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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1947)
PAGE TWO it. ..-; I' 'ftrractxl waterways pay off. This one th.ows the discharge of water fullowing a flasli rain. Notice how it retards and spreads the Water over a wide area. Little washing here. Youth of County Take Deep Interest in Conservation LINCOLN" One of the grow ing interests (f Nebraska 4-H Club members is toil conserva tion. Where only two years ago there was a single soil conserva- j S;x state winners receive $50 U.S. tion club or two in the state, to- Savings Bonds: and county win day there are a score, represent- i ners are awaicicd gold-filled med irig all parts of the state. The j als of honor. 4-H soil conservation clubs in ! soutneast Ntbraska tire particu larly flourishing. One of the oldest, if n;t the oldest, 4-H clubs specializing in f-oil conservation is the Modern Farmers of Gage county. Lancas ter county lias its soil conserva tion club: Otoe countv two c'oh the Soil Savers and the other unnamed. The Junior Soil Savers are the ciub for Pawnte county, and in Richardson county, the conservation conscious. 4-H mem bers call themselves the Soil Managers. The purpose of the 4-H conser vation clubs are to learn to know the value of the soil, to learn j how to successfully conserve soil. ! and to prevent soil wastae? and j deterioration on their home !ai-ms. . One of the projrets of the ciub rr embers is that of drawing their I home f; rm as it is, showing the ; use of the fit Ids, previous crop rotations, where wind and water erosion occur, showing contours . and slopes, streams and the farm- stead. With this done, the c'ub members then are urged to make ; a map of the farm as it should ' be, suggesting what land should he cropped and what pastured, where windbreaks should be. where grassed waterwavs placed showing contours and terrace needs, and in general laying out a complete farm program Niuiit around soil conservation. With these before and after maps completed the member is required to carry out at least three approved soil conservation practices; and is urged to do as many more- as possible. Other activities of soil conser vation club members include, tak ing part in demonstrations of tood soil practices and encour- aging their elde rs to adopt soil ; conservation methods. Qther t!;an the rewards in per sonal satisfaction and achieve ment, the club members also have an opportunity to partici pate in. county, state, section and national awards for outstanding Hub work well done. Any 4-H rlub member regardless of wheth er or not he is a soil conservation club member, is eligib'e to com pete for thes: awards, the top o' which are eight S2C0 schoiar- u40v L 3 t. vf jrr V f R V 1 ,"ftV,.' .'"Vu . ..... v.- t4 ISA Take a badly washed guJy eating out your acres and grade it to sluping sides and seed it to grass the above photo shows what can be dolie with a little time and effort. A before a-ad after panorama photographed by Soil Conservation Photo Service. J .v. .-x-is. ci ships given to eight national win ners. Sectional winners receive trips to National 4-H Club Con gress in Chicago each December. D. L Hutch Is Enthusiastic Conservationist I LINCOLN He's probably the j most enthusiastic soil conserva 1 tionist in the state of Nebraska, i and. for that matter, one of the j most enthusiastic in the nation. I As one of his friends said re jccntly. "Hutch e;ts. sleeps, and ! thinks soil conservation 24 hours ! a dav. It's not just a job with mm; jt-s a way of living." D. E. "Hutch" Hutchinson, dis-. tdct consc.rvationist with head. in T.inrnin ;s nnn boy who did make good in Ins chosen field. Eorn cndreared in Lancaster county, he attended high school at Waverly, . and cami" to tlie University of Ne braska College . of Agriculture, where lie graduated with a bache c'or of science in conservation in 1930. He was wi!b the soil conserva tion servi.x at Pav, nee City fi o.v. H35 in l.'3; going tron tujie to the soil conservation service dem ' cntration project at Syracuse. In : 1939. Hutch became district con f servationist. for the southeast Ne ibraska work group, with head- cua iters tt Pawnee City. He joined the University of Ne braska toliege of iigriculture ex tension service in March of 1945 - as extension soil conservationist. He left that position this spring to become district constrvation- j ist. If every Nebraskan had Hutch's l enthusiasm for soil conservation there wouldn't be a farm in the si.