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Show SOIL EROSION ON sloping :;;.-cis Wo Slope Steeper Than 15 Degrees De-grees Should Be Cleared for Best Cultivation. TO PREVENT SERIOUS HARM One of the Most Effective Method of Thwarting Soil Washing Is by Terracing Stops Washing Away of Land on Hillsides. i Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) The farmer who contemplates clearing clear-ing n wooded tract which Is more or less uneven In characli r should make art that, If cleared. It will not suffer from erosion. How steep a slope ( wooded hind run safely he cleared for fiinulnu depends largely 00 the character of the soil. It has often been said that no slope steeper than 1R di cm is should he cleared and, as a ireneral rule, this prohahly holds good. However, not Infrequently slopes of less than IB degrees show serious ero slnn under cultivation, while occasionally occasion-ally others of 20 decrees and more show no serious results. The question, ques-tion, therefore, Is one that must he settled for each locality, or even for each tract. lnCase of Doubt. Usually the farmer who Is In doubt can find In the vicinity a piece of cleared hind similar In character to his own, and can Judge his problem by the condition of tin- cleared area. In case of doubt, the safest COUTH is to leave the land uncleared, according to the forest service. Some erosion nfust he expected on all sloping land cleared for cultivation. but where the tract Is really suitable for farming, however, the erosion can BU '4raW 9aaaaH IBad Erosion Result From Clearing Land of Too Steep Slope. he reduced sufficiently to prevent serious se-rious harm. The general principle to lie kept In mind Is to prevent surface run-off. as far as possible. Water that is absorbed by the soil not only causes ti ) erosion hut Increases the supply of ground water, diminishes drought, feeds the streams and maintains a Heady How in adjoining streams. Terracing I Effective. One of the most effective methods of preventing erosion on sloping cultivated cul-tivated land Is terracing, a subject well worth special Investigation by the farmer who wishes to till sloping tracts and at the same time keep the good soil on the upper ureas from he ng washed down the hillsides. |