CONSERVATION PRACTICES FOR TOBACCO LANDS 3 



his soil is being lost and is usually not aware that he has lost much until 

 over half of the topsoil is gone. This is when his crop yields begin 

 to drop rapidly. (3) Increased fertilization and better varieties tend 

 to compensate for a limited period of time for the reduction in soil 

 depth and in the soil's natural ability to grow crops. (4) The lack 

 of information as to the effect of various tillage practices results in 

 many practices that greatly increase the rate of erosion or that do not 

 afford the protection which otherwise might be possible. These in- 

 clude such things as faulty row systems, weak rotations, and lack of 

 proper land cover. 



Table 1. — Erosion in Roivan and part of Caswell Counties, N. C, as 

 shown in conservation surveys by Soil Conservation Service 



Erosion 



+ Deposition 



1 Slight 



2 Moderate _ _ 



3 Severe 



4 Very severe 



Total- 



Total 



Acres 



Percent 



1,463 



8. 1 



1,866 



10.3 



9,786 



54.0 



5,008 



27.6 



5 







18, 128 



100.0 



It is an indictment of American agriculture that on most tobacco 

 farms the same pattern of erosion has continued from colonial days. 

 Washington, Jefferson, and Randolph, skillful farmers in their time, 

 recognized the havoc of erosion on their lands. They taught and 

 practiced soil conservation, but their warnings, with too few exceptions, 

 have gone unheeded to the present time. 



Despite the present widespread exploitation of the flue-cured and 

 Maryland areas, and notwithstanding apparent indifference to their 

 past and present abuse, most of these tobacco lands can still be saved 

 from destruction. Experiments conducted recently by the Soil Con- 

 servation Service, in cooperation with the North Carolina and Mary- 

 land experiment stations at Raleigh and Beltsville, furnish proof that 

 these lands can be protected from erosion and their fertility maintained 

 by the application of scientific soil-saving techniques. The following 

 pages deal briefly with present erosion hazards on these tobacco soils 

 and in more detail with the mechanical and vegetative methods that 

 are proving most effective in protecting them from erosion and in 

 maintaining their production. 



EROSION HAZARDS ON TOBACCO LAND 



Erosion is a serious problem on most tobacco soils in the flue-cured 

 and Maryland tobacco-producing belts. Growth conditions required 

 by the crop, high natural erodibility of the soils, topography, and 

 seasonal rainfall pattern as well as farm practices all contribute to the 

 erosion hazard. 