-ue out wnai wr.s under a com plete soil conservation program, planned and engineered to fit the peculiar needs of each individual feim for saving the maximum in soil end water. The Hutchinson fiirrn in Lan- caster county, operated by Hutchs ' brother, L!hs. i.as one of the most cmplcte soil conservation pro grams on it of any in Nebraska. The farm has terraces, is operat ed under contour farming, stub- "I ?r? fi- - w. ..... . Are Aware Of Rood Damage Everyone in Cass County is ' aware of the damage being caus- i ed by floods to crops, buildings, j and bottomland. The question is often asked, 1 '"How can this flooding be reduc- ! ed .or eliminated?" The answer j hes in soil conservation and co- j operation. Each acre of land on j an entire watershed must con-! tribute to the holding back of as! much water as possible where it ( falls. This can be accomplished by the construction of a broad-based field terraces with grassed ter race outlets and waterways as the foundation, but many support ing practices are necessary. These include contour farming, contour strip cropping, the permanent seeding down of certain areas to( trees or grasses which are too steep to farm, better management 1 of pasture land to maintain at least a 4-inch' cover of grass at all times, the construction of res ervoirs or Stock water dams, ro tation of cropland and the inclu sion of grass-legume mixtures in the rotation, feld diversions, and of extreme importance, the judi cious planting of erosive crops which exceed the capability of the land where they are grown. We must reckon with the simple honest fact that, "All hill land is not corn land." We might visualize the prob lem involved if we consider the main drainage stream as the small end of a large funnel with the wipe open top as the many acres of land contained in the drainage basin. These large drainage areas or basins collect the water which the soil will not absorb from many acres of hjll land and fun nel it some times with rapidity dovn into the main creeks or streams which easily become swollen. The severity and extent of floods is dependent upon many fectors. These include the size of the watershed, the past and pres ent farming methods on the farm land, the type of crops or cover growing there, the type of soil, the degree of erosion, the steep ness of land involved, and the condition of the main streams and its capacity. Solution of a flood problem is generally very complex. The land which comprises the watershed is generally divided into many farms with many owners. Cooper ation of all is essential to the successful solution of the prob lem. This is rarely obtainable. The degree of interest of involv ed individuals has always been consistent with their location on the watershed with those to the bottom of the "funnel" the most concerned. ble bulch farming, with grassed waterways, and all the other ap purtenances of soil oenservation farming. FILLS DITCH WITH NEIGHBOR'S SOIL watching his neighbor just below him sodding down a grass water way. The neighbor put in a diversion terrace above it to keep the wa- 1rr off until ho ant it rtahlishnrt In building the terrace he dug a hole above it aboi4 fiv- feet deep to get dirt for a fill. "How are you going to farm that hole " the man up above inquired. '"I'm not," the farmer replied. "I ll fill it up." "Where are you going to gel the dirt?" "Off your land." The farmer sneered. He re marked that it would take years for a hole that size to fill up with silt from drainage water. Contrast Proves Value Of Soil Practices LINCOLN The contrast be tween a field across the road and that of A. H- Jorgensen, Farnam, proves the value of soil conserva tion. The field across the" road had a complete crop failure in 1946. The Frontier country farm er reports a 25 bushel per acre yield from his corn this year. Eoth fields were planted at the same time and had about the same care. The field which fail ed to produce a crop had been planted in straight rows up and down the slopes for the last. 40 years. The other field has been terraced and contour farmed for 1 seven years. I We think of our land and water nd human resources not cs sta-i tic and sterile possessions but as j I life-giving assets to be directed I by wise provision for future days. ; We seek to use our natural re- sources not as a thing apart but as something that is interwoven with industry, labor, finance, tax-; ation, agriculture, homes, recre ation, good citizenship. The re sults of .this interweaving will have a greater influence on the future American standard of liv ing than all the rest of our econ omies put together. Franklin D. ! Roosevelt. Use Journal Want AOs THE JOURNAL. PLATTSMOUTH. NEBRASKA SOfL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS BIRTHDAY- On the 10th anniversary of the ized Aug. 4, 1937 there were a billion acres and 42 million