Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 18, Number 27, DeMotte, Jasper County, 4 June 1948 — PRODUCTION BEST MEASURE OF SOIL LOSSES [ARTICLE]

PRODUCTION BEST MEASURE OF SOIL LOSSES

~ Soil losses, should be measured in something more than just so many tons of earth washed or blown away, says Elmer Brown, Chairman of the Jasper County Agricultural Conservation Committee. Spil losses, in a broad sense include all changes that result in decreased productivity for crops and may be grouped under two general heads—physical and chemical. Physical losses usually refer to removal of the soil itself through erosion. Chemical losses include removal of plant food from the soil in crops, through leaching and erosion. Available nitrogen and phosphorus usually are concentrated in the top-soil. Most of its humus also is in the first few inches of top-soil. This is the soil that is lost in most cases. Wind erosion carries away the lighter particles such as the tiny roots and decaying leaves and steqis of plants. When soil is moved by water the coarser particles settle first and this is the part of the soil which is least productive. Some damage has already been done before the soil blows or washes away, says the chairman. Keeping land in a cultivated crop too long breaks down its resis-

tance to erosion. Over-worked land usually is more subject to erosion than land that has been recently plowed out of grass and clover.