Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 2 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
When the land is worked after he rain the telltale rills are eroded and soon forgotten. Valuable soil, lime, fertilizer and organic matter that were washed from the1 field are gone forever and have a definite effect on the future productivity of the ..field.
Since your way of living is so closely linked with the land, you may wish to know how much you have and what is happening to it. Erosion has taken its toll on 100 million acres of once-good cropland. We now have
about 460 million acres of good cropland left. Our present population in the U.S. is 152 million people. This means that your share is approximately 3 arces. TJiat is all you have to grow your foo/4 and clothing which should include enough meat and dairy products for a balanced diet.
The important question is, what is happening to your 3 Acres? Half of your share in Americas farm land is being damaged by soil erosion. The other half is less affected but is subject to erosion, when not properly cared dor. Demands from hungry countries, and our rapidly increasing population are cheating you out of some of your 3 acres. Also, more good cropland isjbeing taken -up each year for homes" factories, airports and super-highways.
One of two things is going to happen to you, either you must get along on less food, less clothing and a much lower standard of living or more food and fiber must be produced on your diminishing portion of America’s cropland. What is being done about your situation ? The most encouraging fact is that we have now recognized the danger. The solution is in learning to use the land efficiently and at the same time protect the soil. This is soil conservation—using the land to produce the most without waste.
The conservation of soil is more than that. It means holding more rainfall on the land, to save moisture for growng crops and subdue floods. It means farming on the level around the slopes to prevent soil washing, and maintaining grass waterways lest they become gullies. It means growing more soil-building grasses and legumes for mote livestock to use it. It means planning and treating each acre on each individual farm according to the needs of the land as well as the farmer. It means convincing the farmer, who is the custodian of the soil, of the urgency of conserving it, and it means telling YOU about this problem, so, that you may share in the responsibility of conserving one of the most important things in your life.
82.8%