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MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION NO. 1065, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



State, and private forest lands was $10,800 per 

 fire. This figure represents only the cost per acre 

 of fire protection and dees not include any of the 

 losses inherent in forest fires, such as timber value, 

 erosion and sediment control, recreation, and 

 esthetic values. 



Research is also underway to develop alterna- 

 tives to prescribed burning of slash. Various 

 mechanical, chemical, and biological methods have 

 been evaluated. Chipping has been used near 

 urban areas, but it is prohibitively expensive for 

 most forestry operations. A more feasible proce- 

 dure for eliminating slash than by prescribed 

 burning is highly desirable. 



Airborne Dusts 



The duststorms of the 1930's stimulated serions 

 attention to research on basic causes and effects of 

 wind erosion and development of conservation 

 practices to avoid soil blowing. Between 1935 and 

 1941, soil surveys and serious research on wind ero- 

 sion were undertaken at Swift Current, Canada, 

 and at the California Institute of Technology. 

 Wind tunnels were constructed at Swift Current, 

 at the California Institute of Technology, at 

 Brookings, S. Dak., and at Amarillo, Tex., to study 

 wind erosion problems continually, not just when 

 they occurred in the field. 



Following World War II, special funds were 

 appropriated under the Research and Marketing 

 Act of 1946 to establish a cooperative wind ero- 

 sion research project at Kansas State University. 

 The most significant research finding thus far em- 

 anating from this project has been the computer 

 analysis of a large mass of field and laboratory 

 data that enables a delineation of the factors hav- 

 ing major influence on soil blowing. The incor- 

 poration of these factors into a wind erosion equa- 

 tion provided an extremely useful management 

 tool in planning and installing conservation prac- 

 tices to control wind erosion. Current research is 

 providing information on basic wind erosion me- 

 chanics and processes, soil physical properties that 

 influence erosion, wind erosion climatic factors, 

 prevailing wind erosion directions, effectivness of 

 shelterbelts and strip crops, performance charac- 

 teristics of tillage machines, and effectiveness of 

 a number of vegetative and n on vegetative surface 

 films in controlling wind erosion. 



Research is underway on seeding methods, spe- 

 cies and varieties of plants adapted to soil stabili- 

 zation, and management practices and forage sys- 

 tems designed to maintain satisfactory cover on 

 range and pasture sites. 



Many species of trees and shrubs have been and 

 are being tested for persistence and suitability 

 as windbreaks at several locations in the. Great 

 Plains. 



From these studies, the species rated the highest 

 for windbreaks include juniper, ponderosa pine, 

 honeylocust, Russian olive, Siberian elm, Ameri- 

 can plum, common chokecherry, and Siberian 

 peashrub. Research in the Northern Great Plains 

 has shown that use of windbreak plantings has 

 conserved both soil and water. Under experi- 

 mental conditions, wheat yields have been in- 

 creased from 18.9 to 27.2 bushels per acre. 



Results of research related to soil blowing have 

 been extensively used by action agencies such as 

 the Soil Conservation Service and the Federal Ex- 

 tension Service. For example, the wind erosion 

 equation is used by the Soil Conservation Service 

 to provide technical guidance on ranch planning in 

 the Great Plains and on the vegetable-growing 

 areas of the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic 

 seaboard. 



Wind erosion research has contributed impor- 

 tantly to the effectiveness of today's conservation 

 and other advanced farming methods in reducing 

 the threat of future '"Dust Bowls*' in the Great 

 Plains. One of the best testimonials to this point 

 was the experience of farmers in Kansas during 

 the drought of the mid-1950's, which records show 

 was as bad as that of the 1930's. Erosion was not 

 nearly as serious as it was 20 or 25 years earlier. 

 Esthetic impact is difficult to measure. 



If world food demands impose the need for ex- 

 panded wheat production under intensive opera- 

 tions in the Great Plains, the recurrence of another 

 drought period such as the ones in the thirties and 

 fifties may well reveal inadequacies in our present 

 technology to cope with soil blowing. If these con- 

 tingencies come to pass, research on wind erosion 

 control will have difficulty just keeping technical 

 effectiveness from going backwards. Current re- 

 search is directed toward meeting problems that 

 are expected to become more serious. 



Airborne dust, other than that from soil blowing, 

 emanates from processing of farm products, such 



