Show 1 the land dodor doctor by vivian shearer when we speak of soil on the move wp we are also speaking ol of a way of 0 life on tho the way out butof out ol 01 a total of acres in n this country not counting in cities and towns million acres about one seventh have been either completely ruined for further forage or crop production or else severely damaged damage classed as model ate has has been suffered by an additional dit ional acres over one third most of this damage has occurred within the past years or less with our oui little pencils we can all figure out that this adds up to a total loss by soil erosion ot of not less than one million acres each year more than twenty million acres since world war I 1 reduced production on the partially damaged land Is equivalent to the total loss of another one million acres annually productive land acreage Is going down population Is going up we can feed the world this time but unless our ways are changed right light now we could not act do it again 20 years hence the actual loss of productivity is 18 not the only argument against soil erosion ei oslon when the soil does not stay put it upsets many other apple carts when it travels by water a large part settles in river liver channels and confuses the best laid plans of mice an engin pers A part of it goes out to sea to clog harbors and worry the pilots who bring the ships in some of it finds peace and quiet and a soft berth in the bottom of our reservoirs reser already some 2000 have been silted full of other major reservoirs 38 per cent will be filled within 50 years another 26 25 per cent will be filled within wiehl n years unless we change our land use practices tor for the better and quickly thousands of acres ol of rich bottom lands have been lo 10 lost s t t to 0 crop production by being c covered 0 ve r with sand and debris washed down from the uplands in tile the about the time that people were becoming accas tome to travel on wings the soil also seemed to become air minded it is said that the dust storms of may 12 1934 carried three hundred million tons of rich topsoil top soil out of the great plains region and scattered it far and wide some of it f fell ell on the decks of ships miles from land dust storms were new to this country but they are an old story to the old world whore soil eoll abuse Is old and where soil erosion has spelled the doom of many a proud people and many a greedy aggressor the siroccos si are dry dust laden w winds that blow regularly each year from the high lands ol of af arica to plague the inhabitants ot of the coasts of malta and sicily and naples the dust carried by these winds darkens the sky and dries and burns burn the vegetation there are also the harmat tans that blow on the coast of africa between cape verde and cape lopez and which are aie charged w with ith dust thick enough to obscure the sun they too wi wither t bar the vegetation and dry the human skin soon after the revolutionary war patrick henry declared since the achievement of independence pen dence he Is the greatest patriot who stops the most gullies |