United States farms in 1,000 districts. The first district established under state soil conservation district enabling law was the Brown Creek District, in Anson (Jounty, iorui uaiouna History of Soil Conservation By Uni. of Nebr. Growth in only a decade from a single soil conservation dis trict of a fe-w hundred thousand acres to a lusty group of more than 1900 including more than a billion acres will be celebrated by soil conservation districts throughout the United Slates and Puerto Rico, August 4. the tenth anniversary of the first district's organization. These farmer-voted and farmer-managed units of state govern ment cover all or parts of every state in the Union and Puerto Rico. Their billion-plus acres in clude nearly CO per cent nation's farm land, ir.o half of its total three-fourths of land ar its farms nd ranches. First to be organized by t';c farmers was the Brown Creek -1 :,. A : . . ; A SOU LOilaei aii'Jii uiMiiei in son County, North Carolina, 1 -n . August 4. 1U37. It preceded by year the first in Nebraska, whi was the Papio sou conservation ..... . l- . r-,... district in, wasmngion eouniy voted in December, 1933. Today, Nebraska h; 82 soil I conservation districts v.mch in elude -11.035,000 acres. The unit that pushed the total acres past the billion mark was the 1.172.0000-acre San Juan soii i conservation district in Colorado. which was organized tn:s sum mer. Helping along :n the las! part of the growth of the dis trict's total to the billion-acre mark, however, was the addition last spring of nearly a mi!!i "! acres to the White River soil con servation district in Nebraska. The anniversary brought a eon gratuktory letter from Secretary of Agriculture Clinton P. Ander son to C. E. McArthur of Gaff ney. S. C, president of the Na tional Association of Soil Conser vation districts, in which lie wrote, "the conservation being accomplished bv farmers within soil conservation districts is one of the most promising assurances we could have of the perrnanci cy of American agriculture." Dr. II. H. Bennett, chief of the Soil Conservation Service, which ! makes virtually all of its technical and other assistance available to i districts, said: "This action by ! American farmers marks the be-' ginning of a movement that can j insure the permanency of our na- ton. It provides for the pe: ma-1 nent security of a basic resource j of our nation productive soil j without which it cannct survive."' Records cf the Soil Conserva- j tion Service show that its tech- ! nicians aiding the soil conserva tion di3tricts have helped more than half a million farmers and ranchers to develop complete soil i and water conservation plans for ' their lands. The plans are based .4 t ' 4 4 Here is a grassed waterway, located in natural drainage through the field. Its purpose is to dispose of excess water without damage to the land. Terraces and contour rows lead to the waterway, mak ing the water "walk" to it. Thus it can carry little or no silt. Grassed waterways are ncc-vsarvi parts of all farm conservation I plans which Soil Conservation work out and apply on the land in Photo by Soil Conservation Service. first farmer-voted and farmer-managed unset;. on the principle of using each acre according to its capabilities rnd treating it according to its needs. In Nebraska, the Soil Conser vation Service has supplied the technical services to help 15,196 farmers and ranchers develop and apply conservation plans. According to the records new soil conservation districts are still being voted ir.to existence at the rate of about 20 per month. It is expected that by 1950. soil con servation districts will total at lease 2400 and will include about 1 1 4 million acres and 51 2 million of the nearly 6 million farms in the nation. REA Service of tne i p , 1 1 T 1 "liixtended io 600 Homes Nebrka still has 71.306 farms without electric service, according a ; , rrp. rt jut sent by REA to Extern Nebraska Public i Power iJistriet ot Syracuse, ie President T. E. Wheeler ! braska f e.i N.n-.aha enounced. About 2.500.CG0 of the nation farms still do not have sei ;ervicc, rrorrhnc to the figures received received , T- TI'l. . 1 r.mat r,vof - 4i- iTf : v iie tit i . eiitrti i k.c i,rn msriH. however, .ever, when Hurin!? tlie nast 12 ye liie percentage of farms with ek-clriciiv increased from 10.9 in Kiin.S to 57.4 as of the first of this rear. in AeorasKa, me nguie- nao to rien from 7.1 per cent m iaoo io 36 1. per cent now, iir. wnceiti :-aid. The Eictein Nebraska ruonc Power District lias plans for ex i,rd;n" service to GOO rural con sumers within the district, most ,f them fjirm? witiiin the next fe iront! s. Mr. Wheeler rcpori- . ci. rnd cventual'y it expects to add 5000 other consumers, bring ing electric service to everyone in the district who wants it. Mr. Wheeler reported that the dis trict, erganized in 1935 and fi nanced with loans from the Rural Electrification Admi nistration, .;,,v has 2100 miles of line serv in" 4500 consumers in Saunders, Cass, Otoe, Richardson, a Nemaha, Johnson. 