SOIL EROSION IN THE SOUTH. 15 
efforts are required to bring the gullied land to a productive state. 
In fact, there are many places in which the latter object can not be 
accomplished economically if at all. 
The land is generally reclaimed either for agriculture or for forestry, 
depending upon the character of the soil and the extent of erosion. 
For the purpose of forestry it is necessary to study the native vegeta- 
tion and with the advice of a trained forester, to plant the kind of 
trees best suited to the climatic conditions of the particular locality. 
The trees must be generally deep rooted, on account of the lowering 
of the water table of gullied land, and the extremely rapid drainage 
afforded by the gullies. Shrubs and grasses may be utilized, and 
vines afford a protection on the nearly perpendicular face of a deep 
gully, or on steep slopes. 
Most frequently land which is too badly eroded for agricultural use 
must be reforested in order to be reclaimed. The first effort is to 
stop the erosion. Trees should be planted thickly in the mouth of 
and as far up the gully as possible. These will afford an impediment 
to the water, and the soil material will be deposited. Thus there 
will be a gradual refilling, and the work should be pushed back toward 
the head of the gully as rapidly as the washing will permit. The 
relation of forests to rivers has been discussed by Ashe. 1 
It is generally best not to attempt the reclamation, for agricultural 
purposes, of land which is very badly eroded into gullies. With small 
washes, the growing of pasture grass, filling the wash with brush or 
Utter and covering with soil is beneficial. In some cases the building 
of small masonry dams is necessary. If the land is put in cultivation 
it is wise to begin at once the construction of terraces, to incorporate 
a large amount of organic matter in the soil, to plow deeply, and, at 
the outset, to plant deep-rooted crops, such as rye. This produces a 
physical condition suitable for the ready absorption of water. Im- 
mediate results can hardly be expected, as it will take several years 
of good treatment and constant attention to bring the eroded soil into 
a state of productiveness. 
In the rotation of crops practiced on land which is being or has just 
been reclaimed from erosion, it is well to include as often as possible 
crops of rye, grass, and clover, which may be used for pasture. 
Two noteworthy examples of the reclamation of eroded lands were 
observed in the erosion districts of the South. In one case a tract 
comprising 38 acres, near Johnson City, Tenn., was purchased in 1911 
for $53 an acre. At that time the land was badly eroded, and the 
owner described it as having then a gully 8 or 10 feet deep. The 
gully was filled with debris and soil, 200 loads of manure were applied, 
and the soil was plowed to a depth of 10 inches and planted to rye. 
Rept. of the U. S. Inland Waterways Com., 60 Cong., 2d session, S. Doc. 325 (1908). 
