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Show was accomplished on nearly 200,000 acres on 7,480 farms at a Federal cost of $1.50 per acre for seed. Some 7,9*00 dams and reservoirs were constructed for livestock watering on 6,700 farms, serving 2,715,- 400 acres at an average Federal cost of $180 per structure- Wells to an average depth of 150 feet were dug: on 1,205 farms to serve 547,500 acres at a Federal cost of $300 per well. Many other pay- ments were made such as for drainage, land leveling, terracing*., fencing, tree planting, fertilizing, weed control, and the like. Much farm work is needed to rebuild the soil. Among the many measures needed are rotation crops and seedings to build soil fertility and struc- ture, better adapted crop varieties, insect and dis- ease control, and fertilizers. Experience has shown that erosion and water control cannot be obtained on some lands by good cropping practices alone. It will also require such measures as terraces and terrace outlets, gully control structures, and strip cropping:. In some areas extensive wind erosion control measures are needed, such as listing or shelter belts. The extent of the need for these practices on crop- lands ma-y be gathered from the following estimates of acres requiring treatment in the basin. Measures z Thousand acres Seeding grasses and legumes-------------------20, 276 Cover crops___________________________13, 177 Crop residue management----------------------34, 022 Contour cropping______________________43, 072 Strip cropping-------------------------------------20, 525 Wind erosion control___________________ 2, 484 Grassland.-While they have recovered some since the 1930's, the grasslands generally are in poorer condition than is desirable. This is in part a reflection of the last drought, but in larger part due to overuse. Pastures as well as ranges suffer from these causes, and as a result, the cover has been depleted, the fertility of the soil has diminished, humus has been dissipated, and ero- sion by wind and water has taken place. Surface runoff has also been hastened, resulting in a loss of water needed to maintain growth and to rebuild the soil. Range deterioration often is not recognized and damage to the productive capacity of the soil is not accepted even by those closely in contact with the damage. All too often it is considered as a normal condition rather than as a result of abuse. Small pastures in the border area as well as larger ranges in the ranching area have been overused. In areas where livestock feeders are fattened for market, the tendency is to use pastures as holding lots rather than for the grass. Such cattle are usually given concentrates and grain as well as roughage. In the Ozarks, the localized droughts are serious because the pasture soils are usually thin. Although in a humid region, as much as 100 acres of range are needed here to support one head of stock for a year. In the western areas, the present tendency is to put too many livestock on the range with the result that nutritious grasses are weakened or killed. In the mountain areas generally, the tendency is both for overuse and misuse of the range. Stock are driven onto the range when the soil is too wet or the vegetation not sufficiently advanced. This is at the time, however, when the vegetation is most palatable and contains the most protein. It is also the time when cattle fatten quickly. The effects of severe droughts are often felt for several years even when several wet years follow. When ranges are not overused, however, they tend to recover quickly. For example, after the great drought of the 1930's, a good grass cover appeared on moderately stocked ranges almost with the first of the heavy rains. More heavily used ranges re- covered to their present state much more slowly. During the great drought of the thirties, north- ern Great Plains range grasses suffered great reduc- tions in density. In conservatively stocked experi- mental cattle pastures near Miles City, Mont., the density of perennial grasses dropped from 28 per- cent in 1933 to about 2 percent in 1937. The pre- drought total density level was not regained, even with very favorable weather and conservative stocking, until 1944. Some species recovered more rapidly than others. For example, needle-and- thread grass was up to its 1933 density level on the plots by 1941 and buffalo grass reached its former density in 1942. The two most important species, bluestem wheat grass and blue grama, were still only 64 and 85 percent as dense, respectively, in 1945 as in 1933. By that year buffalo grass occupied 50 percent more surface area on the plots than it did in 1933. Such differences in the rate of recovery from drought may explain some of the changes in vegetative composition which are fre- quently observed. The Federal range lands vary greatly in carrying capacity and use. Some grasslands, as in the higher mountain meadows of the national forests, can be used only a relatively few weeks in a year but none- theless supply valuable forage. Other range lands at lower elevations are used the year around but 911610-51- -16 211 |
