Book Description

Excerpt from Control of Wind Erosion in the Sandy Lands of the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico Wind erosion occurs when high winds come in contact with loose, unprotected soil. Particles of medium and fine sand begin to move across the soil surface in a series of bounces or by rolling or creeping. Where they strike unprotected soil they loosen other particles which are then swept across the ground surface and cause-still further erosion. Finer particles are sometimes carried high into the air and may float for days before settling. The damage done by wind erosion has serious short and long-term effects. The most notable short-term effect is that of reducing or eliminating stands of crops. One storm can completely destroy young cotton. A visible effect of erosion is the piling up of sand or silt on highways, railroad rights-of-way, and around buildings on farms and in urban areas. This material must be removed at great expense. Another visible effect of wind erosion is the duning of sand in cultivated fields, making them impractical to till for crop production. Perhaps the most serious effect of wind erosion, however, is sel dom noticed. This is the removal of clay and organic matter from sandy soils. The soil is left not merely more susceptible to wind erosion than before; the materials which are of major importance in storing and eventually releasing moisture and nutrients are gone from the plowed layer. The finer the texture, the more serious the loss, since organic matter (thus nitrogen) is stored in the surface 6 or 7 inches of the soil. Removal of a part or all of this horizon usually reduces the inherent productivity of the soil. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.