OCR Text |
Show Losses by Erosion Affect Many Crops Soil Waste Reflected in Lower Yields. Prepared by tho United Rtates Department of Aurlrulture. WNU Bervlc. Lower crop yields per ucre, with resulting re-sulting hlRlier production costs, are nuionp the chief dnngers of land erosion. Despite the fnct that this country Is letting Its soil waste away faster thnn any other nation, there Is little threat of an Immediate land shortage. There Is danger, however, In land reaching the point where farmers farm-ers cannot gain a respectable living from it. In the face of Improved methods and machinery, improved varieties and Increased use of fertilizers, average yields of some crops have dropped. The average yield of cotton for the ten-year period 1871-18S0 wns 1SG.4 pounds per acre, compared with 152.9 pounds for the period 1021-1930, a reduction re-duction that cannot he charged entirely entire-ly to Insects or to use of marginal land. The average yield of corn for the ten-year period 1S71-18S0 was 27.04 hushels per acre, while from 1921 to lH.'SO the yield was 20.13 bushels per acre. That the yield of corn has declined de-clined In spite of all the Improvement In growing the crop must have some relation to eroded land, since the crop has not spread out extensively into dry regions and has not been devastated devas-tated by insects or disease. Erosion is being checked in many parts of the United States through terracing, ter-racing, sodding, and similar practices. Work has shown that excessive erosion can be controlled. |