OCR Text |
Show 3 Sheet Erosion Destroys Fertility of Farm Land " That crop yields decrease as soil 0 erosion increases is shown by tests made on farms last summer by the j Soil Conservation service. 5 In tests made on five farms it ' was found that fields with less than ' 25 per cent of the topsoil gone pro- : duced 51 bushels of oats or 47 bush- rt els of barley per acre; fields with 25 ill to 50 per cent of the topsoil washed away yielded 42 bushels of oats or 1 28 bushels of barley per acre; fields ' with 50 to 75 per cent of the topsoil " gone produced 35 bushels of oats or 23 bushels of barley, and land with more than 75 per cent of the topsoil washed away yielded only I 23 bushels of oats and 17 bushels of i barley. , .. "There is an evident relation shown here between topsoil losses 1 and crop losses," says M. A-iiT!'0rI flnnson, soil conservationist "Sheet i rnci the ton. or most i productive layer of the soil. With each inch that washes away, there is left a material that is not only , less productive, but that is more subject to erosion." |