Show poster contest winners are announced announcement has been made of winners of the recently conducted esstry and poster contest sponsored J by the morgan soil conservation district the winning essays judged upon points of conservation contest originality igina lity clarity and general appearance pe arance were eugene platt piatt 1000 and second beatrice rich aioo in addition 15 pr prizes izes of each will be presented presente d to the following robert sherwood enid hulet huiet renee giles don sherman virginia thackeray stan Tagi taggart art myrtle stevens jean dark clark rey barnes barncs byron combe dean lu dene bowen kaye Dic dickon kion mildred carter and mark little the winning posters judged on points of conservation idea or it message originality and neatness were vere it group I 1 ath and esth grades gary robinson erosion rides a fast horse 2nd and larry brower erosion is cruel in addition each will be awarded for the follo following ivaloo bennett our future Is or Is not going today connie christensen here today gone tomorrow darlene sherwood prevent erosion our enemy stewart t murdock wanted soil thief called erosion and aja la rae smith just listen erosion effion Is loose group 11 II oth to grades 1 st letha porter lasso erosion for a better world 2nd and jocile giles save utah from erosion it the next four winning posters will be awarded 3 00 H each warren gamble erosion Is a bum it steer marilyn mecham the soil of today Is life blood tomorrow lois dickson money it in the bank and don smith the danger sig signal nal 1 the next f four our winn winning ing i posters will be awarded each balue Cree creechley ebley your land and my land may soon be no mans land la don palmer the hope of tomorrow gary loosli soil conservation insures wild life and dick francis your land my land must be protected the judging committee composed of soil oil conservation c conscious on individuals both local and from nearby towns wish h to thank all students who bookart they stated they think more people will become conservation minded because of this project SOIL conservation eugene platt when the pioneers first came they iney t co covered vered with thick grass and the mountains covered with heavy I 1 timbers they burned the grass and cut the timbers down so they could farm the land little did they know what was to become of this thi land that had been cleared boon Q soon the so soil ia became less leas fertile yet the pioneers kept taking minerals mineral s and fertility out of the soil this resulted in less and less grass then great dust storms rose over i he middle west floods came from he be mountains in many localities he loss of fertile soil was great enough to change productive farms into worthless barren gul C tied lied areas these losses may deprive the children of the pioneers a pr prosperous 0 berous livelihood P if we save our soil we must C practice soil conservation there are several factors that are very g important in a discussion of soil Conier conservation first is top soil the top op soil oil varies in depth it contains all the organic matter that plants planta need to grow when not properly taken care of either by adding minerals or fertilizer this organic matter is lost and the plants be come less productive and die oth er grasses that have been planted will not grow A a re result alt the ground is left bare and subject to erosion ero sion wind blow the oll loil away huge gullies are formed overnight I 1 by windstorms wind storms ml all eady our I 1 I 1 enlists have proved that it hai taken one hundred bundred years to make one inch of top soil this is made when animals die and their bones are decayed plants die and are arc also decayed these mixtures are arc what help form the soil second is erosion control the homestead act was the cause of most of the erosion in the midwest and west the land was not put to good use some farmers plowed up and down hills some planted the he wrong kind of crops for the lind land this resulted in barren and eroded ground I 1 the best ways today to stop erosion are contour farming strip cropping terracing gully control soil management rotation grazing stubble tillage and mechanical treatment the most practical of these is contour farming it should be used along with some other type it saves the soil from washing away from the hillsides hill sides and from level places increases increases crop yields prevents undue wear an machinery it leaves small ridges in the field that serve as dams to check water erosion and reduce the velocity of runoff and increases absorption in humid areas strip cropping is used on the contour and consists of alternate strips of close grow ing crops and cultivated row crops when the runoff passes over the close growing crops the soil particles are strained out this helps increase the water absorption the way a farmer plows his fields also helps decrease erosion erosion for instance tasie ground on hill sides that are fairly steep a farmer should either terrace the ground or gr plow across the slope if terracing is practiced it will help absorb the water into the ground and slow up down hill runoff if the stubble is left nad not burned off it will also help hold the soil down rotation grazing also helps in erosion control animals should be kept off the range in the early spring until the ground is fairly dry and the plants have a chance to gain strength animals should not be allowed to tramp or graze on sections of the range to long there should be enough of the plants left in order for them to gather enough food into the roots to keep them alive during the winter there should also be enough dry stems nad leaves left on the plants in order that when they fall to the ground they will cover the plants and protect them against wind and rainstorms brainstorms rain storms al also so this practice help keeps the mols moisture in the ground and increases fertility if there are places where the runoff water is washing the soil away grass should be planted these places should be fenced off from pasture until the grass has made the ground soddy with roots large amounts of water are not to be allowed to run over it for some time when pasturing you should leave enough grass so that it will sift out the soil particles good soil management results in erosion control crop rotations green manure crops lime and commercial fertilizer are used in maintaining and improving the productivity of the soil the most desirable crop rot rotators aters include legumes and grasses they protect against dashing rains winds and collect soil particles which otherwise would have been lost green manure crops that are plowed under provide much rich nitrogen animal manure and crop residue should be returned to the land when manure is piled in the open a length of time it will result in in the loss of much needed and valuable plant food for proper growth the plant needs lime which provides calcium to the plants therefore property manage managed d soil and plants will cut down erosion very much a and nd make you a better farm the third of the important means of soil management is thru the county count agent and toil oil con wr ir ration service it ir vou have at adv concerning t the he oil and water on bour irm arm the i anty agat 1 the per son to answer them aillem or work them out his job is to tell you how to stop erosion conserve water and to help make your farm a better one to live on if the farm in bour locality are ha ing uch trouble a poor crop poor water supply poor pool in ahe he soil loil your county agent will be glad to come to a joint meeting of the farmers and tell them what to do the soil conservation service was set it up under the united states department of agriculture to help conserve our natural resources it aas has done a great deal of work trying to stop erosion and to bring back the beauty of the land that was here before the pioneers started west the soil conservation service is trying to stop this waste of materials in other sections of the country as well as the west for instance in sance down in georgia and other states along the mississippi sis river every year enough soil soil goes down that river every minute into the gulf of mexico to equal a forty acre farm and provide it with six inches of top soil the only way they can stop this loss is right on the farms at the head 0 of the river and along rivers and tream tr iiams that empty into it it can he done if everyone ever vone will help ahe od ml con er aiton program along so 11 1 l we follow the advice of the county agent and the soil conservation officials we can all have a better farm to live on by using practice of use of the top oil ero ton ion ont rol soil management and t pe ape of farming uch luch as ing contour trip t r I 1 p cropping c ropp I 1 ng and range rang management |