Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 November 1948 — Page 33

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Section Three

Sixteen Pages

Save Que Soir

Grand Canyons are growing in Indiana as wind and water erode fertile

farm land.

Erosion Is Threatening

Indiana's Agriculture By VICTOR PETERSON JNPIANA could commit agricultural suicide. It has its choice between the lingering death of soil erosion and continuing farm

prosperity.

The answer lies in the soil, its erosion and debility. Already about one and a half million acres of Hoosier farm land essentially has been ruined for further crop production. Dotting the state are barren knobs where nothing grows. Other spots give birth only to briar, bracted plantin and poverty grass. Deep, meandering gullies ridge the land, deserted farmhouses sag into collapse. Its productivity gone, families desert the land lock, stoek and barrel. Indiana, south of Highway 40 is most seriously affected. oo & @ IN VAIN, many a farmer has tried home remedies. What appear to be junk heaps on many farms are last-ditch stands to save the earth. Into washes they dump rolls of fence wire, rocks, tin cans, boards, logs. With mockery the water eats beneath the heap and swirls around to etch new ravines. In the tributaries and the great rivers draining the state flows muddy water. Every year 50 million tons of the state's topsoil is so washed away. This is enough to cover 50,000. acres with seven inches of fertile earth. Today land is selling on the average of

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Contour farming with ferraces and strip cropping such as this frustrate nature's ravages on Indiana soil.

One and a half million acres of Hoosier farm land has been ruined by erosion for further production of crops. Erosion is a gun pointed directly at the head of Indiana agriculture. A Will Indiana commit agricultural suicide? Here's the story.

$100 an acre. It means there is five million dollars in muddy gold in Indiana streams. > > 9 BUT THE COST is even greater. There are no figures, it is incalculable. Land lost from production is a loss to the owner, the county and the state. As the land erodes crop yields decrease, farm incomes decline, ability to purchase goods falls off. Depleted soil produces food poor in nutritive value, wild life disappears, streams and wells dry up. Nature is out of balance. Only man, who has destroyed, can hope in some.measure to restore. The deeper the topsoil the better the crops. A century ago Indiana. topsoil averaged 12 inches in depth; 50 years ago 10 inches; 25 years ago eight inches. Today it is alarmingly low, six to seven inches. With the earth’s surface sponge cut in half it can absorb much less water. Consequently the saturation point quickly is reached and the runoff is tremendous. With-

out care ‘the remaining topsoil could be-

washed away in 25 years or less.

An enthusiastic conservationist, Edgar E. Wilson,

NATIONALLY the picture is no better. Land is being destroyed by wind and water at the rate of a half million acres a year. Federal government figures ‘place the cost at four billion dollars. It is serious. The dirt undér human feet contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire, the collapse of Spain, the destitution of China. It became exhausted, it eroded and nations toppled. Today the study of soil is a science. Agronomists have the know-how to save what remains, to restore what has become barren. But it is up to the people to respond, mainly the farmer. He has been slow to accept the soil conservationist’s gospel. Erosion and depletion of land is a longtime process. Year to year the farmer notes little change. If he compared the farm's condition on his first with his 25th, he would be shocked to reality. > & * BATTLING against the flood tide in Indiana are the combined forces of the U. S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and Purdue University agronomists. To date, 41 of the state's 92 counties are organized into soil conservation districts under state law. Field workers are working feverishly to spread their program. It is taking effect. Currently, more acres

SANTA CLAUS, INDIANA

They'll prance on your roof come Christmas Eve, will Tk, told the boys as they looked at the reindeer.

A sober Sagie and a joyous Jackie greet Santa . Claus for a personally conducted tour of Santa Claus 2

P Lend, Sao Shas, Ind.

Jackie took no chances. He backed his verbal re‘quests in writing as he posted his Jetter. :

~ With no snow for a sleigh ride, EnE gineer Santa gave Jackie a ride in the locomotive's cab of his miniature train.

Youth's curiosity expressed.

Mother Goose folk come to life on the Enchanted Trail. sat on a wall and Little Miss Muffet on a

tuffet.

near Wingate, has seen his corn crop increase by 25 per cent.

Editorials .. 34 Science .... 38 World Report35 Radio se00n Ad Features ... 37 Movies .. 46-47

No stream bed, this meandering wash is the result of hindsight in soil con-

servation.

are being brought under control yearly than are being lost, But it is an almost overwhelming task. There are some 20 million farm acres in the state. It is estimated that more than 15 million need some sort of conservation. > Db CHIEF among the needs are improved crop rotation, contouring, strip cropping, drainage, pasture seeding and improvements and woodland improvement cutting.

Air Force Reports It Flops as Menufaciurer of Rain

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UP)—The Air Force has spent a lot of time trying to manufacture rain but hasn't had much luck. In some cases, the failure has been about as complete as possible—the clouds disappeared. The Air Force issued a report tonight on experiments in Ohio where it tried to make rain by drop+ ping dry ice, water and chemical agents into clouds, The report covers 79 tests conducted near Wilmington between Mar. 18 and Sept. 18 in conJunction with the Weather Bureau. The experiments show, the Air Force said, that

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Farmers who adopt programs soon become enthusiastic. In a few short years they see the result as their land holds firm, their crops increase and they feel a comfortable bulge in the bhillfold. Yet conservation is everyone's concern. Soil and water are basic resources of the nation. This is especially true in Indiana where farming is a top industry. We could commit suicide. We don't have to do so.

“the seeding of clouds with dry ice pellets or water has not caused rain—at least not enough to be of economic importance.” And even the most successful tests showed “little evidence that cloud-seeding wonld start a storm,” the Air Force said. The experimenters discovered that cumulus clouds—those large billowy ones common in summer—sometimes disappear instead of producing rain. The Air Force said that was ‘perhaps the

most important development of the experiments.”

*St. Nick roared at Sagie's list of want." Then he quickly added, "But have you been a real good boy all

year?"

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Humpty Dumpty N

Hosvon for a Tiree nd four-year-old. “sugar and spice and everything nice.’

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