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Show FILL DITCHES AND GULLIES Stones Are About Best Material for Filling Depressions Water Is Per-' rnltted to Drain Through. (By B I. THROCKMORTON, Kansas Experiment Station.) The little ditches and gullies that form on rolling farms grow rapidly if neglected, and deep channels with steep sides result. By stopping the flow of the water in these small streamlets with such material as straw, brush and stones, they can be made gradually to fill themselves. Such obstructions ob-structions cause the soil to be deposited deposit-ed and the ditch will be filled up back of the barrier. If measures are not taken to prevent the small depressions on a slope from growing, they rapidly enlarge in three directions, becoming deeper, wider and longer. The. best way to stop up small ditches and make them Gil up is to make a dam of stones. Stones are about the best material for this purpose, pur-pose, because they collect the sediment sedi-ment ant at the same time let the wa- ter drain through, and a water hole is not formed. When a ditch is very shallow, only a few inches deep, a board held In place with stakes is often sufficient to stop further erosion. Straw is also very good for these shallow ditches. It is very effective in catching the soil, but is sometimes washed out by a hard rain. Cornstalks are even better bet-ter than straw. Brush can be used, too, but Is hardly dense enough when used alone. Straw and brush together are better than either alone. If cement ce-ment dams are built, seme way must be provided for the water to get through, or else a pond will be formed Cement dams are really not worth the extra cost. |