Effects Blowont
Control in Season
Blowouts can be controlled
m many ways. Some of the
methods of control are as fol
lows:
1. Fencing to protect from
livestock.
2. Mulching to protect from
wind erosion.
3. A combination of the a
bove
4. Haying or feeding cattle
on the blowout during the win
ter.
5. Establishing a shelterbelt
to protect the blown area.
6. Planting the area to trees.
7. Sloping the steep banks,
mulching, seeding and protect
ing the area from grazing until
established.
Of these methods, feeding on
the blowout is by far the most
economical if it can be done.
However in many cases the
blow area is far away from
feeding grounds or lacks protec
tion for winter feeding.
If areas are treated before
they become severe any of the
first three mentioned above will
be sufficient. Frequently it is
desirable to establish a shelter
belt for protection of the area.
This oftentimes affords a better
winter feeding area.
Sometimes it is desirable to
plant the area to trees. These
trees may later (in addition
to stabilizing the blowout)
serve as a source of posts or
furnish protection to live
stock.
When bank sloping is done it
is usually because steep vert- I
ical banks have developed mak
ing all other methods of treat- ;
ment impractical.
Neither grass nor trees will;
grow on vertical banks. Al
though the area may be stabil
ized in general if steep banks
remain they are a constant
threat to starting another blow
out. If the area is pastured fre
quently these banks are tramp
ed and pawed by the cattle un
til blowing is again started. In
considering bank sloping the
expense of the operation must
be considered. However, the
value of the land in the area
involved is not always a final
figure to be considered. The
possibility of the area increas
ing, the area that is covered
with sand and the general over
all increase in value of the
whole ranch if the blowout is
stabilized and again returned
to pasture use must be consid
ered.
Bank sloping should never
be attempted unless the operat
or has sufficient old hay or oth
er material to mulch the area.
Seeding should always ac
company mulching but especial
ly in these cases—a large vari
ety of seed with outstanding
seeding vigor and a heavy ap
plication per acre should be
made. Seeding will greatly re
duce the required time for the
*rea to become completely sta
bilized and ready for use as pas
ture or meadow. The cost of
seeding is usually so small as
compared to the leveling oper
ation that it should not be a
limiting factor.
C. R (“Bob”) Hill, U. S. Soil
Conservation technician, says:
"In working with fanners
and ranchers in Holt county,
we try to fit our recommend
ation for treatment to the
demands of the area involved.
the material on hand, the
wishes of the individual, and
the economic desirability of
one method as compared to
another."
‘‘We know that many ranch
ers are controlling their blow
outs without our technical as
sistance and we are proud of
them. However, in some cases
we feel that our recommenda
tions based on past experience
and those of a large number of
cooperators may help prevent
an individual from making mis
takes. In many cases he may be
able to stabilize the area in less
time.” In the case of Harvey
Tompkins, who operates his
father’s (L. R. Tompkins’) ranch,
the blowout was fairly large
with a steep bank on one side.
This bank was 20 feet or more
high and several hundred feet
long.__
Mr. Tompkins says: For sev- |
eral years we have considered
taking care of the blowout but
had never been able to get
equipment to do it. Contractors
could not afford to move very
far for such a small job and
there was no other work avail
able in the neighborhood. Af
ter the army had released the
contractors following Operation
Snowbound we contacted an op
erator to work on the blowout.
However, the ground was froz
en too deep and we had to give
it up.
“Later in the spring we hired
Musil Bros., nearby ranchers,
who had bought a ’dozer during
the winter, to do the job. In ap
proximately 10 hours and at a
cost of $130 the job was done.
Before they left we could drive
over the whole area with cabl
ing rack or spreader.
“We leveled off the area a bit
more by dragging and then cov
ered the area with manure,
then seeded and later used sev
eral loads of cobs that had got- |
ten wet, then we covered the
area with hay. We used old
stack butts that we were not
able to clean up during the win- !
ter. Altogether we used over i
50 tons of mulch.
"We seeded the area to every- j
thing in the book Such things '
as corn, sudan, millet, wheat, j
rye, oats and sweet clover, j
Grasses included grama, big ■
bluestem. little bluestem, switch 1
grass, sandlove grass, sand
diopseed, and tall dropseed.