1 mis ciouoie luncuon mat apro rd Pawnee ccun-priate supporting measures are essential for maximum results. Cur construction program has head much slower than we i -; d expected," Mr Wheeler said, -Nevertheless, we added 275 fam- ;es to our lines during the past months. We are building new lines just as fust as we can ac cumulate materials, men and money necessary to do the work ; nel so long as any rural family i;i this area cannot have elec tricity, our construction program cvr.not be considered finished. A e.-r we had about 1500 ap : iicantSfor service, and now we have 1C:." ' With reference to this large ev 4?, --Cat sr.,vTi . r y 4 Service technicians help larmcrs the moic humid parts ul Ncbiuika. 1 soil conservation district organ Soil Conservation Service Map Contour Plowing Has Increased Farm Income j The public has an interest in tie long-time conservation ot the nations resources. he larmcr is aibo inie.e-Mcu i" mis pnase oi tne conservation program, but he , 3 RiUing and shect crosion be- perform the layout to get the is more particularly interested in . n terraces 1S Pometimcs rath- i maximum results from the appli the immediate results of a conscr- ; especiallv when in row ! cation of the practice, vation program as measured by j " increased crop yields or greater net income. The investigations of the Research Division of the Soil Conservation Service in coopera- tion with the State Agricultural Lxpenmeni oiauuns, biiow iiicii OWW" .4k mnrvatinn S! nraHiH hv,duuul vvllt11 Iuu iea5oiidui the Soil Conservation Service, is The aim of this discussion is to point out how contour cultiva- linn rmc nf thf mainr nrartlCPS ! recommended by the Soil Conser , vation Service, contributes to this j end. font ni: r rult i vat ion when nron erly carried out is one of the ; n-o;t ,-ffpptivp rrosion control; measures for cultivated crop landec; ' thus far used. It is effective from i Increase j the standpoint of increasing crop I yicias, reducing runoii, ana I yields, reducing ru in creventmg erosion losses. Like other conservation measures, it i has its limitations and maximum results may be expected onlv wnen usea in conjunction nun; other good iarming practices, in Cass county contour cul- ( - tivation should be supplemented 3""U1U i " ""-"'b -- v- ,-'""o;inomas btacer. work unit con- is nignij' aesiraoie. orasbea wa terways are necessary to protect the field against needless gully ing. Factors, such as soil type and soil condition, amount, and in tensity of rainfall, the length, ir- rcgularily and steepness of slope. ; all modify the effectiveness of; contour cultivation. Contour cul-! tivation may be sufficient durinr periods of heavy rainfall for the orderly disposal of surplus wa ter, and during the drier grow ing season for the conservation of moisture. It is in those area where contour cultivation server ... . . . r . ' . 1 a One of the most important f . i a. i j means ior evaluating any cui turai practice.- is tu t.uiiuie i' crop yields resulting irom me use of the practice. The availabk data on this subject have beer brought together and are present cd here. Only such data as wil' permit a direct comparison of th effects of contour cultivation with cultivating up and down the slooe have been used. Table 1 shows such a compari son on corn fields. Yields pro-1 duced on the contoured fields were significantly higher than j those produced on fields culti-, vatcd up and down the slope. In i Illinois the weighted average m- crease was more than seven bush - els per acre, while in a number oroun wh had applied for serv ice, Mr. Wheeler suggested that every farm family desiring elec tric service in the future should i apply at once. He pointed out i that the final date when any j farm receives service is more de i nrnHmt unon Drompt filing of Ithc application than anything i else. "Our construction program iis graiualJv picking up speed. ' rvnhiinrd Mr. Wheeler, "and. to ; keep it rolling, it is desirable to ; know as far in advance as p-os- ! sible who wants service." ! Mr. Wheeler emphasized that 1 the Eastern Nebraska Public i Power District is an independent loc;il political subdivision, con- elected by the voters in the sev en counties served by the district. It has borrowed $2,157,117.70 to build its electrical system, and it lias Diiid S294.673.63 in principal , M thr l.vm includinp $19.0QO n:id ' ijltcad of schtdulc. It has a pay- j t roll oi 40 people. Cass County Farms Have Built 520 Miles Broadbased Terraces 1 awcy1 'y I Mmntiiiitnaa,ii'lff,ig!