MISC. PUBLICATION 6 5 6, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Figure 1. — Tobacco land in process of destruction by erosion. No protective or 

 soil-conserving practices have been applied on this farm. 



The extent of the past erosion over the Southeast is indicated by 

 results of erosion surveys in two of the tobacco counties in Piedmont 

 North Carolina (table 1). Here it was found that 28 percent of the 

 land had lost more than 75 percent of its topsoil. An additional 54 

 percent of the land had lost an average of at least 50 percent of its 

 topsoil. Thus, less than 20 percent of the land has as much as three- 

 fourths of its original topsoil left. 



As the depth of the topsoil decreases and the amount of clay in the 

 top layer increases, the land tends to produce a heavier and less de- 

 sirable type of tobacco. This relationship between the degree of 

 erosion and the type of tobacco produced is probably reflected in the 

 purchases from the 1947 crop of flue-cured tobacco made by the Flue- 

 Cured Stabilization Corporation, and reported by the North Carolina 

 Extension Service (17)} Approximately one-half of its total pur- 

 chases consisted of the heavy-leaf grade, which is undersirable for 

 cigarette use, and one-half of those heavy grades came from the old 

 belt. Unless erosion is controlled over the tobacco area, more and 

 more of the land will become unfit for tobacco growing. 



What, then, are the reasons for this exploitation of our southern 

 tobacco lands? Although many reasons contribute, a few may be 

 mentioned which appear most important: (1) The maximum im- 

 mediate return for each acre cultivated has been the first objective 

 and has completely overshadowed any concern for the conservation 

 of the land. Most tenant farmers, and many farm owners, are more 

 concerned about the value of the crop than about the protection of 

 the soil. (2) The average grower fails to realize the rate at which 



1 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to literature cited, p. 43. 



