CONCLUSIONS 



Unless plant and litter cover is virtually 

 complete, erosion potential is strongly affected 

 by slope gradient and the amount of cover re- 

 quired to limit potential erosion to some speci- 

 fied amount is substantially greater on steep 

 slopes than on gentle slopes. 



Soils vary in their susceptibility to erosion. 

 The most erodible soils are those with high 

 clay, low sand, and low organic matter con- 

 tents. The combinations that appear to be least 

 erodible are soils that have: 



1. — High clay, low sand, and high organic 



matter contents; 



2. — low clay, high sand, and low organic 



matter contents; or 



3. — low clay and low sand contents, regard- 



less of organic matter content. 

 Apparently, the generalization that organic 

 matter favors soil stability is not universally 

 true. Erodibility may increase with increasing 

 organic matter content in very sandy soils. This 

 poses a difficult problem for management of 

 such soils; sufficient cover must be maintained 

 but at the same time, excessive accumulation of 

 soil organic matter discouraged. 



9 



