BYBEE-MALOTT : THE FLOOD OF 1913 



177 



which might otherwise be areas of production. Since the subsist- 

 ence space never becomes greater, the land that is not now practical 

 for production is the land that is the most desirable. Valley lands 

 with their deep alluvial material are, as a rule, fertile. They form 

 the cream of the land. For ages the rich soils formed on the up- 

 lands by decaying vegetation and animal life have gradually accu- 

 mulated in the valley lands. The vast fertile stretches of the 

 Mississippi valley, one of the greatest and most fertile areas in the 

 world, are perhaps the greatest asset that the American people 

 have. Yet there are thousands of acres lying in idleness, waiting 

 for the time to come when the population has so increased that 

 these areas will be demanded for subsistence space. The time 

 is coming near; already the clamor is heard in the numerous schemes 

 and plans for making this land available for production. 



Let us see what it means for an acre of land to be lost by bank- 

 cutting and caving. It is true that land thus cut out by the waters 

 is not absolutely lost, but it is unavailable for at least ten years, 

 and probably twenty years. All figuring, however, is done on 

 the least number of 3'ears; but it is to be understood that double 

 the loss due to the lack of production may be figured, and the result 

 be as nearly correct. The coarse material cut from the outside 

 of the meander is carried across the stream by cross currents and 

 deposited on the lower and inner side of the meander. The finer 

 material is carried on in suspension, and usually the most of it is 

 deposited as silt over the valley land where the waters are relative!}' 

 quiet. The sand and gravel bar thus made on the lower inner side 

 of the meander grows larger each year, and gradually vegetation 

 grows upon it. This vegetation, though scanty at first, is an im- 

 portant factor in causing silt to lodge, and gradually the bar is 

 built up with a layer of fertile silt or soil on top. But it takes at 

 least ten years, or probably twenty, for this to take place. Our 

 acre of land has been lost for ten years at least. During this 

 time it could have been producing sixty bushels of com yearly. 

 At fifty cents a bushel this could have brought thirty dollars. In 

 ten years three hundred dollars have been lost to society, plus the 

 seventy-five dollars that the acre of land itself would bring at pres- 

 ent. In figuring this, one of the cheapest crops has been used; 

 but it is a crop that is now practical for such acres as are now being 

 lost annually along White River. If the figures were for one of the 

 more intensive crops, they would show a loss running into the 

 thousands. The time is coming when the loss will be so cax.ulated. 



Bank-cutting is not much of a problem in the constricted val- 