This winter we added some of
the special Colorado grown sand
hill alfalfa, some local grown
partridge pea and native prairie
birdsfoot tree foil. The annual
crops made a remarkable j
growth this summer and many |
grasses have started. All in all
we are well pleased with re
sults.
"We did not graze the pasture
at all last summer. The lower
areas were cut for hay and the
yield was remarkable. The
higher hills were mowed only
where necessary t o control
weeds. The stock was grazed on
one of our meadows instead of
this pasture for the time they
would have normally been on
this pasture.
“There are other areas on the
hills in this pasture that are as
light as the former blowout is
now We realize that our pas
ture management program will
have to be such that we will not
over-graze the hills We hope
to be able to control grazing but
still use this pasture without
endangering this blowout.
"If we see that it is neces
sary we will fence out the
north 40 acres (this can be
done with one-fourth mile of
fence) and will windrow the
hay and use it only for late
fall pasture.
“We are more than pleased
with results so far and will do
whatever is necessary to pro
tect the area sufficiently, but
still will have to make as much
use of this pasture as is possi
ble.”
YOUR SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT
Has Grass Seed and Trees
Available at Reasonable Rates
GRASS
3,500 lbs. Gramma 35c, 40c & 45c
1,000 lbs. Big Blue Mix 55c
750 lbs. Sand Love Grass $1.25
300 lbs. Sand Drop Seed 20c
500 lbs. Crested Wheat 25c
150 1ms. Switch Grass $1.50
Small Amounts of Other Grasses
-k.
« ^ "
TREES
Cedar $6.00
Pine $2.50
All other trees and shrubs $2.00
We still have a large variety of trees and
shrubs and can plan a good shelterblt or
windbrak for you
Planting Service Available for Both
Tress and Grass
Harvey Tompkins (right) and Frank MusiL bulldozer op
erator and neighbor, are shown (above) surveying blowout area
before sloping operations were begun. (Note tracks in loose
sand). Bank^is over 20 feel high, several hundred feet long.
Location: One-half mile east and 3 miles south of Inman.
H. T. Young, soil conservation aid, is standing approximate
ly where the vertical bank was in the top photo. Transforma
tion has required only 10 hours' work.
lILy.-WH UUlliU— i i'IuIII 11 .3,,^ >*;
Same area 6 months later. Vegetation is mostly Sudan, mil
let and corn. Native grasses have a good start.
1
Fred Lindbcng says: "We
have been having a hard time
trying to stop sand Dlowing on
our n rth place. With the help
of Mr. Bre-demeier of the Soil
Conservation Service,” he con
tinued, “we decided to use trees
and see if we could get it es
tablished.
"In the spring of 1947 the dis
trict crew and equipment plant
d 6 ■() b ack locust, 700 red ce
^ar. 350 Chinese elm, and 100
American elm.
The black locust and cedar
have done the best. There are
some volunteer cottonwood in
the area but they have not
shown the growth the black lo*
cu;.t has.
These tree* were planted in
sand that was on the move with
just a slight breeze. The area
.vas too big to be feasible to
hay and we had had difficulty
i... .ns tu tstabiis.i it to grass.
Wo planted :t to trees in the
.op ■ of gett.ng some cover and
stopping the blowout. Of course
there was no way to prepare
the ground before planting it
and it has not been necessary
to cultivate. However, now that
the trees are giving more pro
tection some native grasses are
beginning to get started.
'mmm
We alternated the rows of
cedar and black locust, putting
:ne rows about 10 feet aDart
a:.d 6 fe< t in the row. In 1949
we split the rows where sur
\'val was poor and planted an
additional area. 1 am more than
pleased with the results.
‘Black locust make good
posts so should be able to use
t,.v trees in the future as a
source of posts. The cedar are
knee high now and some day
they will make a wonderful ce
dar grove.
"We started planting in the
spring of 1947 and planted 2400
more black locust and 200 hon
ey locust in the spring of ’49.
We will probably complete
planting the area next spring.
“It is almost unbelievable
the change those trees have
brought to the blow sand in the
northeast corner of the quarter.
What was a barren waste three
years ago now looks like a
young forest.”
Well - m an a g e d grassland
makes the animals healthy and
their owner wealthy.
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Phone 373 West O’Neill