66 
SOIL SURVEY OF BUFFALO COUNTY 
CHAPTER VIII. 
THE PROBLEM OF EROSION IN BUFFALO COUNTY. 
The most important single problem in soil management in Buf¬ 
falo County is due to the large amounts of steep or rolling land. 
The county is in the so-called residual portion of the state where 
the streams which drain the area have cut down their beds 
through the formerly level elevated plain lying on limestone and 
into the sandstone beneath. These valleys have never been al¬ 
tered or filled by action of glaciers which once covered most of 
the state. The valleys were at first mere erosion ditches or small 
stream beds which have been enlarged and deepened during 
geological ages till their beds lie from 200 to over 400 feet below 
the limestone topped ridges which extend between. The valleys 
and their tributaries radiate like the veins of a leaf and the 
steep slopes which lead down from the ridge top to valley bot¬ 
tom make up a considerable part of the area of the county. 
Most of the soil on the sloping land is heavy and is included in 
the steep phase of the Knox silt loam. These slopes which origi¬ 
nally were timbered or brush-covered have been largely cleared 
and cultivated. Because of their unprotected condition and ex¬ 
posure to the work of surface run-off water from higher land, 
fields on this type of soil are often extensively washed and gul¬ 
lied by the descending storm water and the water from melting 
snow in spring. 
Other soils subject to erosion are the soils of the Boone series 
derived from sandstone and which often occupy lower slopes in 
the valleys. The soils of the Lintonia series which lie in narrow 
benches along the sides of the valley bottoms are also subject to 
severe gullying. The swift flowing water from the ridges and 
slopes must cross these benches before reaching the valley stream 
and deep ravines, gullies, and ditches are developed. Soil erosion 
is a farm problem not only because fields are cut by ditches and 
gullies which make cultivation difficult, but because erosion re¬ 
moves the finest and most fertile soil particles first and reduces 
