Show enormous annual loss by erosion soil soi I 1 resources are being seriously depleted by rr epard by the th states state deportment department a ot t agriculture erosion of 0 farm land causes un tin enormous annual loss to american farmers while a large outlay ot of cosh and labor Is being made tor for soil improvement pro at the some same time the soil resources ces ot of the country are being seriously depleted through owing to the large yearly rainfall and to ue extensive growing of clears clean cultured crops year after year yea r in the lie southern states that section suffers buffers a disproportionate share ot of this loss does doea considerable du damage inage however in dearly nil all parts of the lie united states when plants and soil are unable to retain all of the rain that falls alts on rolling or hilly land the surplus flows over ever the surface to a drainage channel at the foot of he slope it there are no draws or depressions the water travels over the surface to the foot of the slope in broad thin sheets where depressions exist however tile tho water Is led into the depres depress sona forAs it rith ers front from above and from the sides ot of the depres depression siou and forms a stream with power to wash away the soil proportional to the streams size avd ard velocity it if the depression Is not sufficiently protected by grass or other i means to prevent erosion a gully begins to form which enlarges with ench each rain I 1 where gullies start Nil natural tural hollows are not the only places where gullies start they may ma start tit at any place on a slope elicie opportunity Is 19 afforded by artificial means meana for the water to collect ond form a small stream driving a wagon down a slope when the ground Is soft foft leaves wagon tracks that roay may liter later develop into gullies A gully may be started by dragging a plow down a slope mole holes and cattle paths down a slope are common causes of gullies one of the commonest ways to start gullies guilles Is to plow or cultivate straight up and down a slope A dead furrow extending down a slope may rapidly develop into it deep gully means employed to prevent tile the formation of gullies are deep plow ing IM plowing under organic matter such as manure stubble and stalks the use of cover crops proper crop rotations rota tlona plowing along level lines across the slope and tile draining tile the construction of terraces also re duces erosion by carrying g off the surplus water slowly inform information aaion relative to terracing may be obtained from the state agricultural colleges coll egea and from froin the united states department of agriculture plan reclamation in reclaiming a gully the work should be planned so that when completed the entire gully will be fe re claimed too often a small section of 0 f a gully gull Is reclaimed in a way w ay which will not fit into any later scheme tor for the reclamation of the whole gully in starting work attention should be first directed to the alie upper end of the gully where head erosion Is going on the brush dam Is cheap and easy to build and to Is effective in filling gullies when carefully and properly constructed ted the following method Is recommended for building brush dams that lire are at times overflowed the bottom and sides of tile the gully for a distance of tour four to ten fret feet are covered with a layer laer of straw that will be from four to six inches deep when pressed down by the weight of the dam the brush with the butts pointing upstream up stream Is ira li d close together or on the straw and thoroughly tramped down the fine brush being placed at the bottom and the coarser on top the packed brush Is hold in place by cross pieces nailed to fence posts set in tile the line of the dam across the gully set the posts in the ground not less than four feet deep if possible make the middle of the dam lower than the sides so that the water will not have a tendency to wash around the ends satisfactory dams can also be made of other matenia mat enla such as stones logs concrete or woven wire where brush to Is not available plowing in and seeding Is a simple though sometimes rather expensive method of reclaiming gullies small gullies one to three feet deep having no well defined drainage areas can be entirely idled they can be first partly filled with manure straw corn stalks or small brush which should be covered with a foot or more of dirt by plowing find and scraping from the edge of the he callies start plowing the plowing should be started in the bottom of the gully or as near the bottom as possible and the lie dirt thrown toward he center from both sides the plowing Is done in the alie same way as in breaking land and should be continued a few furrows beyond the edges of the gully to push the dirt toward the center of the gully an ordinary road drag or steel ditcher can be used to advantage the freshly plowed earth over the I 1 sides and bottom of tile lie gully gull affords a good seed bed for plant growth grasses should be sowed bowed or trees planted to hold the soil in place and temporary dams of some material i such as bf brush ush or straw should be built to catch the soil that might otherwise be waif washed fied away by heavy rains some grasses that can be used for or this purpose are arc bermuda grass orchard grass blue grass red top sweet clover and lepp lespedeza edeza E kery very locality has certain i best suited to it |