- 'iiuo picture snows ntwiy-ouilt terraces on a sloping field. They were built with a plow. They ore broad-based and genl'.e-slcped so that they do not interfere with farming operations. Photo by Soil Conservation Service. According to E. Thomas Sta- cey soil conservationist, Cass farmers have built ap- ! proximately 520 miles of broad-j t..j t.J 1 Oiutu gradient iitiu ifnutcs i-j j -date. This is but a start on the 10,000 miles that are urgently needed to protect the rich farm land of the district. Terraces are the foundation practice upon ! which soil conservation rests With the increased emphasis and high priority that is being placed on them in the Cass Soil Censer - v.ation District program, a world of caution may be needed. 1. Terraces can be destroyed by inter-terrace erosion due to improper farming methods. Ro - tatlon and the use of grasses and legumes are needed. 2. Terraces alone do not give sufficient protection against hard rains, uontcur cultivation ana i other soil conservation practices ; nprdoH. , oi other states tne increase wasipioweo in auu itit-u on. -even higher. Many of these re- ; waterway should be a minimum j sults were obtained under actual 1 of 40 feet wide. Larger waterways ; fi ld conditions and represent should be wider, and they should . .. . . . . , , ...U UI.. ; expected under general farm con- j conditions, j - 'KI. , I auic m. j,o uij euru vl-utIlVl; i vi t :re t 89.1 117 69.(5 102 26.8 5 non-contour- Urbana, 111 . 91.5 Clarinda, Ia.. 75.3 Hastings, Neb. 45.0 Contoured: J L. 111. due to contouring . ranged from 2.5 per cent to 56.3 per cent, with the average about ; 11 per cent. t SEEDING WATERWAYS ; jg FIRST STEP establishing -j. first step in soil conservation practices on farms is the establishment of grassed waterways, writes E. ' servationist. These waterways are the natural drainageways on , the farm where - water accumu ' lates and runs off. These water , ways are used to carry the sur ! plus water after terraces are built. Before seeding is dene, it is ne cessary that these waterways be 1 M dieriing mgwerson, larmer, noruiwtsi 01 riaiiMiteum, , o14Jii standing on the farm that has been selected as having outstanding soil conservation program. Mr. Ingwerson has been chosen to represent this district in the Wcrld-Hera'd Soil Conservation contest V 1 1 : j FARMERS . . . The Business ad Profeisicnal Men listed below have made this edition possible. Remember them . . . They are your friends. A, L. Tiild, Attorney James Bcgley, Attorney Smith is Lebens, Attorneys Francis M. Casey, Attorney Davis & Peck, Attorneys Thomas Walling Abstract Co Plattsmouth State Bank Plattsmouth Creamery J 1 1 j f j f j j J j 1 1 ! j 1 1 j j MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1947 , ' . -riA ,rr. 'i. It'Ildtla tilt ii'Ji v-tjt,.iwu iui but often """""T, " X ' have to act as such. 5. This sedimentation often in- Hri-fn-fc with Iho normal function I v of c. terrace which is an orderly disposal of surplus water. 6. Terrace maintenance may al leviate the problem tempor- ; arny cui u wm le-oeeui uiue i proper cropping practices are ! used- j 7. The reduction insilting can ! only be, effected by proper crop- ' ping practice. j Stacey points out that most soil j erosion is caused by a few rains of excessive intensity. The Soil : Conservation Service has devel- ' oped a safe range within which ; excellent results may be obtain- : ea irom me uj-e ui ue-iei ienaee. j However, the services of a trained 'soil conscrvationbt is needed to i i : l l J (C kp PVi I After leveling, the waterway then seeded down. Bromegrass is recommended for seeding at a rate of from 20 to 30 pounds cf viable seed per acre, Stacey says. Further information on grasp ing down waterways and other soil conservation practices can be obtained through the county agri cultural agent's office or the soil conservation service district of fice. As a nation we not only enjoy a wonderful measure of present prosperity, but if this property is used aright it is an earnest of fu ture success such as no other na- i tion will have. The reward of ; foresight for this nation is great i and easilv foretold. But there must be the look ahead, there must be a realization of the fact that to waste, to destroy, our nat ural resources, to skin and ex haust the land instead of using it so as to increase its useful ness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified Theodore and developed. Rocsevelt. W4 Y j - 4,. V V