this kind binds the soil 

 particles together, while the top growth checks the velocity of the 

 water, causing the sediment in suspension to be deposited. In 

 time the draw will be filled so that it may be cropped, but it should 

 be seeded down again if there is danger of a gully forming. This 

 method is practiced very successfully, the grass being mowed for 

 hay. Some farmers in renting their land have a clause in the 

 contract forbidding the plowing of the draws. Almost any grass 

 that forms a tough sod will answer the purpose, timothy and red- 

 top being quite satisfactory. 



Dams of earth or stone are sometimes built across draws to 

 catch the sediment, and in many cases, depending upon condi- 

 tions, this method may be very satisfactory. This plan will work 

 better in rather broad, shallow draws possessing little fall. 



In many cases the owner of the land either does not realize the 

 importance of preventing the formation of gullies or he is care- 

 less in this respect ,and before he is aware of it deep gullies form 

 which are very difficult to fill. Cultivation becomes impossible, 

 and the land rapidly passes from bad to worse, and in a short time 

 the field is abandoned. Many such are found in the unglaciated 

 area of southern Illinois, and a very bad feature is that the num- 

 ber of abandoned fields is constantly increasing. The matter of 

 filling gullies is a simple one, although it requires care and perse- 

 verance. If it is desirable to break the field up soon, and the 

 gullies are not too deep, they may be filled with plow and scraper 

 in a comparatively shopt time and with little expense. If, how- 

 ever, there is no immediate need for these to be filled, a different 

 plan may be followed, and while nature made the gully she can 

 also be induced to fill it with a little help from man. Most of the 

 hilly and broken land of the state has been timbered and often 

 has considerable brush growing upon it along fences and on 

 waste places; This brush can be used to good advantage in fill- 



