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Show I SOIL CONSERVATION , IS VITAL TO COUNTY By Fariell P. Smith I Let's build a solid economic front in Millard and Beaver Counties based on good soils and new industries. What a broad statement. Would you like to try to disprove it? j Even the 'air and water about us are dependent on the soil. That which we call Mother Nature j I could very easily be termed j Mother Soil. "As the soil goes, j so go our people," is a very ; true statement. Let's face the facts on a national nation-al basis. Congress passed the Na- j tional Soil Conservation Act on April 25, 1935. The nation was divided, into seven regions for! fast action. We are in Region six. The regional headquarters , are in Albuquerque, N. M. The , states of Utah, Colorado, New . Mexico and Arizona are all in . our region. : The attitude of trie nation is outstanding, with over 2000 state organized districts to combat a total loss of one-third of our soil gone, another third going, and the last third greatly endangered. en-dangered. These two thousand districts are combating a loss of over three billion tons of top soil each year, or enough soil to completely fill one freight train eighteen times around the earth. This would mean a total loss of over 840 million dollars a year. So much for the soils problem. prob-lem. Now, how well are we getting along with our neighbors? neigh-bors? In the State of Utah, we are doing a good job. We have over 40 soil conservation districts in 29 counties, nearly one and one-half one-half districts to each county. ! In Beaver County we have three districts. Millard County; has one district, one addition to the district, and one proposed I district in the Lower Sevier I (Delta) area. Out of the four districts, over 50 per cent of the total farms are cooperating with the Soil Conservation District Supervisors. We have a long way to go in Millard and Beaver Counties to cope with our conservation protv lems, but the most .pleasing outlook out-look is that we have come a long way in a few years. All of us have a life stake in our soils, regardless of our oc- cupation or calling in life. Let's ! not foolishly sell our heritage j for a mess of potatoes, or be ! fooled by high prices. Soil is the basis of all progress and human endeavor. How well we progress is based on two things: how well we care for our soil, and how well we can learn to live with our neighbors, according to Farrell P. Smith, district conservationist. We are fortunate in Millard and Beaver Counties in having good neighbors. There are no racial problems. There are no labor union problems. There are but few social problems. Study your world and national problems, prob-lems, and then see how fortunate we are. We have plenty of soils and economic problems, but there i are solutions to both if we plan and work together. The greatesl potential factor at our very finger fin-ger tips happens to be our own attitude towprd both. A small boy at Cedar City was told that he surely lived a long way from Salt Lake City to which the boy replied, "Yes but the farther south from Sail f Lake you come, the nearer you are to Cedar City." That, my friends, is the right attitude. Dc you have the right attitude to ward your neighbors? Your com munity? And above all, the right attitude toward your soil' "Soil is the Mother of All.' |