Early Erosion-control Practices in Virginia

Résumé du livre

The problem of erosion on agricultural land is not new, nor are the means of controlling it. All of the methods in use today with the possible exception of strip cropping were known to the Virginia farmers of the early part of the last century. They used legumes and grasses to restore fertility and to bind the soil. They increased the capacity of the soil to absorb water by turning these green crops under and by deep plowing. They developed horizontal or contour plowing to conserve moisture and to prevent washing. They cultivated land flat rather than in ridges to prevent the accumulation of water. They introduced the system now known as terracing to make the most effective use of excess water of heavy summer rains. Even the suggestion of strip cropping is contained in the practice of some farmers of leaving strips of sod unplowed between the corn rows or alternating rows of corn with rows of some other crop.